31 JANUARY 2013 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 11 401

Council will be able to acknowledge their contribution to healthcare and allow systems to be developed that do not penalise such individuals by imposing recency of practice requirements, professional development or recertification programmes that are not relevant to their area of professional practice. It is not the Council’s intention to create an additional protected title for this scope.

Holders of this scope may be required to engage with a return to competence programme if they have not engaged in clinical practice for three subsequent years and wish to return to clinical work. Council will use its discretion to determine how the scope holders’ activities might have contributed to the maintenance of competence in terms of clinical practice.

Pursuant to section 12 of the Act, the Council has prescribed the following qualifications for registration in the Special Purpose Scope of Practice.

To be granted the special purpose scope, a registrant will need to have been previously registered in the general osteopathic scope of practice, or meet the requirements for general registration and satisfy the Council that they have advanced standing or specialist skills in one of the designated areas:

1. Direct non-clinical relationships with patients such as in group exercise programmes, health promotion activities or health care management.

2. Clinical educators / clinical preceptors in pre-professional teaching clinics or practice-based settings.

3. Research – undertaking or directing research activities.

4. Teaching – faculty work in the tertiary sector on professional qualifications that will lead to registration as an osteopath or other regulated health professional and post graduate osteopathic / health science programmes.

5. Health policy development and regulation.

In order to be eligible, the registrants will generally be required to demonstrate that they hold qualifications, other than a prescribed qualification for general registration, relevant to their chosen area of special purpose practice, such as a tertiary level or professional qualifications in teaching and learning, research degrees or demonstrate that that they are working towards one such as being registered for a PhD.

Council will need to be satisfied that the registrant is applying their professional knowledge in a non-clinical setting for at least 60% of the working week. For example, a letter from an employer that the registrant has a 0.6 FTE appointment for the period that an APC is being sought will generally be required and a statutory declaration that clinical practice is limited to 10 hours or less per week.

5. Scope of Practice: Trainee Osteopath

Registered trainee osteopaths are primary healthcare practitioners who are enrolled in the prescribed qualification for the General Osteopathic Scope of Practice (the Unitec Institute of Technology Master of Osteopathy course or an overseas course deemed by Council to be substantively the equivalent in order to permit student electives).

The trainee osteopath will have submitted the final draft of the thesis for the purpose of marking. All other components of the required course will be completed to a satisfactory level. The council sees that this final marking stage of the thesis, and the time that this takes, should not prevent practice of the student. The student will need to be working within a group practice to ensure peer support and is required to practise within the General Osteopathic Scope of Practice and comply with all related codes and practice standards.

The period of time that a trainee osteopath can practise under this scope of practice will normally be limited to six months, but may be extended at Council’s discretion.

Pursuant to section 12 of the Act, the Council has prescribed the following qualifications for registration in the Scope of Practice – Trainee Osteopath.

All applicants must:

(1) be enrolled in the Unitec Institute of Technology Master of Osteopathy course;

and

(2) have successfully completed the following units in that course of study:

HEAL 8302 Clinical Science 1
HEAL 8303 Clinical Science 2
HEAL 8306 Clinical Practicum 1
HEAL 8308 Patient Management & Clinical Reasoning 1
HEAL 8305 Integrated Osteopathic Practice
HEAL 8307 Clinical Practicum 2
HEAL 8309 Patient Management & Clinical Reasoning 2
HEAL 8310 Professional Practice;

and

(3) have submitted the research thesis component in that course of study.

6. Visiting Osteopathic Presenter / Educator Scope of Practice

The purpose of the Visiting Osteopathic Presenter / Educator Scope of Practice is to create a mechanism to allow overseas registered osteopaths to visit New Zealand for the purpose of presenting or teaching osteopathy without requiring full registration in the General Osteopathic Scope of practice. This will restrict the activities of the osteopath to the presenting and / or educating activities described in the application. Registration will in general be for the period of time required to deliver a specific course / training event.

Council may grant registration for an extended period if the candidate’s application is supported by Unitec, another tertiary institute or the individual is otherwise eligible for registration in the General Osteopathic Scope of Practice, such as osteopaths registered in Australia.