The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners adopts amendments to §573.64 concerning Continuing Education Requirements with a change to the proposed text as published in the Texas Register on March 29, 2002 (27 TexReg 2398).

The amendments were proposed to update the requirements for continuing education (CE) for veterinarians to require two additional hours of CE and expand the methods by which CE can be acquired by acknowledging the increasing availability of electronic methods of delivery. The veterinarian will benefit by being able to choose among several methods of acquiring CE, including on-line presentations, audio tapes, video tapes, and other approved methods. By increasing the number of required CE hours from 15 to 17 annually, the Board encourages veterinarians to increase their knowledge of this constantly changing profession and thus promote public confidence in the profession.

The Board received a comment from Lois M. Marshman, D.V.M., who indicated that requiring two extra CE hours will cause a financial hardship for those veterinarians who must bear the increasing cost of additional hours. The Board believes that the two additional hours can be acquired by the average veterinarian without incurring a significant financial hardship in light of the expanded universe of CE delivery systems proposed in this section. No change will be made in the section based on this comment.

Another comment was received from Mr. Ellis Gilleland who opposed any provision allowing veterinarians to acquire CE by listening to audio tapes or viewing video devices or participating in on-line programs because such CE participation cannot be verified. The Board disagrees with this statement and notes that such CE hours are limited to five hours for tapes and seven hours for on-line programs. The Board notes that on-line CE participation is verifiable because two-way participation is usually required and recorded by the on-line provider. The Board feels that allowing five hours of CE by listening to or viewing tapes without requiring independent verification does not threaten the integrity of the profession. No change will be made in this section based on this comment.

One change is made in subsection (a)(1)(B) of the section which clarifies the effective date of the new hours requirement and corrects the dates in the example for hours that can be carried over from year to year.

The amended section is adopted under the authority of the Texas Occupations Code, §801.151(a) which authorizes the Board to adopt rules necessary to administer the Veterinary Licensing Act.