§ 6554-a. Mandatory continuing education for chiropractors. 1. (a)
Each chiropractor licensed pursuant to this article, required to
register triennially with the department to practice in this state,
shall comply with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education
requirements, except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
subdivision. Chiropractors who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing
education requirements shall not practice until they have met such
requirements and have been issued a registration or conditional
registration certificate.

(b) Chiropractors shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing
education requirement for the triennial registration period during which
they are first licensed. In accordance with the intent of this section,
adjustments to the mandatory continuing education requirement may be
granted by the department for reasons of health, certified by an
appropriate health care professional, for extended active duty with the
armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to
the department which may prevent compliance.

(c) A licensed chiropractor not engaged in chiropractic practice as an
individual practitioner, a partner or a partnership, a shareholder of a
professional service corporation, as an employee of such practice units,
or as an employee of a facility operating pursuant to article
twenty-eight of the public health law, or as otherwise determined by the
department, shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education
requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department declaring
such status. Any licensee who returns to the public practice of
chiropractic during the triennial registration period shall notify the
department prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such
mandatory continuing education requirements as shall be promulgated by
regulation of the commissioner in consultation with the board.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as enabling or
authorizing the department or state board for chiropractic to require or
implement continuing competency testing or continued competency
certification for chiropractors.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for
registration shall complete thirty-six hours of acceptable formal
continuing education, a maximum of twelve hours of which may be
self-instructional coursework as approved by the department in
consultation with the board. Any chiropractor whose first registration
date following the effective date of this section occurs less than three
years from such effective date, but on or after January first, two
thousand four, shall complete continuing education hours on a prorated
basis at the rate of one hour per month for the period beginning January
first, two thousand four up to the first registration date thereafter. A
licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education
requirements shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by
the department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional
registration certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of
this section. The individual licensee shall determine the selection of
courses or programs of study pursuant to subdivision four of this
section. Continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not
be carried over or otherwise credited or transferred to a subsequent
triennium.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional
registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional education
which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the
triennial registration. The duration of such conditional registration
shall be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to
complete the required continued education and who continues to practice
chiropractic without such registration may be subject to disciplinary
proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal continuing education"
shall mean formal programs of learning which are sponsored or presented
by a New York state chiropractic professional organization, national
chiropractic professional organization or higher educational
institution, and which meet the following requirements: contain subject
matter which contributes to the enhancement of professional and clinical
skills of the chiropractor and is approved as acceptable continuing
education by a chiropractic college recognized by the Commission on
Accreditation of the Council of Chiropractic Education to fulfill the
mandatory continuing education requirements, and which meets the
standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner in consultation
with the board to fulfill the mandatory continuing education
requirement.

5. Chiropractors shall certify at each triennial registration as to
having satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements of this
section, shall maintain adequate documentation of completion of
acceptable formal continuing education to support such certification and
shall provide such documentation to the department upon request. Failure
to provide such documentation upon request of the department shall be an
act of misconduct subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to
section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial
registration period, and shall be in addition to the triennial
registration fee required by section sixty-five hundred fifty-four of
this article.