If you obtained your occupational therapy license in the state of New York, you will need to earn continuing education units at required intervals in order to maintain your license. To help, I’m going to walk you through the steps I take to maintain my own occupational therapy license (and easily earn CEUs).
Click here to jump straight to the New York OT CEU discounts!
Earn your New York OT CEUs with
OT Potential!
Get 15% off + 15% goes to support NYSOTA.
Learn more, then use promo code: NewYork
Or try 2 free OT CEUs!
Step 1: Look up your OT/OTA license.
To begin the process, I always double-check that my license is displaying correctly. You can look up your New York occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant license here.
Step 2: Confirm the New York OT continuing education requirements.
It’s always good to double check for any updates to your 2025 licensing cycle. (One year, I completed ALL of my state of Nebraska requirements only to find out that they were waived due to COVID. 😭)
But, to get you going here is the information I found, with links to where I found it.
Here are the basic OT/OTA CEU requirements in New York:
Due every 3 years at time of license renewal.
How many hours are required?
- OTs and OTAs need 36 education hours every 3-year cycle
Requirements:
- Minimum of 24 hours of education that directly relate to occupational therapy practice and your professional competence
- The remaining 12 hours can cover related subjects, such as laws/ethics, professional issues, or reimbursement
- Documentation proving completion of education hours is required
Note: New licensees who have not been licensed in another state are NOT required to complete any continuing education for their first renewal!
Verify here: New York State Education Department
Discounts
Get a 15% discount on OT Potential by using the promo code: NewYork
(We’ll also give 15% of that sale to the New York State OT Association.)
Here are the specific occupational therapy continuing education requirements for coursework in New York:
These were copied from the current New York Laws, Rules & Regulations For Occupational Therapists.
Article 156, Occupational Therapists
§7908. Mandatory continuing competency.
2.
- During each triennial registration period an applicant for registration as an occupational therapist shall complete a minimum of thirty-six hours of learning activities which contribute to continuing competence, as specified in subdivision four of this section, provided further that at least twenty-four hours shall be in areas of study pertinent to the scope of practice of occupational therapy. With the exception of continuing education hours taken during the registration period immediately preceding the effective date of this section, continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.
- During each triennial registration period an applicant for registration as an occupational therapy assistant shall complete a minimum of thirty-six hours of learning activities which contribute to continuing competence as specified in subdivision four of this section, provided further that at least twenty-four hours shall be in recognized areas of study pertinent to the licensee’s professional scope of practice of occupational therapy. With the exception of continuing education hours taken during the registration period immediately preceding the effective date of this section, continuing education hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.
- Any occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant whose first registration date following the effective date of this section occurs less than three years from such effective date but on or after January first, two thousand thirteen, shall complete continuing competency hours on a prorated basis at the rate of one-half hour per month for the period beginning January first, two thousand thirteen up to the first registration date.
- Thereafter, a licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing competency requirements shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by the department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional registration certificate is issued as provided for in subdivision three of this section.
4. As used in subdivision two of this section, “acceptable learning activities” shall mean activities which contribute to professional practice in occupational therapy, and which meet the standards prescribed in the regulations of the commissioner. Such learning activities shall include, but not be limited to, collegiate level credit and non-credit courses, self-study activities, independent study, formal mentoring activities, publications in professional journals, professional development programs and technical sessions; such learning activities may be offered and sponsored by national, state and local professional associations and other organizations or parties acceptable to the department, and any other organized educational and technical learning activities acceptable to the department. The department may, in its discretion and as needed to contribute to the health and welfare of the public, require the completion of continuing competency learning activities in specific subjects to fulfill this mandatory continuing competency requirement. Learning activities must be taken from a sponsor approved by the department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.
5. Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants shall maintain adequate documentation of completion of (a) a learning plan that shall record current and anticipated roles and responsibilities but shall not require the records of peer review or self-assessment of competencies, and (b) acceptable continuing competency learning activities and shall provide such documentation at the request of the department. Failure to provide such documentation upon request of the department shall be an act of misconduct subject to the disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.
Read the full chapter here, including acceptable education activities.
Step 3: Earn your CEU hours (discounts below)!
Ok, now that you know your requirements, it is time to start earning those CEUs! There are of course a lot of options out there, but we hope you consider checking out the courses offered by OT Potential.
Do OT Potential courses count toward the continuing education required to renew my license?
Yes! You can easily earn 24 of your New York OT continuing education hours through OT Potential. Our CEU courses and monthly live webinars generally fall into the following category, as outlined by the New York Education Department:
Formal Academic Study, Continuing Education Courses, and/or Workshops
Definition: Courses, workshops, seminars or employee in-service training programs offered by an approved continuing education sponsor, and credit-bearing academic study offered by an accredited college or university, and self-study. Self-study is structured study based on audio, audio-visual, written, on-line and other media offered by an approved sponsor. No more than 24 hours of the continuing competency requirement may be completed through self-study.
Limitations: A minimum of 50 minutes of non-credit-bearing formal continuing education courses/workshops shall equal 1 continuing competency hour.
For activities that carry continuing education units (CEUs): 0.1 CEU = 1 continuing competency hour.
For credit-bearing university or college courses: 1 semester-hour of credit = 15 continuing competency hours, and 1 quarter-hour of credit = 10 continuing competency hours.
Our courses are AOTA approved, and you’ll earn a certificate of completion after you pass a short assessment!
Note: You may earn a maximum of 24 of your required hours through continuning education courses. See this page for additional acceptable education activities.
Where can New York OT professionals get the best deals on CEUs?
At OT Potential, our courses are all built around helping you get new evidence into practice.
But, what good is evidence-based practice, if you are not reimbursed appropriately for it? Our local associations do SUCH important advocacy work, when it comes to reimbursement and scope of practice. That’s why we’ve made it part of our mission to support these associations.
So, we have this win-win proposition for you. Join OT Potential using the promo code “NewYork” to receive a 15% discount—and we’ll donate 15% of your order to NYSOTA.
👍 Price of OT Potential with your New York discount = $84.15 (Reg $99)
🎉 Donation amount to OOTA = $12.62
And, the best part is if you decide to renew, it will be at your discounted price. AND, we’ll make another donation to OOTA.
This is one of the cheapest ways to earn your required New York OT CEUs, and you can feel good doing it because you are giving back to your state association ❤️.
(If OT Potential is not right for you, I am also a long-time fan of MedBridge, and through OT Potential, you can snag a MedBridge Promo Code for 40% off.)
Step 4: Renew your license. 🎉
Ok, now it’s time for the big moment.
You can renew your license online.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you found this post helpful!
As you can tell, I am a continuing education nerd 🤓, so if you have any other questions about continuing education and your New York OT license renewal, just ask me the comments!
Ok! Ready to try OT Potential?
Get 15% off + 15% goes to support NYSOTA.
Learn more, then use promo code: NewYork