Report of Regents Professional Practice Committee to The Board of Regents
The Professional Practice Committee held its scheduled meeting on January 10, 2023. All members were present except Vice Chancellor Josephine Victoria Finn and Regent Catherine Collins, who were excused. Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., Regent Roger Tilles, Regent Kathleen M. Cashin, Regent Luis O. Reyes, Regent Shino Tanikawa, and Regent Roger P. Catania also attended the meeting, but did not vote on any action.
ACTION ITEMS
Professional Discipline Cases [PCC EXS (A) 1-3]
The Committee recommends that the reports of the Regents Review Committees, including rulings, findings of fact, determinations as to guilt, and recommendations, by unanimous or majority vote, contained in those reports which have been distributed to you, be accepted in 5 cases. In addition, your Committee recommends, upon the recommendation of the Committee on the Professions, that 20 consent order applications and 11 surrender applications be granted.
These recommendations are made following the review of 36 cases involving five licensed practical nurses, five registered professional nurses, four certified public accountants, four licensed practical nurses who are also registered professional nurses, one architect, one architecture professional service corporation, one certified clinical laboratory technician who is also a clinical laboratory technologist, one landscape architect, one licensed clinical social worker, one licensed master social worker, one physical therapist, one registered professional nurse who is also certified as a nurse practitioner in Family Health, one registered professional nurse who is also certified as a nurse practitioner in Pediatrics, one veterinarian, and one veterinary medicine professional service corporation.
Proposed Amendment of Section 61.18 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Residency Program Requirement for Dental Licensure [PPC (A) 1] - Department staff presented for emergency adoption proposed amendments to Section 61.18 of the Commissioner’s regulations to conform them to Chapter 613 of the Laws of 2022 (Chapter 613), which became effective 11/21/22. Chapter 613 amends the Education Law by removing the requirement that the postdoctoral general practice or specialty dental residency program experience required for dental licensure needs to be clinically based. Chapter 613 addresses that fact that certain well-recognized accredited dental residency programs in oral medicine, orofacial pain, and dental public health were excluded from satisfying the experience requirement for dental licensure because they were not deemed to be 50 percent clinically based specialty residencies. This prevented qualified dental school graduates with accredited residency training from obtaining licenses. By eliminated this requirement, it is anticipated that there will be an increase in the number of dentists in New York, which will expand access to needed dental services.
The Committee recommends that section 61.18 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be amended, as submitted, effective January 10, 2023, as an emergency action, upon the finding by the Board of Regents that such action is necessary for the preservation of the public health and general welfare in order to timely implement the provisions of Chapter 613 of the Laws of 2022, which became effective November 21, 2022.
The motion passed unanimously.
Proposed Repeal of Section 66.6 and Addition of a New Section 66.6 to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Optometrists Certified to Prescribe and Use Therapeutic Pharmaceutical Agents [PPC (A) 2- REVISED] - Department staff presented for emergency adoption a proposed repeal of Section 66.6 and addition of a new Section 66.6 to the Commissioner’s regulations to conform it to Section 9 of Chapter 506 of the Laws of 2021 (Chapter 506), which became effective January 1, 2023. Section 9 of Chapter 506 amends the Education Law to require optometrists certified to prescribe and use oral therapeutic pharmaceutical agents to complete an additional minimum of eighteen hours of continuing education related to systemic disease and therapeutic treatment, in addition to the minimum 36 hours of continuing education requirement, per triennial registration period. The other Sections of Chapter 506 become effective October 25, 2023.
The Committee recommends that section 66.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be repealed and a new section 66.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education be added, as submitted, effective January 10, 2023, as an emergency action, upon the finding by the Board of Regents that such action is necessary for the preservation of the public health and general welfare in order to implement the provisions of section 9 of Chapter 506 of the Laws of 2021, which became effective January 1, 2023.
The motion passed unanimously.
MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD
The Professional Practice Committee recommends, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the written report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on January 10, 2023, copies of which have been distributed to each Regent.
MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION
Deputy Commissioner Sarah Benson reviewed the items on the Consent Agenda.