OAR 847-008-0077: Mandatory Cultural Competency Education

Cultural competency continuing education is a life-long process of examining values and beliefs while developing and applying an inclusive approach to health care practice in a manner that recognizes the context and complexities of provider-patient interactions and preserves the dignity of individuals, families, and communities. Continuing education in cultural competency should teach attitudes, knowledge, and skills to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities. (1) As a condition of license registration renewal, all Oregon Medical Board licensees renewing registration, who had been registered with a practicing license, except the licensees listed in section (2) of this rule, must complete cultural competency continuing education as follows: (a) Complete a minimum of one continuing education hour per year; (b) Complete continuing education: (A) Approved by the Oregon Health Authority under ORS 413.450, or (B) Courses or experiences that apply linguistic skills, use cultural information for therapeutic relationships, or elicit understanding and apply cultural and ethnic data in the process of clinical care, as provided in OAR 943-090-0020; (c) Report at least every other license registration renewal cycle; and (d) Attest to completing the required continuing education hours and report number of completed hours during the license registration renewal. (2) The following licensees are exempt from this rule: (a) Licensees in residency training; and (b) Volunteer Camp licensees. (3) Continuing education hours may be obtained at any time during the audit period. (4) The required continuing education will be audited starting October 1, 2023 and every other license registration renewal thereafter. The audit will follow the timeframes and fines set forth in OAR 847-008-0070. (5) Licensees must provide documentation of continuing education if requested by the Board. (6) If applicable, cultural competency continuing education hours may be used to fulfill the continuing medical education (CME) hours required for registration renewal under 847-008-0070.