49 Pa. Code § 27.32 - Continuing education
(a) The
Board will renew the license of a pharmacist who has completed a minimum of 30
contact hours (3 CEU) of continuing education during the preceding biennial
renewal period. Beginning with the license period commencing on October 1,
2011, 2 of the required 30 contact hours shall be completed in courses from the
ACPE topic designator "Patient Safety." In addition, for licensees with
authority to administer injectable medications, biologicals and immunizations
in accordance with section
9.2 of the act (63 P. S. §
390-9.2) and §
27.401 (relating to qualifications
for authority), at least 2 of the required 30 hours must concern the
administration of injectable medications, biologicals and immunizations,
including, but not limited to, disease epidemiology, vaccine characteristics,
injection technique, emergency response to adverse events and related topics.
Except as provided in subsection (h), only continuing education programs
offered by ACPE-accredited providers of continuing pharmaceutical education
targeted toward pharmacists are acceptable to the Board.
(b) A pharmacist shall prove compliance with
subsection (a) by completing and submitting a form provided to the pharmacist
by the Board for that purpose with the renewal application. The certificates
provided upon completion of an approved program shall be retained by a
pharmacist for 2 years after renewal, and shall be produced upon demand by the
Board or its agents. The Board will utilize a random audit of 5% of renewals to
determine compliance with subsection (a), and may expand the audit if rates of
noncompliance at 20% or more of the sample are revealed by the initial audit.
Individuals selected for the audit will be required to produce certificates
proving the information they provided to the Board on the form submitted with
the renewal application. Notwithstanding any disciplinary action taken under
subsection (i), a pharmacist found to be in noncompliance with the continuing
education requirements shall make up the delinquent contact hours within 6
months of the notice of deficiency from the Board.
(c) Both live and correspondence courses will
be accepted by the Board as long as they are offered by approved
providers.
(d) An excess of
completed contact hours in one renewal period will not be carried over into the
next renewal period.
(e) A newly
graduated licensee will be exempt from the requirements in subsection (a) for
the license renewal immediately following licensure. A reciprocally licensed
pharmacist will be required to show compliance with the requirements in
subsection (a), but will have the number of hours required to be completed
prorated, on a quarterly basis, from the date of licensure to the next date of
renewal. For this purpose, each quarter will consist of 3 months, and will be
credited for 3.75 contact hours (.375 CEU). The pharmacist will be required to
begin accumulating contact hours at the beginning of the next quarter following
licensure.
(f) A pharmacist whose
license has been suspended or revoked for disciplinary reasons shall comply
with continuing education requirements during the period of suspension or
revocation, if the pharmacist wants to resume practice or petition for
licensure reinstatement at the conclusion of the disciplinary period.
(g) The Board will consider renewing a
license without timely filing of the required hours of continuing education on
a case by case basis, upon a showing of incapacity, acute illness or other
circumstances which reasonably precluded timely compliance. Pharmacists whose
licenses are renewed under this subsection will be required to make up the
missing hours of continuing education on a schedule determined by the Board,
and to pay applicable fees and fines.
(h) Continuing education program providers
which are not ACPE-accredited may apply to the Board for approval, and shall
make a showing of program accreditation substantially similar to ACPE
accreditation standards. Requests for approval shall be submitted to the Board
at least 60 days prior to the start date of the program. Retroactive requests
for approval will not be considered. The Board will maintain a list of programs
approved under this subsection.
(i)
A pharmacist who fails to comply with this section, or who submits fraudulent
contact hour reports, will be subject to disciplinary action.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.