There is no skill in the world that cannot be developed further with the help of education or additional experience in the realm. As technological advancements help re-engineer the way education systems work across the world, continuing education (CE) has not been left untouched, with a number of online courses, workshops and seminars being made available online on platforms like Core Wellness. This helps you to sit within the comforts of your own home and take your learning to the next level in a manner that is unbelievably simple.
Before getting to the CE requirements for psychologists in Maryland, let’s look at what CE really entails.
What Is Continuing Education?
To put in the simplest way possible, continuing education is a set of courses designed for adults who are getting back to formal education to either stay with the times in relation to their career or to develop a new interest. Continuing education can help you develop a more serviceable set of skills or even earn a different degree, depending on what your aim is when you go in for CE.
CE courses are usually offered by schools, colleges and universities in the area, and may be either in the form of certificate programs or non-credit courses. The belief is that education doesn’t just end once you gain your college diploma or university degree. There is a need to constantly update your skills to stay current. Many professionals who work in fields like psychology and have the license to practice in a particular state are required to complete some hours of CE before they seek the renewal of their license.
Continuing Education Requirements for Maryland Psychologists
If you are a licensed psychologist in the state of Maryland, there are a set of continuing education requirements that you will have to meet in order to renew your licenses and certifications at the right time. In the section below, you will be able to gain access to a list of requirements that you will have to meet as well as some basic information on the renewal of licenses.
CE Requirements
If you are a psychologist—PhD or PsyD—in Maryland, you have to undertake 40 hours of continuing education, minimum, for each renewal period, which is two years. Out of these 40 hours that have to be completed, 20 hours can be undertaken through online courses on registered platforms. This makes the CE requirements relatively more flexible, as these can be finished within the comforts of your home or office.
All psychologists applying for the license need to have at least three hours of ethics—including professional conduct, practice and risk management—and three hours of cultural competence—to enable them to provide services to a diverse group of people—under their belt for each renewal period, which helps keeping them in line with the current requirements of society.
For psychologists, 20 hours of independent study, which means the study of material that has been sourced from sponsors that have the approval of the state, is also accepted. In case the psychologist is involved in supervising psychology associates, he or she will be required to fulfill three hours of clinical supervision as well.
For psychology associates, the requirements are slightly different. For example, all psychology associates have to complete at least twenty hours of continuing education for every two years between their license renewal dates. CE for associates must include three hours of ethics as well as three hours of cultural competence, just like psychologists. However, associates in the field are only allowed to undertake a maximum of ten hours of independent study.
Renewal of Licenses
According to the Maryland Department of Health, the renewal date is the actual date upon which your license or certificate will expire. This means that your process of renewal needs to be kickstarted keeping this in mind. As the renewal period of a license is two years, the renewal date changes depending on your registration number—March 31 every two years. In case your registration number ends with an odd digit, your renewal will be due on March 31 of all odd years, while registrations ending with even digits will be due on March 31 of all even years.
Getting back to studying can be particularly laborious, especially when you have to manage work and your career at the same time. With the home study resources, live webinars and workshops offered by Core Wellness, the task can be made so much easier. This way, you can get back from a long day at work and still manage to take some time out and flip open the laptop to make some time for education. We understand that learning is a never-ending process and a core requirement if you wish to excel at whatever you choose to do. To act as enablers, we give you the resources to do so!