Guest Blog Post By: Margie Fletcher
I survived the CTRS recertification audit.
The hardest part was submitting the recertification form and calculating hours and the
category each CEU fell under:
Foundational Knowledge,
Assessment Process
Documentation
Implementation
Administration of TR/RT Service
Advancement of the Profession
The goal of the audit was to prove the Continuing Education had been completed.
Here are some ways I had earned Continuing Education
Self-Study CEUs: I printed the certifications of completion from
dannypettry.com, which was easy.
Conferences: Danny Pettry hosted a Tri-State (Ohio, Kentucky, and West
Virginia) Recreation Therapy Conference. I had kept the announcement that
listed the courses and how many clock hours of continuing education each course had. The conference was held at our work facility. I received a Certificate
of Completion for Recreation Therapy Conference that was electronically stored
but it did not list the clock hours or the name of the courses. I stapled the
Certificate of Completion to the announcement. It was good to go then.
Presentations are the daily double so for every 60-minutes of a CEU
presentation you get two hours of credit. But you don’t get extra credit if you
repeat the same presentation. I kept the cute Thank You card I received from
Danny for presenting on Recreation Therapy in Mental Health at a conference
that he hosted. I sent this in with the Certificate that I received from the 6-hour
conference that stated I completed 5 hours but it also listed that I presented for
one hour.
Various Lunch and Learn events at work. I attended several of these over the
last 5 years. I went to the Education Director’s office to get advice on how to print
the training transcripts with the description of the courses. The transcript listed
the estimated time to complete each course, the date completed and a
description of the course (if it was provided). When printing the transcript I
printed courses completed in the last five years. Courses that did not count also
showed up such as Safety and First Aid Training and proper restraining
R e c T h e r a p y T o d a y – S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 P a g e | 6
techniques. I highlighted (with a yellow highlighter that came from the Dollar
Store) the courses that met CTRS knowledge areas.
As soon as I got to 50 total hours I stopped.
Another important documentation
Another thing I need was documentation that I worked in the field of recreation therapy.
I asked the Human Resource Director to write a letter stating that I worked in Recreation
Therapy full-time from the start of my employment until December of 2015 when I
changed positions and work part-time in recreation therapy. I estimated the hours that I
work in recreation therapy weekly. She wrote the letter on company letter head and
signed it.
Mailing It all Out
I put all this in a large envelop with the fee including $15 to return the documents I sent.
(I am not a pack rat. I needed those documents and I did not want to part with my cute
Thank You card). I was prepared that if the documentation was rejected, I would track
down my Interns and their supervisors to sign The Internship Supervision Form for
Continuing Education Credit. I now possess these forms so I will be prepared for the
next time.
During the audit online it showed up that I was inactive. I called and checked to see if I
could still sign CTRS during the audit, I was able to.
Helpful Advice
Get a folder. Put copies of your CEU certificates, descriptions of courses you
have attended, the contact hours for the courses you have completed, and Thank You
cards for completing presentations, transcripts of college courses taken, copies of
publications/professional newsletter articles you will need them when it is time to
recertify. If you are missing a form check with your education director at your work
facility.
Be Persistent
My first attempt at becoming a CTRS was denied because my college transcript
had multiple entries Special Problems in Recreation instead of specific Therapeutic
Recreation courses. I sent in course outlines for each course listed Special Problems in
Recreation. They were accepted. So don’t get discouraged if you get denied try again.
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