Pharmacist FAQsFrequently Asked Questions for Pharmacists on Continuing Education Q: What are the CE requirements for Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners (CPPs)? A: By law, CPPs must obtain 35 hours of continuing education per year. The 15 hours needed for renewal of a pharmacy license count toward this amount, so CPPs need an additional 20 hours of CE per year to maintain that credential. Half of the 35 total hours required must be live continuing education programming. CPP credentials are renewed annually on the CPP's birthday. So, in counting CE hours, CPPs should make sure that they acquire the necessary number in a birthday-year cycle. A CPP’s license to practice pharmacy is still renewed on a calendar-year basis. In the first credentialed year for a CPP, the amount of CE required for renewal of the CPP credential is “pro-rated” monthly. For example, a CPP receiving initial credentialing six months before his/her next birthday would need 18 hours of CE [(35 hours of CE/12 months) x 6 months = 17.5 hours, rounded up to 18 hours]. A CPP receiving initial credentialing 2 months before his/her next birthday would need 6 hours of CE [(35 hours of CE/12 months x 2 months = 5.83 hours, rounded up to 6 hours]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: What are the new continuing education requirements for pharmacists? A: Effective January 1, 2008, as a condition of license renewal, a pharmacist shall accumulate 15 hours of continuing education annually. Please see http://www.ncbop.org/PDF/ExplanationofCEruleadoption08.07.pdf for more information, including the specific rule language. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: How will the CE audit be handled this year? THE CONTINUING EDUCATION AUDIT FOR THE COMPLETED 2007 RENEWAL PERIOD WILL BE CONDUCTED RANDOMLY. HOWEVER, FOR THE 2007 RANDOM AUDIT, PHARMACISTS WILL BE SELECTED DURING THE 2008 RENEWAL CYCLE WHICH BEGINS IN NOVEMBER. A PHARMACIST WHOSE NAME APPEARS ON THE RANDOM LIST WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THEIR REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT THEIR 2006 C.E. CERTIFICATES THEY RECEIVED (CONTACT AND CORRESPONDENCE HOURS) FOR THEIR 2007 RENEWAL. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: What continuing education requirements bind PTCB certified technicians? A: The Board of Pharmacy does not presently require pharmacy technicians to obtain continuing education. PTCB certified technicians, however, must meet PTCB requirements for recertification, which include continuing education. To recertify, you must earn a minimum of twenty contact hours of continuing education in pharmacy-related topics. CE's relating to functions outside the scope of practice for Pharmacy Technicians will not be accepted. At least one of the twenty hours must be in pharmacy law. Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accreditation is not mandatory for attended programs for pharmacy technicians to receive continuing education credit. You may earn a maximum ten of the twenty hours at your workplace under the direct supervision of the pharmacist(s). However, these credits may not be earned by working ten hours at your regular duties. You should arrange with your supervising pharmacist for the completion of specially assigned in-service projects or training. These assignments should be selected with your individual needs in mind and may include computer training, inventory control, IV admixtures, videos, self-study articles from professional pharmacy journals, etc. You may use one college course during your two-year certification period. The college course must be in either a Life Science (Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy, etc.) or Math, and counts as 15 hours of CE. If you are audited, you must submit a grade sheet or official transcript. Your supervising pharmacist records these in-service hours on the PTCB Universal Continuing Education Form (available in PDF format). All other continuing education courses should award their own Certificate of Participation (see Documentation section). A PTCB Universal Continuing Education Form should not be completed for those courses that issue a Certificate of Participation. Each time the PTCB Universal Continuing Education Form is used, the program is considered an in-service project. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Can a pharmacist receive contact continuing education credit for serving as a preceptor? A: Yes. A pharmacist who instructs a student for at least 400 hours can receive five (5) contact hours of continuing education. Internship forms (forms 1 & 2) must be completed and returned to the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy to be sure that credit is obtained for both the preceptor and intern. Pharmacists should be aware that the hours of credit cannot be split among several students; one student must receive at least 400 hours of instruction in order for the pharmacist to receive credit. Only five (5) hours per year can be awarded per pharmacist, regardless of how many students he/she may precept in a given year. Pharmacists may also receive continuing education credit for serving as a preceptor through one of the North Carolina pharmacy school programs. Pharmacists who serve as a preceptor for a pharmacy school can receive one (1) contact hour of credit per week of supervision (based on a 40 hour work week) of instruction with a maximum of (five) 5 hours of continuing education per year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Can I receive any continuing education credit for volunteer work at a free or charitable clinic? A: At the July 1999 meeting of the Board, and revised at the January 2008 meeting, the members recognized the merit of pharmacists who volunteer for service at free clinics. In a close vote, the members approved one contact hour of continuing education (CE) credit for every three hours of volunteer practice at free clinics, with a maximum of five contact hours per year. If a pharmacist is subjected to a CE audit, it will be the responsibility of the pharmacist-manager at the clinic to certify the hours worked and credit issued. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. May I acquire “contact-hour” continuing education over the Internet? A. Rule .2201(c) provides: (c) All continuing education shall be obtained from a provider approved by the Board. In order to receive credit, continuing education courses shall have the purpose of increasing the participant's professional competence and proficiency as a pharmacist. At least five hours of the continuing education credits must be obtained through contact programs in any calendar year. Contact programs are those programs in which there is an opportunity for live two-way communication between the presenter and attendee. The consensus of the Board is that so long as an Internet-based program provides an “opportunity for live two-way communication between the presenter and attendee,” it may count toward satisfying the contact-hour continuing education requirement. The Board notes that ACPE-approved continuing education courses that are considered “live” so indicate in the course number. For example: The Elements Necessary to Successfully Prove a Malpractice Case Against a Pharmacist The underlined “L” designation for this online program indicates that this is a live program, and the Board will accept such programs as counting toward the contact-hour requirement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: I am taking a Spanish language course in order to better communicate with my Spanish-speaking customers. Would this count as CE? A: Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Are there any teaching tools on medication safety for pharmacists? A: Yes. ASHP has developed a new educational program to teach RPhs, MDs, and RNs to develop logical and safe thought processes in the execution of responsibilities in the medication-use system. A committee developed the program titled: "Incorporating Safe Medication Principles into Daily Practice: Teaching Tool for Healthcare Practitioners." It is available at http://symposia.ashp.org/medsafety/
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