The licensing board does not pre-approve continuing education providers, sponsors or individual programs. It is the licensees’ responsibility to determine if the continuing education programs they attend meet the requirements of their professional licensure board.
Potential sponsors are responsible for independently determining if the programs they provide conform to the continuing education requirements set forth in the rules regulations of the professional boards.
To make this determination, thoroughly review the rules for the board(s) in which you are interested prior to offering continuing education to Iowa licensees. By providing inclusive information about the content, objectives and applicability of your program to professional practice, you will assist licensees to make informed decisions when selecting continuing education.
A percentage of licensees in every profession regulated by a licensing board are randomly selected following each license renewal cycle. For auditing purposes the licensee must submit to the board office an individual certificate of completion issued to the licensee or evidence of successful completion of the course from the course sponsor. These documents must contain the course title, date(s), contact hours, sponsor and licensee's name. In some instances, licensees will be requested to provide to the board additional information to assure compliance with continuing education requirements, including program content, objectives, presenters, location and schedule. For this reason, sponsors should provide these items to licensees in writing. An inclusive brochure may meet this requirement.
Additionally, sponsors should consider profession-specific requirements that licensees must address to assure compliance with continuing education rules when preparing written materials such as method of presentation (home study, ICN, etc.), inclusion of specific hours on ethics and Iowa law and rules, certification status by national associations or boards, clinical content, and hours required in a specific practice discipline.
In summary sponsors should:
- Be familiar with the continuing education requirements of their professional audiences.
- Provide inclusive written materials to all program participants.
- Notify licensees that materials should be retained for four years for auditing purposes.
- Provide a certificate of completion that includes the program or course title, date(s), contact hours, sponsor and licensee's name.