Be Aware of the New Rules Governing Continuing Education, Licensure Renewal and Re-Licensure
What You Need to Know
- Up to 20 hours of continuing education may now be obtained online for license renewal and relicensure.
- The State of Michigan requirement to obtain two hours in the performance and ordering of tests for license renewal and relicensure has been rescinded.
- Continuing education programs approved or offered by PACE are now automatically approved in the state of Michigan.
- The rules now officially state that the hours completed to satisfy the State of Michigan’s Implicit Bias requirement may be counted as part of the continuing education required for license renewal.
See further details below. The MAC Executive Committee and Board of Directors recommend that every chiropractor licensed in the state of Michigan download and be aware of these rules as soon as possible.
Introduction
On May 7, 2025, an update to the Michigan Board of Chiropractic’s Administrative Rules was filed with the Office of the Great Seal, the final step of the State’s rulemaking process. Many of the new changes are technical in nature, such as cleaning up outdated language, correcting grammatical errors, making typographical revisions, etc. However, some changes – particularly those regarding continuing education – will directly affect Michigan chiropractors.
What is an Administrative Rule?
An administrative rule is an agency’s written regulation, statement, standard, policy, ruling, or instruction that has the effect of law. The general purpose of the Chiropractic Administrative Rules is to provide educational, licensure, and continuing education requirements for Michigan chiropractors.
It is the responsibility of each chiropractor to be aware of the Administrative Rules governing the practice of chiropractic. If you have questions or concerns, email the MAC’s Lisa Love-Smith (lisa@chiromi.com) or Tim Gaughan (tim@chiromi.com), or call the MAC at (517) 367-2225.
R 338.12041. Acceptable continuing education
The updated rule [338.12041(2)(a)] adds continuing education programs and activities approved and offered by the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Board’s Providers of Approved Continuing Education (PACE) as automatically approved.
Programs and activities offered or approved by the MAC continue to remain automatically approved by the State of Michigan.
Rule 12041(1)(b) revises the number of in-person hours needed for license renewal from 15 to 10, meaning that 20 (of the 30 required for license renewal) hours may be obtained through distance learning programs.
The revised rule eliminates Rule 338.12041(1)(h), which required chiropractors seeking license renewal to obtain two hours in the performance and ordering of tests as a condition of license renewal.
Finally, R 338.12041(3) specifically notes that the hours completed to satisfy the State of Michigan’s Implicit Bias requirement may be counted as part of the continuing education required for license renewal.
R 339.12036 Relicensure requirements
The changes to this rule ably to the number of in-person hours needed for relicensure.
- For a chiropractor seeking relicensure, not more than 20 continuing education hours (of the 45 required in the three-year period immediately preceding the application for relicensure) may be in distance learning programs.
- The amended rule also eliminates the two-hour performance and ordering of tests requirement for a doctor seeking relicensure.
R 338.12016. Telehealth
This rule requires that licensees engaging in telehealth obtain consent for treatment prior to providing a telehealth service, keep proof of consent in the patient’s medical record, act only within the licensee’s scope of practice, and exercise the same standard of care applicable to a traditional, in-person health care service.
