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; and
• meet the definition of professional development and are completed during your 3-year maintenance interval or to reinstate ASHA certification.

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) they will lead to acquiring and enhancing skills and knowledge required for independent audiology and SLP practice. Some examples include but are not limited to the following:

• continuing education activities
  • courses that qualify for ASHA CEUs
  • courses offered by organizations that are not ASHA approved CE providers
  • state association workshops
  • seminars offered through other professional associations, such as 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, behavioral science, cultural diversity,and ethics), Independent Study activities
• employer-sponsored in-service activities 
  • 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
  • professional activities (i.e., training on topics such as 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 service delivery or your ability to better serve your clients
• 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
  • foreign language(s) needed to communicate to the population with whom you work
  • 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 that (1) are unrelated to speech-language, swallowing, or hearing sciences, patient/client management; and (2) do not contain any formal instructional activities
• clinical work experience
• association membership