CE Requirements at a Glance
CE is an abbreviation for Continuing Education in the form of a series of courses or lessons on specific topics presented for a set period of time with a quiz or test on said material.
The California State Board of Pharmacy (Board) requires 30 hours of Continuing Education for renewal, every 2 years, for Pharmacists and 20 hours every two years for pharmacy technicians. These mandatory Continuing Education classes are offered by many institutions including colleges and universities of pharmacy, licensed pharmacy corporations as approved providers of CE, state and federal government agencies, and other nationally recognized professional pharmacy associations.
Most required CE is "home study" internet based "distance learning", and may take the form of online self-study course work or printed workbooks. At the end of the work is a quiz or test of the material and upon passing the test a "CE unit" is earned . Pharmacists may obtain credit from Self-Assessment CE programs and examinations as well.
There are specified CE requirements related to the practice of pharmacy that must be completed by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The Board requires CE in the areas of Pharmacy law (2 hours), Pharmacy Ethics (2 hours), Cultural Competency (10 hours), Drug Abuse and Addiction (2 hours), Immunizations (1 hour), Patient Safety (3 hours) and the remaining 10 hours may be in any other topic area that is documented specifically to pharmacy.
Officials with the Board have stated that through regular attendance at educational courses of this type, licensees can stay abreast of the current trends and developments in the rapidly changing fields of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences. The mandatory CE hours are important in addition to the already rigorous entry level education, state licensing examinations and continuing post-graduate education that pharmacists must participate in.
The Role of the California Board of Pharmacy
The California Board of Pharmacy is charged with not only the duty of protecting the public from criminal and negligent pharmacists, but also regulating the education and continuing education of pharmacists in California. The Board of Pharmacy’s Educational Program – which I am blessed to be a part of – implements the continuing education program for pharmacist license renewal in California. Again, we are always available to help answer any Board of Pharmacy questions you have, as well as guide on what courses will meet the requirements.
The Board of Pharmacy has made it even easier for pharmacy professionals to review which continuing education courses will qualify for Pharmacist license renewal, or as acceptable CE for Board of Pharmacy and Board of Registered Nursing audits. The Board of Pharmacy publishes "Continuing Education: What’s Acceptable and What’s Not. Live Televisits Webinars and more" where the Board of Pharmacy gives its position on Live Televisits, webinars, as well as CE exams. As a rule of thumb, the California Board of Pharmacy will only accept CE that is accredited by an official board-approved accreditors. For example, all Televisits and telecourses must be accredited by CPhT. The webinars and CE courses are accredited by the Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education (ACPE). You may review the list of Board approved accreditors on the Board’s website. Another good rule of thumb, look for the ACPE logo on CE courses. Furthermore, as a reminder, the California Board of Pharmacy does not accept CPhT or PTCB continuing education credit.
Continuing pharmacy education that is acceptable for purposes of license renewal shall be programs that are primarily designed to maintain, develop, or increase the professional knowledge and skills relating to pharmacy practice, that are conducted by competent personnel. Competent personnel means individuals who have a statement of accreditation from the appropriate specialty recognition or certifying body and/or is approved by the board as set forth above.
Why Law and Ethics Matters
The law and ethics components of the CE requirement ensure that California pharmacists maintain the high professional standards that the Board has established. The required CE may come from any of the paving accredited CE providers that the California Board of Pharmacy has approved, including ACPE-accredited and state-approved programs covering topics within the scope of pharmacy practice.
The Law and Ethics course has been instituted as a means to keep California pharmacists and pharmacy organizations up-to-date with the latest developments in the field. In fact, the Board regularly discusses drug and pharmacy-related issues, such as the opioid epidemic and cannabis legalization, that have created new responsibilities for pharmacists or have raised ethical questions for the profession.
For example, the Board has expressed concern regarding how pharmacists should balance their duty to fill legitimate prescriptions issued by peer physicians with the goal of deterring doctor shopping, or the process by which prescription medications are sought from multiple physicians for illegitimate medical purposes, typically to obtain controlled substances.
Pharmacists have an ethical obligation to determine when a prescription is legitimate. However, they may have conflicting ethical obligations to honor the instructions of a licensed physician; to treat all patients with compassion, respect, and dignity; to operate a business that supports their livelihood, and to provide goods and services that will benefit patients.
Fulfill Your Law and Ethics CE Requirements
In order to qualify for license renewal, California pharmacists are required to complete at least 10 hours of courses in pharmacy law and/or pharmacy ethics. This segment of Continuing Education courses may include law and/or ethics issues, both statutory and common law, related to the duties and responsibilities of pharmacy practice, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the practice of pharmacy in California.
The California law and ethics CE requirements are cumulative – a pharmacist may fulfill a portion or all of the requirements with the same course(s) over the course of several years. For example, a pharmacist can take a .5 hour law portion of a 1-hour Pharmacy Law course for two consecutive license renewals and – with the 17.5 hours of required pharmacy practice and general CE – be in compliance with the 30 hours of required continuing education. The same course can once again be used to meet the law and ethics requirement if the pharmacist submits the pharmacy practice and general CE for a different time period that allows the course to be certified as law and ethics CE (meaning that the course does cover law or ethics issues).
Do note that the kind of law and ethics CEs described in the preceding paragraph are not strictly required. California also accepts mandatory Continuing Education that emphasizes subject matter related to the practice of pharmacy that does not otherwise satisfy the law and ethics requirement. Thus , pharmacists can complete some of their law and ethics CE requirements with pharmacy practice CEs, but in doing so must be careful to only self-qualify for CEs that contain law or ethics subject matter (and therefore can be certified as law and ethics CEs). Similarly, pharmacists may need to take additional CE courses every 14 days if they wish to count a "two-week period" towards the 30 hour California CE requirement.
Acceptable California law and ethics CEs include the following: Acceptable law and ethics CEs must be 5 hours long. Courses shorter than five hours will not help pharmacists fulfill their law or ethics CE requirements. They can still be counted towards the 30 hour total California CE requirement.
Recent Changes to Pharmacy Law and Ethics
As you may be aware, the Board of Pharmacy’s recently adopted rulemaking that changed many of its requirements for continuing education (CE) did not affect the law and ethics CE requirements. The effect of the new rulemaking is to boil down the Board’s CE requirements into only three categories: patient safety, immunization, and law and ethics. The Board’s prior requirement for 4 hours of ‘California law and California specific pharmacy ethics’ was deleted and replaced with ‘law and ethics’ without specification that this training must be California specific.
This change creates some confusion and potential pitfalls as some of the CE providers believe that this means that any law and ethics training that is acceptable under the law means that it meets the Board’s requirements for California pharmacists. However, there are specific provisions of law that all California pharmacists must be familiar with, such as the mandatory reporting requirements for dispensing error, impaired pharmacist, and shoplifting/robbery. These requirements should be included in training that satisfies this requirement.
The other potential pitfall is for pharmacists who perform services outside of California. For these pharmacists, they should be aware that for the sessions of coursework taken specifically for the purpose of obtaining foreign licensure at least 8 hours of the training must be on California law and pharmacy specific ethics. These courses would not be acceptable to satisfy this requirement and would put the pharmacist in the position of having to take an additional 2 hours of law and ethics CE to satisfy the Board’s requirements.
How to Complete Your CE Successfully
Each year, your license renewal is contingent upon the completion of all required continuing education. In order to keep abreast of ever-changing requirements and deadlines, follow these tips:
Start early: The various California licensing boards have different continuing education (CE) requirements and all deadlines are different. Be sure to check the regulations for your profession and read the latest renewal notice carefully to be fully prepared by your deadline.
Keep all CE certificates and records organized: This will save you time and effort later on. You need to keep your CE certificates for at least four years in case of an audit. Scan your certificates and receipts , so you don’t risk losing important documents.
Be careful when using service providers: Be wary of service providers that promise to keep you in compliance and report all your CE hours, because if the provider is out of compliance or goes out of business, you could be left in a lurch. Always keep your own records as a backup.