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Continuing Education Requirements & Your Personal Education Plan 

 

 

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Continuing education is more than just a requirement for state relicensure or for maintaining your professional association registration or certification. It can be a road map to help you achieve your personal and professional goals and prevent burn out. Developing a personal education plan can help you map your objectives, manage your schedule and finances and help you achieve those goals that will take you to the next level.  Click the CE Tool Kit to skip right down to the tools available for free downloads.

 

Organizing your plan requires some research, a little budgeting and some self-reflection. Writing and saving your information in a central file, folder or even a large envelope or XL Ziploc bag will help you keep all your needed information in one easy-to-find location. Handwritten or electronic, what matters most is you organize the information, so you can find it and use it easily.

 

Before You Begin

Locate your state license expiration date and/or renewal date for your professional association recertification.  In Wisconsin, our licenses renew on March 31, of odd numbered years.  The CPE and CCE credentials are good for five years from the date you were awarded it.

 

Getting Started

Cover the basics first. Review what the requirements are for your state or local license. If you hold more than one license, review and list each license requirement. If you are a member of a professional association, such as the Society for Clinical and Medical Hair Removal (SCMHR) or the American Electrology Association (AEA) identify the additional requirements to obtain or maintain your membership level. To my knowledge, neither group requires CE for general membership, only for advanced certifications such as the CPE or CCE.

 

The CPE Credential offered by the AEA and the CCE credential by the SCMHR, require credential holders to either retake the test every five years or earn a minimum of 75 contact hours (or 7.5 CEUs).  These may be earned from AEA/OCE or SCMHR approved events within the five-year recertification period. For both groups no CEUs earned retroactive to the exam are allowed nor can you carryover excess earnings into the next recertification period.

 

A Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is defined as "ten contact hours of participation in an organized continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction, and qualified instruction." Note this is different from a Continuing Education Hour or CEH which is a clock hour.  So one could say that a CEH is one tenth of a CEU…

 

Items to Watch for Regarding CE

÷         Can you take all of your required courses online or through self-study? States may require a percentage of hours taken in live or face-to-face courses.

÷         Are there specific content areas, such as CPR, ethics or state regulations, that you must complete for each renewal cycle?

÷         Can you earn additional hours by teaching a course or doing a lecture or talk? 

÷         Courses in many states (including Wisconsin) must meet certain criteria in order to be “counted”.  Often any class offered by a licensed school, licensed instructor or the regulatory body of the state are automatically approved as long as they are on the correct topics.

÷         Check to see if you can “carry over” credits.  If you earn over the amount of CE required for this biennium can you carry the excess over to the next?  Often this is not allowed.  Check your dates carefully.

 

This information is generally available on the Web site for your state in the licensing section. It is generally called “Continuing Education Requirements” or "License Renewal Information.” Be sure to make a note of courses that are not eligible for continuing education or license renewal. While you may wish to take a course in this area, be aware you cannot count it toward your requirements.

 

For the new CE requirement coming soon in Wisconsin, they are calling it a CE Hour (CEH), which is one clock hour.  Remember, a CEU is 10 clock hours.  So we have 1.2 CEU’s required in Wisconsin if Electrologists must earn 12 CE hours per two-year renewal cycle.  These hours must earned as specified below:

 

÷         2 hours of law and code CAN BE ONLY OBTAINED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF REGULATION AND LICENSING!  In addition, they are not certain where, when, how much, or who will be taking care of that we will keep you posted as this evolves.

÷         4 hours in safety, sanitation, and infection control.

÷         6 hours “directly related to the provision of services that are permitted under the license held by the state”. 

 

Courses may be taken online, in person, and of course, however the department decides to deliver the law class in Wisconsin.

 

As reported by the AEA, (so I would advise you to check for updates with your state and not rely solely on this list) other states that require CE include: Florida (2.0 CEU every 2 years), Illinois (3.0 CEU every2 years), Louisiana (3.0 CEU every 2 years), Maryland (2.0 CEU every 2 years),  New Hampshire (1 CEU every 2 years), North Carolina (1.0 CEU every 2 years), North Dakota (0.5 CEU each year), Ohio (2.5 CEU every 2 years), Oklahoma (1.0 CEU every 3 years), Oregon (2.0 CEU every 3 years), Tennessee (1.0 CEU each year), Vermont (10 CEU every 2 years), and soon Wisconsin (1.2 CEU every 2 years).  If Vermont does require 10 CEU that would be 100 clock hours every two years—that’s a whole lot of CEU way to go Vermont!!

 

Review

Do a review of the courses you have already taken in the current cycle. What are you missing? Note the dates, hours and content areas of the courses for which you have received a certificate of completion. Store them in your file for easy access when it is time to report them.

 

Clarify Your Objectives

Do you want to meet the minimum requirements only? Is there a special area of interest, technique or practice strategy you want to develop or advance your skills in? Is your objective to grow your practice through marketing or business development? Take some time to reflect on what you want to accomplish at the end of your plan. Write down your objectives; it is ok to revise them from time to time. This does not have to be a large document. Something along the lines of “Explore techniques for working with older adult clients” or “Develop other spa therapy skills I can add to my practice” are good examples.

 

Identify Your Preferred Learning Style

Are you self-disciplined enough to complete a self-study or online course? If you have not tried a self-study course before, you might try a short course offering just a few hours to see if it fits your style. If you prefer hands-on interaction, you may want to attend live courses that have a hands-on component. Feel the need to interact with colleagues and vendors? A state or national association meeting might be for you, and you can obtain CE contact hours at the same time. A live webinar offers you the chance to hear the instructor, see the materials and ask questions without having to leave your home or office. Taking the time to identify how you like to learn will help you select courses that will be most helpful and satisfying to you.

 

Develop a Budget

Your budget should include both financial resources and time. Can you afford a three-day course in a location that will require travel expenses? Is it easier for you to take a local, one-day course closer to home? Consider that time away from your practice also includes lost income in addition to course costs. If you need to bring or purchase supplies, equipment or textbooks in order to participate, factor in these costs also.

 

Research Your Options

Now that you know what content areas you need or want to include in your plan you can begin to identify your options. Research strategies include web searching, talking to colleagues, reviewing marketing materials that you receive in the mail or by e-mail. Many association web sites list upcoming courses in your area as well as state and national meetings and courses.  Check with your favorite venders to see what may be offered.

 

Narrow it Down

As you identify courses, instructors, or locations that match your objectives verify that your state or association will recognize the continuing education provider and the course.  If you take a course out of state, or from an out of state provider you need to clarify if they are nationally certified and if the class will be accepted in your state.  Recognition by your state board generally requires that both the content and provider be acceptable. 

 

Added Benefits 

Can you identify any value-added benefits? Are there materials that are included in the course tuition that can help extend the course experience? Traveling to a live course in another city may give you an opportunity to meet with family, friends or colleagues during the trip; this could be an added benefit of that course. Perhaps there is a spa, school or other business you have wanted to visit in that city. When comparing courses, the added benefits may help you make a decision.

 

Timing and Preparation

Before your course, you might want to contact the provider to obtain suggestions for recommended reading. If you need to bring materials and equipment with you, obtain a list and organize your materials ahead of time. Plan your travel to be sure you arrive in time for registration and informal networking. If you are taking an online course or self-study module, schedule your session at a time where you can review the materials with minimum distractions.

 

Record Keeping

Save a copy of your certificate of completion in your CE folder/file. Update the list of courses you have completed. Begin to think about your next course or educational opportunity.  In Wisconsin, like many states, we will be randomly audited to be sure we have the appropriate CE.  That means you will sign off on renewals that you took the required courses you will NOT submit documentation of those courses at renewal time.  In the event of an audit or complaint, you will need to produce documentation of those courses. 

 

Carry Over

When you complete a course, finish a journal article for CE credit or return from a conference or meeting, give yourself at least one “homework” assignment to help extend what you learned to your business plan or practice. Taking what you learned and translating it into action will help you gain more from the course. Write down at least one new idea or practice and list the steps to implement it right away. Speed is important here. If you wait too long to try out a new idea or technique, chances are you will not do it.

 

Continuing education can open up new avenues of referrals, income and satisfaction for your practice. Investing the time in developing a personal education plan will pay off in many ways!

 

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CE Tool Kits

 

To assist you in your quest for Continuing Education, we have developed the following tools for you:

Click here to download the CE Dashboard for Any State in Word Format

Click here to download the CE Dashboard for Any State in PDF Format

Click here to download the CE Dashboard for Wisconsin Licensees in Word Format

Click here to download the CE Dashboard for Wisconsin Licensees in PDF Format

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