Maine Revised Statutes Title 32. Professions and Occupations § 13735. Continuing pharmacy education

An annual renewal license may not be issued by the board until the applicant certifies to the board that, during the calendar year preceding an application for renewal, the applicant has participated in not less than 15 hours of approved courses of continuing professional pharmaceutical education as set out in this section. For a pharmacist authorized to administer drugs and immunizations, of the 15 hours to be completed, at least 2 hours must be in board-approved courses on drug administration as described in section 13702-A, subsection 28. A pharmacist who enters into a collaborative practice agreement must agree to complete, in each year of the agreement, 5 of the 15 hours required in this section in the areas of practice covered by the agreement. The continuing professional pharmaceutical educational courses consist of postgraduate studies, institutes, seminars, workshops, lectures, conferences, extension studies, correspondence courses or such other forms of continuing professional pharmaceutical education as may be approved by the board.

These courses consist of subject matter pertinent to the following general areas of professional pharmaceutical education: the socioeconomic and legal aspects of health care; the properties and actions of drugs and dosage forms; and the ideology, characteristics and therapeutics of the disease state. The specific subject matter of the courses may include, but is not limited to, pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacy administration, drug administration as it relates to the area of permitted practice, pharmacy jurisprudence, public health and communicable diseases, pharmaceutical marketing, professional practice management, anatomy, histology and such other subject matter as represented in curricula of accredited colleges of pharmacy. The content of each course offered for credit under this continuing professional educational program must be approved in advance of the course by the board or its representative. The board may make exceptions to this section in emergency or hardship cases.

Each application for approval of a continuing education program or course must be submitted according to the guidelines prescribed by rule by the board, together with a fee as set under section 13724.