As a prerequisite for registration, medical physicists are required to complete continuing education. Current requirements medical physicists are summarized below. If you would like to review the current rule, these requirements are currently listed under the Texas Administrative Code, Title 22, Part 9, Chapter 160, Rule 160.16, located here.
Medical physicists need to complete at least 24 credits of continuing education (CE) every 24 months (24 month timeline goes by the biennial registration period, not the calendar year). A permit holder must report during registration if she or he has completed the required CE during the previous two years (biennial registration period).
Documentation of CE courses shall be made available to the Board upon request, but should not be submitted with the registration. Random audits will be made to assure compliance.
If you have any questions regarding continuing education requirements, please email us at registrations@tmb.state.tx.us .
Medical Physicist CE Requirements (Per Biennium)
24 total hours acceptable CE required per biennium
- A licensed medical physicist must complete acceptable CE as identified in the “Acceptable Continuing Education” section below.
Or
- A licensed medical physicist shall be presumed to have complied with this section if in the preceding 24 months the licensee becomes board certified or recertified by the
- American Board of Radiology (ABR),
- American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP),
- American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine (ABSNM), or
- American Board of Health Physics (ABHP).
A contact hour is defined as 50 minutes of attendance and participation.
Acceptable Continuing Education
CE shall be acceptable if the experience falls into one or more of the following categories:
1) Attendance at courses, conferences, seminars or scientific sessions sponsored by the following national or regional organizations:
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM),
- American College of Medical Physics (ACMP),
- American College of Radiology (ACR),
- Health Physics Society (HPS),
- Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMI),
- Radiological Society of North America (RSNA),
- American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), or
- other professional organizations acceptable to the board;
2) Participation in conferences sponsored by regulatory organizations or other organizations acceptable to the board; or
3) Participation in medical physics related courses, refresher courses, conferences, and seminars sponsored by state and private universities that have an accredited graduate medical physics program.
4) Participation in a program of study in medical physics that is accredited by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physicist Education Programs.
5) Participation in a course of study from an accredited college or university in
- physics,
- medical physics,
- biophysics,
- radiological physics,
- medical health physics or
- nuclear engineering of other course of study acceptable to the board.
6) Participation in a short course of study relating to basic and/or applied sciences in medicine.
7) Participation in a course of study that enhances the practice of medical physics.
Reporting of Continuing Education
Documentation of CE courses shall be made available to the Board upon request, but should not be submitted with the registration. Random audits will be made to assure compliance.
Licensed medical physicists selected for a random audit shall submit to the board documentation of participation in, and completion of, acceptable CE and shall include:
1) a certificate of completion or a certificate of attendance signed by the sponsoring organization; or
2) a letter on letterhead of the sponsoring organization verifying attendance; or
3) an official continuing education validation form of the sponsoring organization accompanied by a brochure, agenda, program, or other applicable information indicating content of the program; or
4) evidence of registration and attendance at a scientific meeting; and
5) any additional information or documentation deemed necessary by the board to verify the licensed medical physicist's compliance with the continuing education requirements.
Exemptions
The board will consider granting an exemption from the CE requirement on a case-by-case basis if:
- A licensee is called to or is on active duty with the armed forces of the United States.
- The licensee must file a copy of orders to active military duty with the board; or
- A licensee submits proof of attendance as a student in an approved academic program.
Exemptions are reviewed on a case by case basis and must be requested in writing at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the license. An exemption may not exceed one registration period, but may be renewed, subject to approval.