Section 3.2
CONTINUING COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS
(a)
"Continuing competence" means the direct involvement of an occupational
therapist or occupational therapy assistant as a participant in activities
promoting continuing competency in occupational therapy theory and practice. A
total of 20 hours of continuing competence shall be earned in a two year
renewal period. An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant who
is renewing his or her license for the first time after initial licensure is
subject to a 10 hour continuing competence requirement per full year of
licensure. If the license has been held for one year or less, no continuing
competence is required. If held mare than one year but less than two years, ten
hours is required.
(b) Scope of
qualified activities for maintaining continuing competence:
1) To be accepted by the Director, activities
must be related to a licensee's current or anticipated roles and
responsibilities in occupational therapy and must directly or indirectly serve
to protect the public by enhancing the licensee's continuing
competence.
2) Subject matter for
qualified activities include research; theoretical or practical content related
to the practice of occupational therapy; or the development, administration,
supervision, and teaching of clinical practice or service delivery programs by
occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants.
(c) Qualified activities for
maintaining continuing competence include:
1)
Continuing education courses, which include attendance and participation as
required at a live presentation such as a workshop, seminar, conference, or
in-service educational program. May also include participation in other
continuing education activities that require a formal assessment of learning.
Examples include electronic or web-based courses, AOTA self-paced clinical
courses or other formalized self study courses, AOTA continuing education
articles and other substantially similar activities.
2) Academic coursework, which includes
participation in on-site or distance learning academic courses from a
university college, or vocational technical adult education course related to
the practice of occupational therapy.
3) Independent study, which includes reading
books, journals, articles, reviewing videos and other substantially similar
activities.
4) Mentorship, which
includes participation as a mentor or mentee in a formalized mentorship
agreement as defined by a signed contract between the mentor and the mentee
that outlines specific goals and objectives and designates the plan of
activities that are to be met by the mentee and designates the responsibilities
of the mentor. This activity may qualify for credit for one renewal cycle
only.
5) Fieldwork supervision,
which includes participation as the primary clinical fieldwork educator for
Level II OT or OTA fieldwork students
6) Professional writing, which includes
publication of a peer-reviewed or non peer-reviewed book, chapter or
article.
7) Presentation and
instruction, which includes first time or significantly revised presentation of
an academic course or peer-reviewed or non peer-reviewed workshop, seminar,
in-service, electronic or web-based course or other substantially similar
activity.
8) Research, which
includes development or participation in a research project as a primary or
assistant investigator in the research project.
9) Grants, which include development of a
grant proposal.
10) Professional
meetings and activities, which include participation in board or committee work
with agencies or organizations in professionally related areas to promote and
enhance the practice of occupational therapy.
(d) See Appendix A of these rules for
guidelines for professional development. This document outlines in further
detail acceptable professional development activities, maximum hourly amounts
and the documentation required for each activity.
Section 3.3 CONTINUING COMPETENCE REPORTING
AND PROGRAM APPROVAL FOR INDIVIDUALS
(a) At
renewal time the Office will provide a form upon which all continuing
competency activities must be reported. The form must be submitted with the
biennial renewal form.
(b) Requests
for extension because of unforeseen circumstances may be granted. Under
extenuating circumstances, the Director may waive all or part of the continuing
competence activity requirements if the applicant provides a written request
for a waiver and provides evidence of an illness, injury, financial hardship,
family hardship, or other extenuating circumstance which precluded the
applicant's completion of continuing competence requirements.
(c) If the continuing competence submitted
for credits is deemed by the Director not to be directly pertinent to the
profession of occupational therapy, the applicant will be allowed four months
to earn and submit replacement hours. Replacement hours can only be considered
for one renewal period. If the applicant feels the continuing competence credit
has been denied inappropriately, the applicant may appeal in writing to the
Director within 30 days of the date of receiving notice from the
Director.
(d) Licensees shall
maintain the required proof of completion for each continuing competence
activity as specified in these rules. The required documentation shall be
maintained for a minimum of two years following the last day of the renewal
period for which the continuing competency activities were earned. Licensees
should not send their continuing competency activity documentation to the
Office unless audited or otherwise requested to do so.
(e) The Office may perform a random audit of
licensees' continuing competency activity requirements. A licensee who fails to
comply with continuing competency activity requirements is subject to
disciplinary action.
Section
3.4 CONTINUING COMPETENCE PROGRAM APPROVAL FOR SPONSORS
(a) Provided that the activities are
consistent with the provisions of these rules, the Director shall grant
pre-approval to activities:
1) sponsored or
approved by the Vermont Occupational Therapy Association;
2) sponsored or approved by the American
Occupational Therapy Association;
3) sponsored by AOTA approved
providers.
(b) A provider
who wishes to obtain approval of activities for maintaining continuing
competence shall submit to the Office, at least 90 days in advance of the
program, all required information, including:
1) Course description;
2) Learning outcomes;
3) Target audience;
4) Content focus;
5) Detailed agenda for the
activity;
6) Amount of credit
offered;
7) Qualifications of the
presenter(s);
8) Sample
documentation for demonstrating satisfactory completion by course participants
such as a certificate of completion.
(c) Upon review of the completed application,
the office shall notify the provider as to whether or not the program has been
approved and, if approved, the number of continuing competence hours to be
awarded.
(d) A provider of
continuing competence activity shall furnish documentation for demonstrating
satisfactory completion to all participants, specifying the following
information:
1) Name of participant;
2) Name of provider;
3) Dates of the activity and
completion;
4) Title and location
of activity;
5) Number of points
awarded by the Office; and
6)
Signature of the provider or representative.
(e) A licensee may obtain office approval of
continuing competence credits for activities not already approved. Activities
must be consistent with Rule 3. 2, above. In order to obtain approval, the
licensee shall submit the following materials:
1) Course description;
2) Learning outcomes;
3) Target audience;
4) Content focus;
5) Detailed agenda for the
activity;
6) Qualifications of the
presenter(s);
7) Sample
documentation for demonstrating satisfactory completion by course participants
such as a certificate of completion.
(f) Upon review of the completed application,
the Office shall notify the licensee as to whether or not the activity has been
approved and, if approved, the number of continuing competence hours to be
awarded.
Section 3.7 SUPERVISION STANDARDS
(a) As used in this rule:
"Supervision" means the responsible periodic review and
inspection of all aspects of occupational therapy services by the appropriate
licensed occupational therapist.
"Close supervision" means daily, direct, face-to-face contact
at the site of work and applies only to occupational therapists with initial
skill development proficiencies or occupational therapy assistants, as
appropriate for the delivery of occupational therapy services.
"Routine supervision" means direct face-to-face contact at
least every two weeks at the site of the work, with interim supervision
occurring by other methods, such as telephonic, electronic, or written
communication and applies only to occupational therapy assistants
"General supervision" means at least monthly direct
face-to-face contact, with interim supervision available as needed by other
methods, and applies only to occupational therapists with increased skill
development and mastery of basic role functions or occupational therapy
assistants, as appropriate, for the delivery of occupational therapy
services.
(b) Supervision
is a collaborative process that requires both the licensed occupational
therapist and the licensed occupational therapy assistant to share
responsibility. Appropriate supervision will include consideration given to
such factors as level of skill, the establishment of service competency (the
ability to use the identified intervention in a safe and effective manner),
experience and work setting demands, as well as the complexity and stability of
the client population to be treated.
(c) The supervision of the occupational
therapy assistant is a process that is aimed at ensuring the safe and effective
delivery of occupational therapy services and fosters professional competence
and development.
(d) For effective
supervision to occur that will ensure safety and effectiveness of service
delivery and that will support the occupational therapy assistant's
professional growth, a variety of types and methods of supervision should be
used by the occupational therapist. Examples of methods or types of supervision
include observation, co-treatment, dialogue/discussion, and
teaching/instruction.
(e) The
occupational therapist develops a plan for supervision that includes input from
the OTA in regard to the following:
(1) the
frequency of supervisory contact
(2) the method(s) or type(s) of
supervision
(3) the content areas
addressed
(f) The
supervisory plan is documented and a log of supervisory contacts is kept by
both parties. The log includes the frequency and methods of supervision
used.
(g) Supervision of
occupational therapy services provided by a licensed occupational therapy
assistant shall be implemented as follows:
(1)
Entry level occupational therapy assistants are persons working on initial
skill development (less than 1 year of work experience) or who are entering new
practice environments or developing new skills (one or more years of
experience) and shall require close supervision.
(2) Intermediate level occupational therapy
assistants are persons working on increased skill development, mastery of basic
role functions (minimum one - three years of experience or dependent on
practice environment or previous experience) and shall require routine
supervision.
(3) Advanced level
occupational therapy assistants are persons refining specialized skills (more
than 3 years work experience, or the ability to understand complex issues
affecting role functions) and shall require general supervision.
(4) Licensed occupational therapy assistants,
regardless of their years of experience, may require closer supervision by the
licensed occupational therapist for interventions that are more complex or
evaluative in nature and for areas in which service competencies have not been
established.
(h) General
statements regarding roles and responsibilities during the delivery of
occupational therapy services:
(1) The
occupational therapist is responsible for the overall delivery of occupational
therapy services and is accountable for the safety and effectiveness of the
occupational therapy service delivery process.
(2) The occupational therapy assistant
delivers occupational therapy services under the supervision of the
occupational therapist.
(3) It is
the responsibility of the occupational therapist to be directly involved in the
delivery of services during the initial evaluation and regularly throughout the
course of intervention.
(4)
Services delivered by the occupational therapy assistant are specifically
selected and delegated by the occupational therapist. When delegating to the
occupational therapy assistant, the occupational therapist considers the
following factors:
(A) the complexity of the
client's condition and needs
(B)
the knowledge, skill, and competence of the occupational therapy
assistant.
(C) the nature and
complexity of the intervention
(5) Prior to delegation of any aspect of the
service delivery process to the occupational therapy assistant, service
competency must be demonstrated and documented between the occupational
therapist and occupational therapy assistant. Service competency is
demonstrated and documented for clinical reasoning and judgment required during
the service delivery process as well as for the performance of specific
techniques, assessments, and intervention methods used. Service competency must
be monitored and reassessed regularly.
(6) The role delineation and responsibilities
of the occupational therapist and the occupational therapy assistant remain
unchanged regardless of the setting in which occupational therapy services are
delivered (i.e., traditional, non-traditional, or newly emerging practice
settings).
(i) An
occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant practicing under a
temporary license must have daily, direct, on-site supervision by a licensed
occupational therapist for the duration of the temporary license. The
supervisor is available for advice and intervention, and will sign all notes
entered into the patient's medical record.
