2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 8 - The Professions › Article 155 - Massage Therapy › 7807 - Mandatory Continuing Education.

§  7807. Mandatory continuing education. 1. (a) Each massage therapist
licensed pursuant to this article required to register triennially  with
the department to practice in the state shall comply with the provisions
of   the  mandatory  continuing  education  requirements  prescribed  in
subdivision two of this section except as set forth  in  paragraphs  (b)
and  (c)  of this subdivision. Massage therapists who do not satisfy the
mandatory continuing education requirements  shall  not  practice  until
they   have   met  such  requirements,  and  they  have  been  issued  a
registration certificate, except that a massage therapist  may  practice
without  having  met  such  requirements  if  he  or  she  is  issued  a
conditional registration certificate pursuant to  subdivision  three  of
this section.
(b)  Massage  therapists shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing
education requirement for the triennial registration period during which
they are first licensed. In accord with  the  intent  of  this  section,
adjustments  to  the  mandatory  continuing education requirement may be
granted by  the  department  for  reasons  of  health  certified  by  an
appropriate  health care professional, for extended active duty with the
armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to
the department which may prevent compliance.
(c) A licensed massage therapist not engaged in professional practice,
as determined by the department, shall  be  exempt  from  the  mandatory
continuing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the
department  declaring  such  status.  Any  licensee  who  returns to the
practice of massage therapy during  the  triennial  registration  period
shall notify the department prior to reentering the profession and shall
meet  such  mandatory  education  requirements as shall be prescribed by
regulations of the commissioner.
2.  During  each  triennial  registration  period  an  applicant   for
registration  as  a  massage  therapist  shall  complete  a  minimum  of
thirty-six hours of acceptable formal continuing education, a maximum of
twelve hours of which may be self-instructional course  work  acceptable
to  the  department. Any massage therapist whose first registration date
following the effective date of this  section  occurs  less  than  three
years  from  such  effective  date,  shall complete continuing education
hours on a prorated basis at the rate of one  hour  per  month  for  the
period  beginning  January  first,  two  thousand twelve up to the first
registration date thereafter. A  licensee  who  has  not  satisfied  the
mandatory  continuing  education  requirements  shall  not  be  issued a
triennial registration certificate  by  the  department  and  shall  not
practice  unless  and  until  a  conditional registration certificate is
issued as provided for in subdivision three of this section, or until he
or she has otherwise met the requirements of this section.
3.  The  department,  in  its  discretion,  may  issue  a  conditional
registration  to  a  licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two  of  this  section  but  who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
which  the  department  may  require.  The  fee  for  such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee  for  the
triennial  registration.  The  duration of such conditional registration
shall be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
licensee who is notified of the denial of registration  for  failure  to
submit  evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
education and who practices without such registration, may be subject to
disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred  ten  of
this chapter.
4.  As  used  in  subdivision  two of this section, "acceptable formal
continuing  education"  may  mean  formal  programs  of  learning  which

contribute to professional practice in massage therapy which are offered
by  sponsors  of  massage  therapy  continuing education approved by the
department in consultation with the state board for massage therapy,  to
fulfill  the  mandatory  continuing  education  requirement. Sponsors of
massage therapy continuing education may include, but  are  not  limited
to,  state  or national professional associations established to further
the massage therapy  profession,  and  may  include  any  affiliates  of
international   massage   therapy   conferences  at  which  professional
continuing education is a major component of such conferences,  as  well
as  programs  registered  as  licensure-qualifying for the profession of
massage therapy by the department. Sponsors  of  massage  therapy  shall
file  an  application  with the department and pay a fee of nine hundred
dollars. While presenters of didactic instruction  may  be  provided  by
persons  who  are  not  licensed  by  the  state  of New York as massage
therapists, the practical application of such modalities and  techniques
must  be  done  by  licensed  massage  therapists,  or  those  otherwise
authorized, when this continuing education occurs in the  state  of  New
York.
5.   Massage  therapists  shall  maintain  adequate  documentation  of
completion of acceptable formal continuing education and  shall  provide
such  documentation at the request of the department. Failure to provide
such documentation upon the request of the department shall be an act of
misconduct subject  to  disciplinary  proceedings  pursuant  to  section
sixty-five hundred ten of this chapter.
6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
shall  be  payable  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  each  triennial
registration period, and shall be paid  in  addition  to  the  triennial
registration  fee required by section seventy-one hundred twenty-four of
this chapter.