45:16-9.4a Required courses, topics for continuing veterinary education.

3. a. The State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners shall establish, through the promulgation of regulations, any specific courses or topics which are to be required for continuing veterinary education, and designate which are the core requirements for continuing veterinary education, including the number of required hours, subject matter and content of courses of study.

For purposes of this section, "core requirements" means the continuing veterinary education determined by the board to be necessary to maintain currency in professional knowledge and skills in order to deliver competent veterinary care.

b. The board may offset up to 10 percent of the requisite number of hours of continuing veterinary education required pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1952, c.198 (C.45:16-9.4) by the number of volunteer veterinary services rendered by licensees, at a rate of one half of one hour of continuing veterinary education for each hour of volunteer veterinary services, provided that a veterinarian shall be required to complete at least the core requirements established pursuant to subsection a. of this section. In addition, the board may adopt a formula providing a minimum number of spaying or neutering procedures that shall be deemed the equivalent of one hour of continuing veterinary education.

The board may reduce, in part, an application by a licensee to offset credits of continuing veterinary education pursuant to this subsection if the board finds, in its discretion, that the applicant requires continuing veterinary education in order to maintain or restore professional competence, or may deny all applications if the board finds that continuing veterinary education above the core requirements is necessary because of developments in science or technology.

The board may also, in its discretion and for good cause, notify a veterinarian that the veterinarian is ineligible to offset credits of continuing veterinary education pursuant to this subsection for any other reason established by regulation by the board.

c. As used in this section, "volunteer veterinary services" means veterinary care provided without charge to:

(1) a person eligible for, and participating in, at least one of the programs enumerated in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.172 (C.4:19A-2); or

(2) a shelter or pound licensed by the Department of Health and Senior Services or a municipally approved managed cat colony, provided that the municipality or nonprofit group or organization managing the cat colony has attested in writing to the veterinarian that the cat to be spayed or neutered or otherwise treated by the veterinarian is feral or stray with no known owner.

L.2010, c.89, s.3.