Section 6604-A. Mandatory continuing education for dentists

1. (a) Each
  dentist,  licensed  pursuant  to  this  article,  required  to  register
  triennially  with  the department to practice in this state shall comply
  with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education  requirements,
  except  as  set  forth  in  paragraphs  (b) and (c) of this subdivision.
  Dentists  who  do  not  satisfy  the  mandatory   continuing   education
  requirements  shall  not  practice until they have met such requirements
  and  have  been  issued  a  registration  or  conditional   registration
  certificate.
    (b)  Dentists  shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education
  requirement for the triennial registration period during which they  are
  first   licensed.  In  accordance  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 a
  physician, 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 dentist not engaged in public practice as an individual
  practitioner,  a  partner  of  a  partnership,  a   shareholder   of   a
  professional service corporation, or an employee of such practice units,
  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  public practice of dentistry during the
  triennial registration period  shall  notify  the  department  prior  to
  reentering  the  profession  and  shall  meet  such mandatory continuing
  education requirements as shall  be  prescribed  by  regulation  of  the
  commissioner.
    2.   During  each  triennial  registration  period  an  applicant  for
  registration shall complete a  minimum  of  sixty  hours  of  acceptable
  formal continuing education, a maximum of eighteen hours of which may be
  self-instructional  coursework  as approved by the department. Beginning
  with the first registration renewal period for any dentist occurring  on
  or  after  January first, two thousand two, and before the occurrence of
  the second registration renewal period following that  date,  a  dentist
  shall  have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the sixty hours of
  acceptable formal continuing education  required  by  this  section,  no
  fewer  than  two hours of coursework and training regarding the chemical
  and related effects and usage of tobacco and tobacco  products  and  the
  recognition,  diagnosis,  and  treatment  of  the  oral  health effects,
  including but not limited to  cancers  and  other  diseases,  caused  by
  tobacco  and  tobacco  products,  provided that any dentist who provides
  written proof satisfactory  to  the  department  that  the  dentist  has
  completed, at any time subsequent to the effective date of this section,
  an  approved  mandatory continuing education course of not less than two
  hours in the same or  substantially  similar  subject  matter  shall  be
  deemed  to have met this requirement, and further provided that dentists
  who are exempt from the mandatory continuing education  requirement  for
  the  triennial  registration period during which they are first licensed
  shall also be exempt from this requirement for that period. Any  dentist
  whose  first  registration  date  following  the  effective date of this
  section occurs less than three years from such effective date, but on or
  after January first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-eight  and  before  July
  first,  two thousand eight, shall complete continuing education hours on
  a prorated basis at the rate of one and one-quarter hours per month  for
  the  period beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven up to
  the first registration date  thereafter.  For  any  registration  period
  beginning  before  July first, two thousand eight and ending on or after
  such date, each dentist shall complete continuing education hours  on  a

  pro  rata basis at a rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the
  period ending June thirtieth, two thousand eight and at a  rate  of  one
  and  two-thirds hours per month for the period beginning July first, two
  thousand  eight 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 in subdivision three of
  this section. The individual licensee shall determine the  selection  of
  courses  or  programs  of  study  pursuant  to  subdivision four 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 take 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. Any licensee who is notified of
  the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence,  satisfactory
  to  the  department,  of completion of required continuing education and
  who practices dentistry without such registration,  may  be  subject  to
  disciplinary  proceedings  pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
  this title.
    4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal  continuing  education"
  shall  mean formal programs of learning which contribute to professional
  practice and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations  of  the
  commissioner. To fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement,
  programs  must  be  taken  from  sponsors  having at least one full-time
  employee and the  facilities,  equipment,  and  financial  and  physical
  resources  to  provide  continuing  education  courses,  approved by the
  department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.
    5. 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 six thousand six  hundred  four  of
  this article.
    6.  On  or  after the effective date of this subdivision, and no later
  than the end of the first registration period  commencing  on  or  after
  such  date  during  which  he  or  she  is  required  to comply with the
  continuing education requirements of this section,  each  dentist  shall
  have  completed  on  a one-time basis, as part of the mandatory hours of
  acceptable formal continuing education  required  by  this  section,  no
  fewer  than three hours in a course approved by the department in dental
  jurisprudence  and  ethics,  which  shall  include  the   laws,   rules,
  regulations and ethical principles relating to the practice of dentistry
  in New York state.