Recently the Alabama Board of PT Licensure passed a rule that authorized only one certifying agency for all continuing education acceptable to meet licensing requirements; that agency is “ProCert”, which is a program from the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). ALAPTA expressed concern (written and verbally) for
three primary reasons:
The rule adopted by the AL Licensure Board is in opposition with the FSBPT’s own model of continuing competence which states they believe licensees should receive 50% of their continuing education from courses approved through Procert and 50% from other activities, including those who have gone through no certification process at all, because the FSBPT recognizes that some activities are not well suited to go through a certification process.
ALAPTA has further concerns, since the ProCert system for determining approved hours is not validated and has no evidence to indicate its methods are any better than a general system of CEU approval.
ProCert currently has a limited set of approved courses; of those approved, there are no APTA courses, ALAPTA courses, or courses offered by Alabama PT schools.
ALAPTA leadership attended the recent Licensure Board meeting on October 17 on behalf of membership. Despite information offered by both ALAPTA and academic leadership, the Alabama Board of PT Licensure voted to keep their language in 700-X-2-09 regarding continuing education for licensees, and voted down the language that was brought by ALAPTA which would have allowed education conducted by providers accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), including APTA courses, and courses conducted by an accredited university.
ALAPTA leadership will continue to work towards finding a solution to amend the language so Alabama licensees have more choice in educational opportunities they pursue as intended by FSBPT and which we believe will enhance individuals’ clinical skills and therefore better serve the Alabama public.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Effective October 1, 2013, licensees have only 2 options for licensure renewal in 2014
Live and online courses that are reviewed and approved by ProCert. ProCert is a proprietary system of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) that reviews and approves courses for CCU (continued competency units). Providers of continuing education must review a 76 page instruction/guide document and then submit their course proposal with a fee to ProCert.
You may choose to take a 1 to 2 year-old course previously approved by the Alabama Licensure Board, if a course previously approved happens to be offered again, and as long as it is not expired.
Ellen Strunk, PT, MS, GCS, CEEAA
President, ALAPTA
