§ 8504-a. Mandatory continuing education for respiratory therapists.
1. (a) Each licensed respiratory therapist required under this article
to register triennially with the department to practice in the state
shall comply with provisions of the mandatory continuing education
requirements prescribed in subdivision two of this section except as set
forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision. Respiratory
therapists who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education
requirement shall not practice until they have met such requirements,
and have been issued a registration certificate, except that a
respiratory therapist may practice without having met such requirements
if he or she is issued a conditional registration certificate pursuant
to subdivision three of this section.

(b) Respiratory therapists shall be exempt from the mandatory
continuing education requirement for the triennial registration period
during which they are first licensed. In accord with the intent of this
section, adjustment 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 respiratory therapist not engaged in practice as
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 their
respective practice as a respiratory therapist during the triennial
registration period shall notify the department prior to reentering the
profession and shall meet such mandatory education requirements as shall
be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for
registration as a respiratory therapist shall complete a minimum of
thirty hours of acceptable formal continuing education, as specified in
subdivision four of this section, provided that no more than fifteen
hours of such continuing education shall consist of self-study courses.
Any respiratory therapist 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 one, shall
complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the rate of
five-sixths of one hour per month for the period beginning January
first, two thousand 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 for in subdivision three
of this section. With the exception of continuing education hours
completed during the registration period immediately preceding the
effective date of this section, continuing education hours completed
during one triennium may not be 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 complete 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
submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
education and who practices as a respiratory therapist without such
registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to
section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable formal
continuing education" for respiratory therapy shall mean formal courses
of learning which contribute to professional practice in respiratory
therapy and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the
commissioner. The department may, in its discretion and as needed to
contribute to the health and welfare of the public, require the
completion of continuing education courses in specific subjects.

5. Respiratory therapists shall maintain adequate documentation of
completion of acceptable formal continuing education and shall provide
such documentation at the request of the department.

6. The mandatory continuing education fee for respiratory therapists
shall be thirty dollars, 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 eighty-five hundred four
of this article.