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Log into CHTs Only to
enter Professional Development Hours online.
Click
here to download the Users Guide to Tracking Professional
Development hours online (PDF)
A CHT
must accumulate a minimum of 80 contact hours of professional
development activities, with a minimum of 36 hours in clinical
hand therapy courses (Category A) during their five-year
accrual period.
Click
here to download the Summary of Professional
Development Activities Table (PDF)
Click
here to download the Comprehensive Listing
of Professional Development Categories (PDF)
| Category A |
Formal Courses
in Upper Quarter Therapy |
 |
| Category B |
Informal Courses
in Upper Quarter Therapy |
 |
| Category C |
Formal Courses
with General OT or PT Content |
 |
| Category D |
Hand Therapy Publications |
 |
| Category E |
Hand Therapy Presentations |
 |
| Category F |
Activities Related
to Practice Management |
 |
| Category G |
Activities That
Promote Professional Practice |
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Category
A
Formal Courses in Upper Quarter Therapy, Greater Than
3 Hours in Length
Minimum required: 36 hours per 5-year accrual
cycle; all 80 hours may be submitted in this category
Courses
that may be applied to this category must be a minimum of three hours in length from the following areas:
- Formal professional development courses that award CEUs
or contact hours
- Academic course work at a college or university
- Home study or web-based courses
Description
of Activities
Courses in Category A must contain content that relates to
therapy of the upper quarter and/or hand in examination and/or therapeutic management in the following areas:
| Edema |
ROM |
Physical Agent Modalities |
| Pain |
Strength / Endurance |
Ergonomics |
| Sensation |
Dexterity |
Orthotics |
| Wounds / Scar |
Function |
Taping Techniques |
- The upper quarter includes the cervical spine, scapula,
shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand.
- Courses on topics such as ergonomics, edema management,
kinesiotaping, physical agent modalities, wound care, and
strengthening may be placed in Category A.
- Courses with content that is a combination of the upper
quarter and the lower quarter should be divided between
Category A and Category C. When submitting hours for courses
with mixed content, be sure to include the
course outline as documentation of how the hours were divided.
- Courses with content specific only to the lower quarter
belong in Category C.
- National conferences with hand therapy content (e.g. the annual meeting of the American Society of Hand Therapists), which have individual sessions of less than three hours, should be entered in A for the total number of hours attended. Likewise, if you attend a state OT or PT meeting that has both hand therapy content and general content, you can split the hours between A and C for the total of hours attended in each.
- For the Journal of Hand Therapy "Read for Credit" or ASHT's "Read and Respond," enter the hours in Category A if your certificate is for three hours or more; enter the hours in Category B if your certificate is for one or two hours.
- Home study, Internet courses and courses on media such as CD-ROM can be entered into Category A if the content is related to the upper quarter and they are three hours or more in length.
- If you have presented a lecture for a course that you
have also attended, you cannot apply the portion of the
course that you taught in this category. You can, however,
apply those hours in Category
E.
- You may submit the same course for credit each time that you take it within the five-year period.
Contact
Hours, CEUs, and Academic Credit Awarded
- The course being submitted must specify the number of
contact hours awarded.
- 1 contact hour = 1 clock hour of education
- 1 CEU = 10 contact hours
- If the course is taken through a college or university:
- One Semester Hour or one credit equals 15 contact
hours
- One Quarter Hour or one credit equals 10 contact hours
- The specific number of hours of educational content must
be indicated.
Acceptable
Proof
Submit a photocopy of the course certificate, the formal transcript,
or grade report that contains:
- Your name
- Date(s) of attendance
- Title of course
- Sponsoring organization
- Contact hours awarded
- If the course did not provide a certificate, submit written
verification of attendance signed by a supervisor or course
coordinator containing the same information as above.
- If the course title does not include words that convey
that content relates to therapy of the upper quarter and/or
hand in examination and/or therapeutic management in the
following areas, you must submit the course or
content outline.
- If the course content is clear from the title, please
do not submit the course outline or flyer.
- If you are dividing the content between two categories,
you must submit the course or content outline. A course
schedule or overview is sufficient; the course syllabus
is not necessary.
- A course registration receipt alone is NOT sufficient proof of attendance.
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Category
B
Informal Courses in Upper Quarter Therapy, Less Than
3 Hours in Length
Maximum accepted: 30 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description of
Activities
Category B encompasses courses addressing subjects having
direct application to the evaluation and treatment of upper
quarter and/or hand therapy patients but are less formal and
shorter in length than Category A courses. They include non-CEU
courses and CEU courses that grant less than 3 contact hours.
Examples of these courses are employer-related continuing
education, in-service courses, journal clubs, and study groups.
Observation of surgery (no matter how many hours were observed) should be entered in this category with verification from the surgeon. The content must address topics related to the hand or upper
quarter.
Contact Hours
Awarded
- 1 contact hour = 1 clock hour of education
Acceptable Proof
Submit written verification of attendance signed by a supervisor
or course coordinator containing:
- Your name
- Date(s) of attendance
- Title of course
- Subject matter
- Hour(s) of the course (minus breaks and meals)
- A sign-in sheet may be used for proof as long as it is
legible and includes the information above.
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Category
C
Formal Courses with General Clinical OT or PT Content
Maximum accepted: 30 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description of
Activities
This category encompasses courses that address the clinical
application of general occupational therapy or physical therapy
knowledge such as the following:
| Spine (other than the cervical spine) |
CPR Training |
Reimbursement |
| Cranio-sacral therapy |
Injury Prevention |
Medical Ethics |
| Cardiac rehab |
Infectious diseases |
Research |
| Lower Quarter |
Coding or Billing |
Practice Management |
| Pilates |
Posture/Movement |
Neurological Conditions |
Complementary
Medicine (see below) |
|
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- Courses pertaining to practice management should be placed
in Category C. Activities related to those areas (e.g. peer review, and participation in quality assurance
activities) should be placed in Category F. Supervision of fieldwork students should be place in Category G.
- Courses too general for Category A may be appropriate
for this category.
- Some educational courses have content that are applicable
to both Category A and Category C. Proof for such courses
must delineate how many contact hours from the course content
apply to Category A and how many contact hours apply to
Category C. Only one copy of the course outline and certificate
needs to be sent to HTCC when submitted online. However,
it should be included in both categories if your recertification
application is mailed to HTCC.
- You may submit a combination of up to 10 hours earned in courses such as CPR training, health & safety courses, courses related to practice management, and similar courses that may be required by your facility or state, during each five-year recertification cycle (e.g. 3 hours of CPR training for two years, and 1 hour of HIV Updates for four years = 10 contact hours).
- You may submit a total of 10 hours in courses related to complementary medicine, such as acupuncture, Feldenkrais, magnet therapy and yoga as long as the courses are designed for health care professionals. You may not submit a yoga class that you attend as a participant.
Contact
Hours, CEUs, and Academic Credit Awarded
- The course being submitted must specify the number of
contact hours awarded.
- 1 contact hour = 1 clock hour of education
- 1 CEU = 10 contact hours
- If the course is taken through a college or university:
- One Semester Hour or one credit equals 15 contact
hours
- One Quarter Hour or one credit equals 10 contact hours
- The specific number of hours of educational content must
be indicated.
Acceptable
Proof
Submit a photocopy of the course certificate, the formal transcript,
or grade report that contains:
- Your name
- Date(s) of attendance
- Title of course
- Sponsoring organization
- Contact hours awarded
- If the course did not provide a certificate, submit written
verification of attendance signed by a supervisor or course
coordinator containing the same information as above.
- A course registration receipt alone is NOT sufficient
proof of attendance.
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Category
D
Hand Therapy Publications
Maximum accepted: 45 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description
of Activities
This category encompasses the publication of material that
addresses hand therapy. The CHT may be an author or co-author,
and the item must be accepted for publication or published
during the applicable recertification period.
Contact
Hours Awarded
- Four contact hours per page of printed text are awarded
for each publication up to 10 pages for books, chapters
in books, and articles in professional journals.
- One contact hour per page is awarded for newsletters,
trade journals, or journals that are not peer-reviewed.
- Five contact hours are awarded for each 15 pages of editing
in a book or journal.
- One contact hour is awarded per year for editing a newsletter.
- Two contact hours are awarded to each author who contributes to a publication that is sponsored by a professional organization and is written by a committee, regardless of the number of authors. An example would be treatment guidelines written for the American Society of Hand Therapists.
- One contact hour is awarded per review for a written review of an article or book that is published in a peer-reviewed book or journal. Both the subject of the review and the publication it appears in must be related to hand therapy.
Acceptable
Proof
To receive credit for a publication, submit a copy of the
publication or condensed version including a minimum of the
title page, the table of contents, the first and last pages,
and a sample of the content. Proof of authorship and the source
of publication must be shown. If the manuscript is not yet
published, include a letter of acceptance from the editor
of the publication, indicating the anticipated number of printed
pages and a draft of the material.
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Category
E
Hand Therapy Presentations
Maximum accepted: 45 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description
of Activities
This category encompasses participation as an instructor or
presenter delivering hand therapy information. In order to
receive credit hours for a presentation, it must be delivered
within a structured framework of teaching/learning, such as
a lecture, paper presentation, workshop at a professional
meeting, or university course.
For
courses that use other media, such as CD-ROM or Internet courses,
submit supporting documentation that describes the course,
the media, etc.
Contact
Hours Awarded
Acceptable
Proof
To receive credit for presentations, submit evidence of participation
in the presentation (e.g., course, brochure, and/or course
outline) that includes the following:
- Number of actual hours presenting
- Date(s) of presentation
- Title
- Sponsoring organization
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Category
F
Activities Related to Practice Management
Maximum accepted: 6 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description
of Activities
This category encompasses all activities that serve to define,
assist, or promote the systemic improvement of patient care.
The activities should fall outside of the therapist’s
primary job duties. They are often related to serving on
a committee for the facility and are not related to the direct
practice of hand therapy or patient treatment. These activities
may include participation in:
- Safety Committee
- Case management
- Utilization review
- Quality Assurance/Peer review
- Patient satisfaction survey
- Compliance Committee
Courses
with similar content should be submitted in Category C.
Contact
Hours Awarded
- One contact hour is awarded per quarter year of completed
activity.
Acceptable
Proof
Submit written verification of project, activity, or committee
involvement, including date(s) of involvement, signed by your
supervisor.
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Category
G
Activities That Promote the Profession
Maximum accepted: 12 hours per 5-year accrual cycle
Description
of Activities
This category encompasses leadership responsibilities or active
committee participation in OT, PT, or hand therapy professional organizations such as the following:
- Serving as an officer or chairperson of an OT, PT or hand therapy association or regulatory body
- Serving as an active committee member of an OT, PT or hand therapy association
- Writing questions for a professional certification examination
(including the Hand Therapy Certification Examination)
- Involvement in state and/or national legislative issues pertaining to occupational therapy or physical therapy
- Participation in health fairs that promote hand therapy
- Activities that promote public awareness of hand therapy (note: these activities will not be accepted if they also promote the therapist's facility)
- Outcome studies specific to the upper quarter
- Clinical protocol development specific to the upper quarter
- Supervision of OT or PT students
- Serving on the editorial board of a peer-reviewed OT, PT or hand therapy journal
Contact
Hours Awarded
- Two contact hours per year of completed service for serving as an officer or chairperson of a committee of an OT, PT or hand therapy association
- One contact hour per year of completed service for serving as an active committee member of an OT, PT or hand therapy association
- Two contact hours for completed activities as described above
- One contact hour per year for participation at health fairs and activities that promote public awareness of hand therapy
- One contact hour per year for Clinical Protocol Development or Outcome Studies
- Two contact hours per student greater than one month of supervision
- One contact hour per student for less than one month of supervision
- Two contact hours per year for serving on an editorial review board. Please note that If hours are claimed in this category, they cannot be claimed in Category D.
Acceptable
Proof
Submit written verification of committee participation, organizational
leadership, item writing, etc., including dates, signed by
an officer or administrator of the organization.
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