DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

(Medical Quality Assurance Commission)

(3) Effective January 1, 2000, in order to attain full license status, individuals with a post-graduate limited license will pay the fee difference between the limited license application and the full license application. This license will expire on their second birth date after issuance and every two years thereafter.)) A licensed physician shall renew his or her license every two years in compliance with WAC 246-12-030. A licensed physician must also submit information about his or her current professional practice as required by RCW 18.71.080 (1)(b).

In order to obtain full license status, individuals with a post-graduate limited license will pay the fee difference between the limited license application and the full license application. This license will expire on their second birth date after issuance and every two years thereafter.

(((1))) A licensed physician((s)) must complete ((two hundred hours of continuing education every four years as required in chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 7.

(2) In lieu of the two hundred hours of continuing medical education, the commission will accept a current Physician's Recognition Award from the American Medical Association or a current certificate from any specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) which is considered by the specialty board as equivalent to the two hundred hours of continuing medical education required under WAC 246-919-430(1). The commission will also accept certification or recertification by a specialty board as the equivalent of two hundred hours of continuing medical education. A list of the approved specialty boards are designated in the 1995 Official American Boards of Medical Specialty Director of Board Certified Medical Specialist and will be maintained by the commission. The list shall be made available upon request. The certification or recertification must be obtained in the four years preceding application for renewal.)) one of the following to satisfy maintenance of licensure requirements during renewal:

(1) ((The credits must be earned in the forty-eight-month period preceding application for renewal of licensure.

(2))) Category I: Continuing medical education activities with accredited sponsorship. The licensed physician may earn all two hundred credit hours in Category I. The commission ((has approved)) will accept attendance at a continuing education program that is recognized as Category I credit and is offered by an organization or institution that meets the standards adopted by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education or its designated interstate accrediting agency, the Washington State Medical Association((, in accrediting organizations and institutions offering continuing medical education programs, and will accept attendance at such programs offered by organizations and institutions offering continuing medical education programs, and will accept attendance at such programs offered by organizations and institutions so recognized as Category I credit towards the licensee's continuing medical education requirement for annual renewal of licensure. The licensee may earn all two hundred credit hours in Category I)).

(((3))) (2) Category II: Continuing medical education activities with nonaccredited sponsorship. A licensed physician may earn a maximum of eighty credit hours ((may be earned)) by attendance at continuing medical education programs that are not approved but which are in accordance with the provisions of Category I.

(((4))) (3) Category III: Teaching of physicians or other allied health professionals. A licensed physician may earn a maximum of eighty credit hours ((may be earned)) for serving as an instructor of medical students, house staff, other physicians or allied health professionals from a hospital or institution with a formal training program if the hospital or institution has approved the instruction.

(((5))) (4) Category IV: Books, papers, publications, exhibits. A licensed physician may earn:

(a) A maximum of eighty credit hours ((may be earned)) under Category IV, with specific subcategories listed below. Credit may be earned only during the forty-eight-month period following presentations or publications.

(b) Ten credit hours ((may be claimed)) for a paper, exhibit, publication, or for each chapter of a book that is authored by the licensed physician and published. A paper must be published in a recognized medical journal. A licensed physician who presents a paper ((that is presented)) at a meeting or an exhibit ((that is shown must be)) must present to physicians or allied health professionals. Credit may be claimed only once for the scientific materials presented. Credit should be claimed as of the date materials were presented or published.

Medical editing ((can)) will not be accepted in this or any other category for credit.

(((6))) (5) Category V: Self-directed activities. A licensed physician may earn:

(a) A maximum of eighty credit hours ((may be earned)) under Category V.

(b) Self-assessment: Credit hours ((may be earned)) for completion of a multimedia medical education program.

(c) Self-instruction: Credit hours ((may be earned)) for the independent reading of scientific journals and books.

(d) Specialty board examination preparation: Credit hours ((may be earned)) for preparation for specialty board certification or recertification examinations.

(e) Quality care ((and/or)) or utilization review: Credit hours ((may be earned)) for participation on a staff committee for quality of care ((and/or)) or utilization review in a hospital or institution or government agency.

(1) Except as required by law, the commission will not give prior approval for any continuing medical education. The commission will accept any continuing medical education that reasonably falls within these ((regulations)) rules and relies upon each individual physician's integrity ((in complying)) to comply with this requirement.

(2) ((The commission will not give prior approval for any formal continuing medical education program.)) The continuing medical education category will depend solely upon the accredited status of the organization or institution. The number of creditable hours may be determined by counting the contact hours of instruction and rounding to the nearest quarter hour. The commission relies upon the integrity of program sponsors to present continuing medical education that constitutes a meritorious learning experience.