16 Tex. Admin. Code § 130.44 - Continuing Medical Education-General Requirements

(a) A licensee must complete 50 hours of department-approved continuing medical education (CME) every two years for the renewal of the license to practice podiatric medicine. One hour of training is equal to one hour of CME. It is the responsibility of the licensee to ensure that all CME hours being claimed meet the standards for CME as set by the commission.

(b) A licensee must complete two CME hours related to approved procedures of prescribing and monitoring controlled substances prior to the first anniversary of the date the license was originally issued.

(c) A licensee must complete at least two CME hours on a course, class, seminar, or workshop in: Ethics in the Delivery of Health Care Services and/or Rules and Regulations pertaining to Podiatric Medicine in Texas.

(1) Acceptable topics for the course, class, seminar, or workshop include:

(A) Human Trafficking Prevention;

(B) Healthcare Fraud;

(C) Professional Boundaries;

(D) Practice Risk Management or Podiatric Medicine related Ethics or Jurisprudence courses;

(E) Abuse and Misuse of Controlled Substances;

(F) Opioid Prescription Practices, and/or

(G) Pharmacology, including those sponsored by an entity approved by the CPME, APMA, APMA affiliated organizations, American Medical Association (AMA), AMA affiliated organizations, or governmental entities, or the entities described in subsections (e) and (f).

(2) Any program approved by the CPME of the APMA is acceptable to the department.

(d) A licensee whose practice includes prescription or dispensation of opioids must annually complete at least one hour of CME covering best practices, alternative treatment options, and multi-modal approaches to pain management that may include physical therapy, psychotherapy, and other treatments.

(e) A licensee shall receive credit for each hour of podiatric medical meetings and training sponsored by:

(1) the APMA;

(2) APMA affiliated organizations;

(3) the Texas Podiatric Medical Association (TPMA);

(4) state, county or regional podiatric medical association podiatric medical meetings;

(5) university sponsored podiatric medical meetings;

(6) hospital podiatric medical meetings or hospital podiatric medical grand rounds;

(7) medical meetings sponsored by the Foot & Ankle Society or the orthopedic community relating to foot care; and

(8) others, at the discretion of the Advisory Board. A practitioner may receive credit for giving a lecture, equal to the credit that a podiatrist attending the lecture obtains.

(f) A licensee shall receive credit for each hour of training for non-podiatric medical sponsored meetings that are relative to podiatric medicine and department approved. This includes, but is not limited to;

(1) hospital grand rounds;

(2) hospital CME programs;

(3) corporate sponsored meetings;

(4) meetings sponsored by the American Medical Association, the orthopedic community, the American Diabetes Association, the Nursing Association, the Physical Therapy Association; and

(5) others if approved by the department.

(g) A licensee may obtain up to 20 CME hours per biennium for practice management, home study and self-study programs if the provider is approved by the CPME.

(h) A licensee may receive up to three CME hours for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification or up to six hours of CME for Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification, but not both. No on-line CPR certification will be accepted by the department for CME credit.

(i) A licensee may only receive one CME hour for having an article published in a peer review journal, regardless of the number of times or the number of journals in which the article is published.

(j) With the exception of the allowed hours carried forward, the required 50 hours of CME must be obtained in a 24-month period immediately preceding the date in which the license is to be renewed. The 24-month period will begin on the first full day of the month after the practitioner's date of renewal and end two years later. A licensee who completes more than the required 50 hours during the preceding CME period may carry forward a maximum of 10 hours for the next renewal CME period.

(k) Licensees that are deficient in CME hours must complete all deficient CME hours and current biennium CME requirements in order to maintain licensure.

(l) CME obtained as a part of a disciplinary action is not acceptable credit towards the total of 50 hours required every two years.

(m) The CPME updated the CPME 720 - Standards and requirements for approval of providers of continuing education in podiatric medicine, effective July 1, 2020.

(1) The CPME standards define Internet Live Activity as "an online continuing educational activity available at a certain time on a certain date and available only in real-time, just as if it were a continuing educational activity held in an auditorium. Once the event has taken place, learners may no longer participate in that activity."

(2) Some examples of an internet live activity are a webinar, videoconference, or teleconference.

(3) CPME has also released guidance for CME in response to COVID-19 concerns.

(4) Providers of CME, including all organizations listed in the podiatry CME rules, can organize and present an internet live activity for CME credit.

(5) There are no limits on the amount of CME hours that can be obtained through internet live activity.

Notes

16 Tex. Admin. Code § 130.44

The provisions of this §130.44 adopted to be effective July 5, 2006, 31 TexReg 5289; Transferred from Title 22 Chapter 375 by Texas Register, Volume 42, Number 33, August 18, 2017, TexReg 4145, eff. 9/1/2017; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 42, October 19, 2018, TexReg 6958, eff. 11/1/2018; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 44, Number 35, August 30, 2019, TexReg 4727, eff. 9/1/2019; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 26, June 26, 2020, TexReg 4335, eff. 7/1/2020; Adopted by Texas Register, Volume 49, Number 47, November 22, 2024, TexReg 9546, eff. 12/1/2024