Section 42.54. Education program providers

(a) General. Educational courses offered by preapproved and Board-approved providers will be accepted as satisfying the continued competency requirement. It is the responsibility of the occupational therapist to ascertain the approval status of the provider before undertaking a course.

(b) Rights reserved. The Board reserves the right to reject a course if the content is outside of the scope described in § 42.55(a) (relating to acceptable continued competency activities).

(c) Preapproved providers. The Board has preapproved educational courses provided, coprovided or approved by the following entities:

(1) A National, international or state-level occupational therapy association.

(2) The American Occupational Therapy Association’s Approved Provider Program.

(3) American Society of Hand Therapists.

(4) Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists.

(5) Department of Education.

(6) An accredited college or university or post-secondary vocational technical school or institution.

(7) Federal or State government programs related to health care.

(8) A provider approved by another health licensing board within the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs or another State licensure board.

(9) National and State professional health care organizations.

(10) National and State professional education organizations.

(11) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

(12) Case Management Society of America.

(d) Board-approved providers. The Board will consider for approval, on a biennial basis, providers of educational courses that comply with § 42.55(a) as follows:

(1) The provider seeking approval shall submit an application to the Board at least 60 days prior to the beginning of the course but no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial renewal period. The applicant will be notified of approval or disapproval in writing.

(2) The Board will not approve a provider unless it:

(i) Offers courses with specific learning objectives.

(ii) Has criteria for selecting and evaluating faculty instructors, subject matter and instructional materials.

(iii) Has a procedure for determining licensees’ perceptions of the extent to which the objectives have been met.

(e) Individual course approval.

(1) An occupational therapist may request approval of contact hours for educational courses not otherwise approved by submitting an application for approval to the Board no later than 90 days before the end of the biennial renewal period that includes the following:

(i) The title of the course and number of contact hours.

(ii) The description of the course from the program catalog or brochure.

(iii) The learning objectives.

(iv) The name and qualifications of the presenter.

(v) An assessment of the course.

(2) Upon review of the completed application, the Board will notify the applicant whether the course has been approved or disapproved and, if approved, the number of contact hours that will be awarded.

(f) Withdrawal of approval. The Board may withdraw approval of a provider for cause. The provider will be notified in writing of the reasons for withdrawal of approval.

The provisions of this § 42.54 adopted June 21, 2013, effective June 22, 2013, 43 Pa.B. 3350.

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 42.54 issued under sections 5(b) and 15(a) of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act (63 P. S. § § 1505(b) and 1515(a)).

Cross References

This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 42.51 (relating to purpose); and 49 Pa. Code § 42.52 (relating to definitions).