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Continuing Competency (CC)

The Oregon Board of Physical Therapy has continuing competency (CC) requirements in order to renew your PT or PTA license. 

All required continuing competency must be completed within the current certification period. The current Certification Period runs from April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2024. 

Continuing Competence activities are required to be reported to the Board as part of the renewal process.  You will be asked to enter details about your 2022-2024 CC courses and activities and upload copies of your certificates as part of your renewal application. 

Guide to Continuing Competency

The Board has created a new PDF guide to help explain Continuing Competency Requirements in Oregon. Click below to view the guide.

Understanding Continuing Competency Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

How many units of CC you need to complete depends on the effective date of your current license.  This date is printed on your license, or you can look up your record via the license lookup tool.  Then, just determine where your effective date falls in the table below to determine how many units you will need to complete.

Effective DateTotal CC Units Required
Between April 1st, 2022​ and March 31st, 2023
24 Hours
Between April 1st, 2023 and December 31st, 2023
12 Hours
Between January 1, 2024 and March 31, 2024
0 Hours​
​
​

There are two mandatory continuing competency courses.

Pain Management. ​This is a requirement made by the legislature in 2021. Licensees MUST take the Oregon Pain Management Commission's Pain Management Module at every renewal. Click here to take the free course.

Cultural Competence. Licensees MUST take a course in cultural competency every renewal period. Licensees may choose from a variety of courses. The course must be a minimum of one hour. Additional details can be found on our Cultural Competency Page.​​

The Oregon Pain Management Commission's Pain Management Module is required to be taken at every renewal. ​The course is free and worth 1.5 CC.

Click here to take the course.​

This is a requirement for most health professions beginning in 2021 with the passage of HB 2078. With this bill, the legislature modified the requirements related to the Oregon Pain Management Commission's Pain Management Module.  

Previously, this module was only required at initial licensure, but is now required for every renewal.  

PLEASE NOTE: If your initial licensure was within the current certification period, you do not need to complete the module again at renewal. You MUST add a continuing competency activity ​during renewal and upload the course certificate, as it will not transfer from your application automatically.

The Board allows for a wide range of qualifying courses and activities and allows for both clinical and non-clinical content. 

This includes traditional courses, seminars and workshops as well as other activities, such as completing an ABPTRFE fellowship or residency, serving as a certified clinical instructor, publishing articles in a peer-reviewed journal, or for presenting a course or lecture. Non-clinical content may only count for a maximum of 8 CC.​

There are applicable criteria, and, in some cases maximum credits for different activities in a given certification period.
Please see OAR 848-035-0030 for specifics.

Courses must be a minimum of half an hour to qualify for CC credit. Courses less than 0.5 CC cannot be accepted. 

The Board does not have a limit on the number of courses that can be taken online. 

In other words, licensees may take all of their courses online, may take them all in-person, or can take a combination of both in-person and online courses. 

Courses must meet all other applicable criteria, such as the minimum duration of 0.5 hours.

​In order to show that you have taken sufficient CC, you will be asked to upload certificates for all of your required CC during the renewal process.

At a minimum, course certificates must show:

  • Title of the Course
  • Licensee Name
  • Name of Speaker/Sponsor
  • Number of Hours of Class
  • Date of Class​

Additional details on required documentation can be found in OAR ​848-035-0040.

​Yes, and it's a great way to refresh your knowledge of Oregon laws regarding the practice of Physical Therapy!

Once per certification period, licensees may take the Oregon Jurisprudence Assessment Model (OR-JAM). The OR-JAM is a 50 question law exam based on the content of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) and Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR).  It is a computer-based, open-book exam that you can take from your home computer. The cost to take the OR-JAM is $48.00 and passing it will count for 3 hours of continuing competence. ​

​We've discovered several tips that can make the process of documenting your continuing competency easier.

  • When adding a CC Activity, select whether it is a clinical or non-clinical activity first. The system requires different information for each, so selecting it after you've input other information may wipe out what you've input.
  • When entering the number of hours for an activity, you can use the arrows next to the field to select whole numbers. Partial numbers will need to be typed in. In other words, if your course is 1, 2, or 3 hours, you can click the arrows 1, 2, or, 3 times. If your course if 0.5, 1.75, or 2.5 hours, you'll need to type into that field. 
  • The Licensee Portal is Mobile-Friendly! If you have hard copies of your certificates, but no scanner, you can take photos or use a scanning app on your mobile phone or tablet and upload directly from that device. Please note- if you're using an iPhone, we request that you turn off Live Photo. ​Click here for a guide on scanning documents on an phone or tablet (takes you to a site unaffiliated with OBPT)
  • Wondering why the Total Hours of CC is less than the number of CC hours that you've entered? Some activity categories have a maximum number of credits that can be applied toward your total. For example, ​Business/Leadership can only count for 4 credits. If you enter 6 credits in this category, your total will only increase by 4. The maximum number of hours allowed will display when you select the category. 
    ​
  • We've heard that some courses don't allow you to save the certificate- they only provide a print option. You can still save the certificate by Printing as a PDF! Click here for a guide on how to print to PDF on a variety of device types. (takes you to a site unaffiliated with OBPT)

  • Having issues uploading documents? Something not working right? Our first suggestion is usually to try using the Portal on a different device or a different browser! Since your device may have unique, personalized settings, sometimes switching devices will resolve the issue- and it helps us narrow down whether the issue is with our system or with your device. If you're still having issues on a different device, reach out to the Board by email and provide a description of what is happening! We're happy to help. 

All CC courses taken within the current certification period may count towards your continuing competency requirements. 

For example, if you were licensed in a different state and took a course in June to meet the other state's CC requirements, and then you became licensed in Oregon in September of the same year, the course taken in June may count towards your next renewal only ​since the course was taken during the 2 years prior to the license expiring.

Courses taken as part of a CAPTE-Accredited PT or PTA education program may not count towards your requirements. ​

​The Board does not approve Continuing Competency courses, but does require that courses have been sponsored, certified, or approved by another established and recognized health related organization, professional association, or state. 

Essentially- if the course says that they have been approved by any other state or by any other health related Oregon Board, the course is approved for credit with the Oregon Board of Physical Therapy as well. ​

How-To Videos

The Board has created two instructional videos showing how to provide proof of Continuing Competency Activities in the Licensee Portal. These videos show the Licensee Portal on a Windows Desktop and on an iPhone, however, the Licensee Portal is also compatible with Mac computers and Android Smartphones. All steps should look similar, with the exception that the Upload File button may give you different upload options specific to your device. 

Hint: Video too fast? Too Slow? Try clicking on the cog icon at the bottom of the video while it is playing, then click Playback speed. Selecting smaller numbers will make the video go slower, higher numbers will go faster!

Desktop Version:


iPhone Version: