BILL NUMBER: AB 2482 CHAPTERED 07/08/08 CHAPTER 76 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 8, 2008 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 8, 2008 PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 26, 2008 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2008 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Maze and Bass FEBRUARY 21, 2008 An act to add Section 3524.5 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to physician assistants. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2482, Maze. Physician assistants: continuing education. Existing law, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, establishes the Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California. Under existing law, the committee licenses physician assistants under the name of the board and regulates the practice of physician assistants. Existing law provides for the renewal of unexpired licenses and certain expired licenses by applying for renewal on a form provided by the committee and paying certain fees, as specified. This bill would authorize the committee to require a licensee to complete continuing education as a condition of license renewal. The bill would prohibit the committee from requiring more than 50 hours of continuing education every 2 years and would require the committee to, as it deems appropriate, accept certification by a specified commission or another qualified certifying body as evidence of compliance with continuing education requirements. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 3524.5 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 3524.5. The committee may require a licensee to complete continuing education as a condition of license renewal under Section 3523 or 3524. The committee shall not require more than 50 hours of continuing education every two years. The committee shall, as it deems appropriate, accept certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), or another qualified certifying body, as determined by the committee, as evidence of compliance with continuing education requirements.