Acceptable Activities for Professional Development

Selecting Your Professional Development Activities

As you begin accumulating your professional development hours (PDHs)—formerly certification maintenance hours or CMHs—you must select learning activities that:

• are within the Scope of Practice in Audiology and the Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
• are related to any area of clinical practice
• meet the definition of professional development and are completed during your 3-year maintenance interval

No Pre-Approval Necessary

You do not need to obtain prior approval from ASHA for the professional development activities you choose.

Accepted Activities

Activities are accepted as PDHs if (1) they contribute to your professional development and (2) will lead to acquiring and enhancing skills and knowledge required for independent audiology and SLP practice. Some examples include

• continuing education activities such as courses that qualify for ASHA CEUs, courses offered by organizations that are not ASHA approved CE providers, state association workshops, and seminars offered through other professional associations like those offered for continuing medical education (CME) units, university scientific symposia, and formal online, non-credit courses offered through a university (i.e., autism, literacy, neurological disorders, genetics, and ethics), Independent Study activities;
• employer-sponsored in-service activities such as Grand Rounds, special education workshops (i.e., Americans with Disabilities Act requirements), formal training sessions sponsored by manufacturers on equipment used in the evaluation or treatment of your clients, and professional activities (i.e., professional ethics, diversity issues, reimbursement issues);
• business and management content that will help you manage your private practice more effectively;
• teacher-oriented content that is not related to the professions but enhances your ability to better serve your clients; and
• college or university course work at any level-undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral-offered by regionally accredited programs (can be via distance learning) in any area that meets the definition of professional development (i.e., foreign languages needed to communicate with the population you work with, early childhood development, autism, literacy, neurological disorders, genetics, ethics).

Activities Not Accepted

The following are examples of activities that are not accepted as PDHs unless they are accepted for ASHA CEUs through an Independent Study plan:

• volunteer work (i.e., committee meetings, leadership activities, board meetings)
• work experiences (i.e., supervising students or Clinical Fellows, developing curriculum, teaching a course, research)
• business meetings
• clinical work experience
• association membership