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New York Occupational Therapy Continuing Education 

Updated 9/22/2024

How many continuing education hours are required during a reporting period?

Occupational therapists licensed in New York must complete thirty-six (36) hours of continuing education every three (3) years.  

Occupational therapy assistants licensed in New York must complete thirty-six (36) hours of continuing education every three (3) years.

New Licensees

OTs and OTAs shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing competency requirement for the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed.  

If a licensee had been licensed as an OT or OTA in another state before being licensed in New York, the licensee must meet the continuing competency requirement when they reregister in New York during the first 3-year registration period.

Can CE credits be carried over into the next reporting period?

With the exception of continuing education hours taken during the registration period immediately preceding the effective date of this section, continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.

Are there any specific requirements for continuing education?

N/A

Are there limitations on the types of courses that can be taken?

At least twenty-four (24) hours shall be in areas of study pertinent to the scope of practice of occupational therapy.

The remaining twelve (12) hours can focus on one or more related subjects (legal, ethical, regulatory, health care, reimbursement, supervision, business practices, professional conduct and other topics that relate to the occupational therapy professions or contribute to the health and welfare of the public.)

What types of activities can be used for the continuing education requirements?

Activity

Documentation

Hours

Coursework or Training Offered by an Approved Sponsor

Courses, workshops, seminars or employee in-service training programs offered by an approved continuing education sponsor, and credit-bearing academic study offered by an accredited college or university.

Certificate provided by the course sponsor.

For activities that carry continuing education units (CEUs): 0.1 CEU = One (1) continuing competency hour.

For credit-bearing university or college courses: One (1) semester-hour of credit = Fifteen (15) continuing competency hours, and one (1) quarter-hour of credit = Ten (10) continuing competency hours.

Self-Study

Self-study is structured study based on audio, audio-visual, written, on-line and other media offered by an approved sponsor.

Certificate provided by the course sponsor.

No more than two-thirds (24 hours) of the mandatory continuing competency requirement may be completed through self-study.

Independent Study

Self-initiated, goal-driven individualized professional study that is based on reading and research and may include supervision of students engaged in occupational therapy education program sponsored fieldwork.

Licensee must create a narrative account of what he or she learned from the independent study and an overall written evaluation of the learning activity.

Three (3) hours of independent study = one (1) continuing competency hour. No more than twelve (12) continuing competency hours may be completed through independent study.

Mentorship

Experience-based learning through a one-on-one mentorship, during which both the mentor and the learner may earn continuing competency hours. The mentorship shall provide a minimum of fifteen (15) hours of direct contact between the mentor and the learner.

The mentor must be licensed as an OT or OTA and have at least five (5) years of post-licensure experience in the subject of the mentorship.

The learner must be licensed as an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant.

A record of the name of the mentor and learner, the mentorship goals, the mentor’s teaching plan and evaluation of the learner, and the learner’s narrative account of what was learned along with an evaluation of the mentorship should be retained by both the mentor and the learner.

Each mentoring relationship may earn a maximum of ten (10) continuing competency hours.

No more than eighteen (18) continuing competency hours can be completed through mentorship.

Five (5) hours of mentoring shall equal one continuing competency hour.

Publications

Acceptable learning activities may include publication of a written work by the licensee during the registration period in accordance with the requirements of this clause.

A copy of the publication.

A maximum of ten (10) continuing competency hours can be earned for work as primary or co-author for an article published in a peer-reviewed journal or a textbook related to occupational therapy.

A maximum of five (5) continuing competency hours can be earned for work as primary or co-author for a professional article in a non-peer-reviewed journal related to occupational therapy.

No more than eighteen (18) continuing competency hours may be completed through publications all together.

Presentation at a Professional Conference

Acceptable learning activities may include a presentation by the licensee at a professional conference sponsored by a bona-fide organization that has an established record of sponsoring conferences for a licensed profession.

Conference brochure or other documentation that shows participation.

A maximum of five (5) continuing competency hours can be earned through professional presentation.

Chairing a Professional Practice Committee

Acceptable learning activities may include chairing a professional practice committee of an international, national, state or local professional association that has an established record of providing support and guidance for the practice of OTs or OTAs. 

Said chairpersonship must be for a duration of at least one (1) year within the registration period.

A maximum of five (5) continuing competency hours can be earned by a licensee serving as chair for a professional association or practice committee.

Participation in a Professional Study Group

The professional study group shall be composed of three (3) or more licensed OTs or OTAs.

The study group must have written goals for what it expects to accomplish along with a written study plan to meet these goals. The study group shall evaluate the learning activity in writing when the group has met its study goals. The study group shall maintain attendance records and meeting notes for what transpired at each meeting of the study group.

Records including a list of participants, an attendance record, group goals, study plan, notes of meetings, and the evaluation of the learning activity must be retained by all participants.

Two (2) hours of participation in a study group = one (1) continuing competency hour.

No more than eighteen (18) continuing competency hours can be completed through participation in a study group.

Measurement of continuing competency learning activities

A minimum of fifty (50) minutes of formal continuing education courses or workshops shall equal one (1) continuing competency hour of credit.

For credit-bearing university or college courses, each semester-hour of credit shall equal fifteen (15) continuing competency hours of credit, and each quarter-hour of credit shall equal ten (10) continuing competency hours of credit.

For credit-bearing university or college courses not organized on a semester hour or quarter-hour basis, an equivalent competency hour determination shall be made by the Department. 

For activities that carry continuing education units (CEUs), one-tenth of a CEU shall equal one continuing competency hour.

What type of approval is needed for the courses?

The Department shall deem approved as a sponsor of coursework or training offered to licensed OTs or OTAs to meet the continuing competency requirement:

A sponsor of coursework or training that is approved by the American Occupational Therapy Association, the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, the New York State Occupational Therapy Association, the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, or an equivalent organization determined by the Department to have adequate standards for approving sponsors of continuing education for professionals; or

    • Postsecondary institutions, provided that such approval is limited only to the offering of courses in programs that are registered by the Department, or in equivalent programs that are accredited by an acceptable accrediting agency; or
    • Postsecondary institutions, or a consortium of such institutions, that offer programs that are registered as leading to licensure in occupational therapy or authorization to practice as an occupational therapy assistant or postsecondary institutions that offer equivalent professional education programs accredited by an acceptable accrediting agency, for credit and noncredit offerings.

What are the reporting requirements?

OTs and OTAs shall maintain adequate documentation of completion of:

    • A learning plan that shall record current and anticipated roles and responsibilities but shall not require the records of peer review or self-assessment of competencies, and
    • Acceptable continuing competency learning activities and shall provide such documentation at the request of the department. 

Licensee Records

Each licensee subject to the requirements shall maintain, and ensure access by the Department to, the following records:

    • A learning plan for continuing competency that shall record current and anticipated goals; and
    • A comprehensive list of acceptable learning activities completed, which includes for each learning activity:
      • The sponsor's name, if any, and any identifying number;
      • A written verification of attendance, if attendance was required;
      • The date and location of the learning activity; and
      • The number of continuing competency hours completed.

How long must continuing education records be retained?

Records shall be retained for at least six (6) years from the date of completion of the activity and shall be available for review by the Department in the administration of the requirements of this section.

Waiver

A licensed OT or OTA not engaged in practice, as determined by the department, shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing competency requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns to the practice of occupational therapy during the triennial registration period shall notify the department prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such mandatory continuing competency requirements as shall be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.

Continuing Competency Fee

The mandatory continuing competency fee shall be forty-five ($45) dollars for OTs and twenty-five ($25) dollars for OTAs, shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration fee required by section seventy-nine hundred four of this article.

Reference

NYCCR § 7908


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