1. The Board shall, as a prerequisite for the:

(a) Renewal of a license as a physician assistant; or

(b) Biennial registration of the holder of a license to practice medicine,

require each holder to submit evidence of compliance with the requirements for continuing education as set forth in regulations adopted by the Board.

2. These requirements:

(a) May provide for the completion of one or more courses of instruction relating to risk management in the performance of medical services.

(b) Must provide for the completion of a course of instruction, within 2 years after initial licensure, relating to the medical consequences of an act of terrorism that involves the use of a weapon of mass destruction. The course must provide at least 4 hours of instruction that includes instruction in the following subjects:

(1) An overview of acts of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction;

(2) Personal protective equipment required for acts of terrorism;

(3) Common symptoms and methods of treatment associated with exposure to, or injuries caused by, chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear agents;

(4) Syndromic surveillance and reporting procedures for acts of terrorism that involve biological agents; and

(5) An overview of the information available on, and the use of, the Health Alert Network.

(c) Must provide for the completion by a holder of a license to practice medicine of a course of instruction within 2 years after initial licensure that provides at least 2 hours of instruction on evidence-based suicide prevention and awareness as described in subsection 5.

The Board may thereafter determine whether to include in a program of continuing education additional courses of instruction relating to the medical consequences of an act of terrorism that involves the use of a weapon of mass destruction.

3. The Board shall encourage each holder of a license who treats or cares for persons who are more than 60 years of age to receive, as a portion of their continuing education, education in geriatrics and gerontology, including such topics as:

(a) The skills and knowledge that the licensee needs to address aging issues;

(b) Approaches to providing health care to older persons, including both didactic and clinical approaches;

(c) The biological, behavioral, social and emotional aspects of the aging process; and

(d) The importance of maintenance of function and independence for older persons.

4. The Board shall encourage each holder of a license to practice medicine to receive, as a portion of his or her continuing education, training concerning methods for educating patients about how to effectively manage medications, including, without limitation, the ability of the patient to request to have the symptom or purpose for which a drug is prescribed included on the label attached to the container of the drug.

5. The Board shall require each holder of a license to practice medicine to receive as a portion of his or her continuing education at least 2 hours of instruction every 4 years on evidence-based suicide prevention and awareness, which may include, without limitation, instruction concerning:

(a) The skills and knowledge that the licensee needs to detect behaviors that may lead to suicide, including, without limitation, post-traumatic stress disorder;

(b) Approaches to engaging other professionals in suicide intervention; and

(c) The detection of suicidal thoughts and ideations and the prevention of suicide.

6. The Board shall encourage each holder of a license to practice medicine or as a physician assistant to receive, as a portion of his or her continuing education, training and education in the diagnosis of rare diseases, including, without limitation:

(a) Recognizing the symptoms of pediatric cancer; and

(b) Interpreting family history to determine whether such symptoms indicate a normal childhood illness or a condition that requires additional examination.

7. A holder of a license to practice medicine may not substitute the continuing education credits relating to suicide prevention and awareness required by this section for the purposes of satisfying an equivalent requirement for continuing education in ethics.

8. A holder of a license to practice medicine may substitute not more than 2 hours of continuing education credits in pain management or care for persons with an addictive disorder for the purposes of satisfying an equivalent requirement for continuing education in ethics.

9. As used in this section:

(a) “Act of terrorism” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4415.

(b) “Biological agent” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.442.

(c) “Chemical agent” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4425.

(d) “Radioactive agent” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4437.

(e) “Weapon of mass destruction” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4445.

(Added to NRS by 1979, 652; A 1981, 504; 1985, 546, 2247; 1991, 787; 1997, 682; 2001, 763; 2003, 647, 2955; 2011, 2036; 2013, 1568; 2015, 2280; 2017, 941, 947; 2019, 1489, effective January 1, 2020)