Continuing education and professional responsibility
Continuing education and professional responsibility
This domain tests what a Georgia licensee must do to stay current and keep the license in good standing: the continuing education requirement, the documentation behind it, and the professional obligations that travel alongside it.
The requirement
Continuing education is a condition of renewal, not a suggestion. The Board's rule sets the hours required per renewal cycle for each license type - dentists and hygienists have different totals - and specifies which subjects count. Required content commonly includes infection control, ethics or jurisprudence, and CPR, which must be a current, hands-on certification rather than an online-only card. Licensees holding DEA registration should confirm the opioid-prescribing hours the rule requires.
What counts
Acceptable providers generally include ADA CERP and AGD PACE recognized sponsors, CODA-accredited institutions, and Board-approved programs. Each hour must be documented with the sponsor, title, date, subject, and hours. Carryover between cycles is limited, hours used in one cycle cannot be counted again, and repeating the same course within a cycle may not count.
Audit and attestation
Renewal is self-reported. The Board audits a sample of licensees and may request documentation at any time, so certificates must be kept for the period the rule specifies - losing them does not excuse a deficiency. Attesting to hours not completed is a false statement to the Board and a disciplinary matter, not a paperwork slip.
Professional responsibility
Beyond hours, the license carries duties: competence in what you undertake, honesty with patients about fees and outcomes, confidentiality, non-abandonment, supervision of everyone to whom you delegate, and cooperation with the Board. It also means practicing only within current competence - a weekend course does not authorize a procedure where the rules require a permit or credential.
Worked example
At renewal a dentist has 30 documented hours and plans to rely on an online CPR module for the balance. Two failures: the total is short, and CPR must be a hands-on course meeting the rule's standard. The correct fix is to complete the missing hours from a recognized sponsor and a hands-on CPR course before attesting, not to estimate and hope no audit occurs.
Traps
- Counting vendor presentations from unapproved sponsors as continuing education.
- Assuming CPR can be satisfied online only.
- Discarding certificates right after renewal.
- Treating a newly learned procedure as authorized without the required permit.