The following excerpts are taken from the Virginia Department of Health Professions website

"The Law: The Board must address in its regulations continuing education, testing and/or any other requirement which would address the following: a) the need to promote ethical practice, b) an appropriate standard of care, c) patient safety, d) application of new medical technology, e) appropriate communication with patients and f) knowledge of the changing health care system.

Content of the Regulation: In order to renew a license biennially the practitioner must complete a Continued Competency Activity and Assessment Form, which is provided by the Board and must indicate completion of at least 30 hours of continuing learning activities for physical therapists and 30 hours of continuing learning for physical therapist assistants. The total hours must be made up of two types:

Type 1 continuing learning activities are those documented by an approved organization to designate learning activities for credit or other value. Approving organizations must be one of the following:

1) The Virginia Physical Therapy Association
2) The American Physical Therapy Association
3) Local, state or federal government agencies
4) Regionally accredited colleges or universities
5) Health care organizations accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
6) The American Medical Association- Category 1 Continuing Medical Education course
7) The National Athletic Trainers Association

All of the Type 1 hours must be earned in face-to-face settings, interactive courses or other interaction with peers. Physical Therapists are required to obtain at least 15 hours of Type 1 and Physical Therapist Assistants must obtain at least 10 hours of Type 1. All required hours may be Type 1.

The remainder of the required hours may be Type 2 continuing learning activities which may or may not be approved for credit by an approved organization but which shall be related to the practice of physical therapy. Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants shall document their own participation in Type 2 learning activities."

To assist you in understanding the above it is best to think first of when your next renewal of a license will be in 2002 or later. After that renewal you will need to begin to plan and record your continuing education activities on the form provided by the Board. For your reference and easy access the form and its instructions have been posted on the Department of Health Professions website. You must simply to go to the Physical Therapy Board's section of the website to find this form and the complete rules and regulations related to this.
The Board has given us a lot of latitude in how to obtain credit for course work related to keeping up or improving our skills in patient management. Courses that are sponsored or approved by any of the agencies as listed above in the law will qualify for Type I in the state of Virginia. This means that if you take a course approved by any state section of the APTA (i.e. North Carolina) then it will count for Type I in Virginia. It is not necessary that every course carry the approval of the Virginia Physical Therapy Association to allow you to claim it as Type I. It is necessary that the coursework be face-to-face, that you obtain a certificate of completion stating the number of contact hours or CEU's (1 CEU is equivalent to 10 contact hours) and that you keep that certificate with your Continued Competency Activity and Assessment Form for a period of at least 4 years after you renew your license the NEXT time. Type II activities include self-study, online courses that are not interactive, etc. and are simply recorded on the form. Supporting documentation is not required for Type II but it wouldn't hurt to keep it with your Continued Competency Activity and Assessment Form if you have any supporting documents.

An example of the required record keeping for renewal of licensure would be: Virginia PT license is renewed in January 2002. For the next 2 years the applicant will keep the Continued Competency Activity and Assessment Form up to date, working to ensure that the required number of hours in Type I and Type II are obtained prior to the next renewal in January 2004. After January 2004 a new form is begun however the applicant files the form for 2002-2004 in a safe place for a period of at least 4 years from 2004 i.e. the form must be kept until 2008. This allows for the possibility that the Board could audit this applicant after the renewal and request a copy of the form. Per the regulations the applicant would be required to have this form on file and submit it to the Board if audited.

That's really all there is to it! There will be many courses and other learning opportunities that will allow for each of us to meet this requirement and to improve our practice in the same effort. Any questions can of course be addressed to the members of the Board of Physical Therapy or to the Virginia Physical Therapy Association's Continuing Education Approval Committee. The Committee is responsible for reviewing courses whose sponsors apply for approval in Virginia however they are not responsible for reviewing continuing learning activities by individual practitioners applying for relicensure; that responsibility will be held solely by the Board. Any concerns regarding the acceptability of a particular learning activity should be addressed to the Board. For information on reaching individual Board members you can again refer to the website.

Karen Kott
Continuing Education Approval , VPTA

ph: 757/683-4518 (W)
email: kkott@odu.edu