Continuing Education: Requirements, Documentation, and Audit
Continuing education is a condition of renewal, and the Board verifies it by audit. The exam tests whether you know what counts, what must be documented, how an audit unfolds, and what happens when the certificate file does not match the attestation.
The requirement structure
- Biennial total plus mandated topics. The Board's rule sets a total hour requirement per renewal cycle and carves out subject-specific hours - commonly infection control, prescribing of controlled substances or opioid pain management, and ethics or jurisprudence. Confirm the current hour values in the rule text, because the exam quotes them and they change.
- Acceptable sources. Courses from providers recognized by accepted accreditors (ADA CERP, AGD PACE, or Board-approved equivalents) count. Self-study, online, teaching, publication, and table-clinic credit are usually capped and require documentation of hours.
- No double counting. A course taken twice in the same cycle, or credited to two license types from a single attendance, generally counts once.
- Carryover. Excess hours typically cannot be banked indefinitely; any carryover is limited by rule.
Documentation and audit
Licensees must keep certificates showing provider, course title, date, hours, and format for the period the rule requires - commonly the current cycle plus one prior. The Board audits a sample of renewals, requiring submission of certificates within a stated deadline. A shortfall must be made up; a missed deadline can hold or void the renewal. Fabricating or altering a certificate is unprofessional conduct and exposes the licensee to discipline far beyond a CE deficiency.
Worked example
A dentist is audited and can document 44 of the required hours; her CPR card shows a completion date but no hour value, and one webinar came from a vendor with no recognized accreditation. Reasoning: CPR may satisfy a mandated component only if it meets the rule's hour and provider criteria; the unaccredited webinar does not count. The honest path is to report the shortfall, complete qualifying hours, and submit the corrected record - not to submit the vendor certificate and hope. Answer: deficiency cured by additional approved hours, with the shortfall disclosed.
Traps
Attesting to the full total and discarding certificates immediately after renewal. Counting a course twice, or counting an unaccredited vendor webinar. Forgetting the mandated-topic hours while exceeding the total. Assuming another state's CE credits automatically satisfy Delaware's topic mandates.