By: Cain S.B. No. 1301
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to physician licensing, including the notice and late fee
1-2 requirements for the annual registration of physician licenses, the
1-3 temporary licensure of certain out-of-state physicians, and the
1-4 licensure of certain international medical graduates.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsections (c) and (i), Section 3.01, Medical
1-7 Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are
1-8 amended to read as follows:
1-9 (c)(1) A person may renew an unexpired license by paying to
1-10 the board on or before the expiration date of the license the
1-11 required renewal fee.
1-12 (2) If a person's license has been expired for 90 days
1-13 or less, the person may renew the license by paying to the board
1-14 the required renewal fee and a fee that is one-half of the annual
1-15 registration fee as established by the board under Section
1-16 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the license>.
1-17 (3) If a person's license has been expired for longer
1-18 than 90 days but less than one year, the person may renew the
1-19 license by paying to the board all unpaid renewal fees and a fee
1-20 that is equal to the annual registration fee as established by the
1-21 board under Section 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the
1-22 license>.
1-23 (4) If a person's license has been expired for one
2-1 year, it is considered to have been canceled, unless an
2-2 investigation is pending, and the person may not renew the license.
2-3 The person may obtain a new license by submitting to reexamination
2-4 and complying with the requirements and procedures for obtaining an
2-5 original license.
2-6 (5) The board may renew without examination an expired
2-7 license of a person who was licensed in this state, moved to
2-8 another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice
2-9 in the other state for not more than two years preceding
2-10 application. The person must pay to the board a fee that is equal
2-11 to the examination fee for the license.
2-12 (6) The board shall provide written notice to each
2-13 practitioner at the practitioner's last known address according to
2-14 the records of the board at least 30 days prior to the expiration
2-15 date of a license and shall provide for a 30-day grace period for
2-16 payment of the annual registration fee from the date of the
2-17 expiration of the license.
2-18 <(i) At least 30 days before the expiration of a person's
2-19 license, the board shall send written notice of the impending
2-20 license expiration to the person at the licensee's last known
2-21 address according to the records of the board.>
2-22 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 3.025, Medical Practice
2-23 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
2-24 read as follows:
2-25 (a) The board by rule shall adopt, monitor, and enforce a
3-1 reporting program for continuing medical education of licensees.
3-2 The board shall adopt and administer rules:
3-3 (1) requiring the number of hours of continuing
3-4 medical education the board determines appropriate as a
3-5 prerequisite to the annual registration of a licensee under this
3-6 Act;
3-7 (2) requiring at least one-half of the hours of
3-8 continuing medical education required under Subdivision (1) of this
3-9 subsection to be approved by the board after taking into account
3-10 the standards of the American Medical Association for its
3-11 Physician's Recognition Award<, the Council on Medical Specialty
3-12 Societies,> or the American Osteopathic Association and permitting
3-13 the remaining hours to be composed of self-study or equivalent
3-14 self-directed continuing medical education according to guidelines
3-15 determined by the board; and
3-16 (3) adopting a process to assess a licensee's
3-17 participation in continuing medical education courses.
3-18 SECTION 3. Sections 3.0305 and 3.04, Medical Practice Act
3-19 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read
3-20 as follows:
3-21 Sec. 3.0305. Temporary License for Out-of-State
3-22 Practitioners. (a) On application, an applicant for licensure
3-23 <the board> shall be granted one <grant a> temporary license to
3-24 practice medicine. An applicant for a temporary license under this
3-25 section must:
4-1 (1) have a current, active, and unrestricted license,
4-2 without any pending disciplinary matters, as a physician in another
4-3 state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United
4-4 States that has licensing requirements that are substantially
4-5 equivalent to the requirements of this Act;
4-6 (2) have passed a national or other examination
4-7 recognized by the board relating to the practice of medicine; and
4-8 (3) be sponsored by a person licensed by the board
4-9 under this Act with whom the temporary license holder may practice
4-10 under this section.
4-11 (b) An applicant for a temporary license may be excused from
4-12 the requirement of Subsection (a)(3) of this section if the board
4-13 determines that compliance with that subsection constitutes a
4-14 hardship to the applicant.
4-15 (c) A temporary license is valid for 180 days <until the
4-16 date the board approves or denies the temporary license holder's
4-17 application for a license>. The board shall issue a license under
4-18 this Act to the holder of a temporary license under this section
4-19 if:
4-20 (1) the temporary license holder passes the
4-21 examination required by Section 3.05 of this Act;
4-22 (2) the board verifies that the temporary license
4-23 holder has satisfied the academic and experience requirements for a
4-24 license under this Act; and
4-25 (3) the temporary license holder has satisfied any
5-1 other license requirements under this Act.
5-2 (d) The board must assemble the documents and information
5-3 necessary to process a temporary license holder's application for a
5-4 license not later than the 90th day after the date the temporary
5-5 license is issued and complete the processing of the application
5-6 not later than the 90th day after the date the documents and
5-7 information are assembled. If by the 180th day after the date the
5-8 temporary license is issued the board has not completed the
5-9 processing of the application, the board shall review the
5-10 application to determine the cause of the delay. This temporary
5-11 license may be renewed for an additional 180 days at the discretion
5-12 of the executive director.
5-13 Sec. 3.04. Qualification of Licensee. (a) An applicant, to
5-14 be eligible for the examination and issuance of a license, must
5-15 present satisfactory proof to the board that the applicant:
5-16 (1) is at least 21 years of age;
5-17 (2) is of good professional character;
5-18 (3) has completed 60 semester hours of college courses
5-19 other than in medical school, which courses would be acceptable, at
5-20 the time of completion, to The University of Texas for credit on a
5-21 bachelor of arts degree or a bachelor of science degree; and
5-22 (4) is a graduate of an acceptable medical or
5-23 osteopathic school or college that was approved by the board at the
5-24 time the degree was conferred and has completed a one-year program
5-25 of graduate medical training approved by the board.
6-1 (b) The applicant shall be eligible for examination prior to
6-2 complying with the graduate training requirement of Subsection
6-3 (a)(4) of this section but shall not be eligible for the issuance
6-4 of an unrestricted license until the requirements of Subsection (a)
6-5 of this section have been satisfied.
6-6 (c) Applications for examination must be made in writing,
6-7 verified by affidavit, filed with the board on forms prescribed by
6-8 the board, and accompanied by documents and a fee as the board
6-9 determines to be reasonable.
6-10 (d) To be recognized by the board for the purposes of this
6-11 subchapter, all medical <allopathic> or osteopathic medical
6-12 education received by the applicant <instruction taught> in the
6-13 United States must be accredited by an accrediting body officially
6-14 recognized by the United States Department of Education <and the
6-15 Council on Postsecondary Accreditation> as the accrediting body for
6-16 medical education leading to the doctor of medicine degree or the
6-17 doctor of osteopathy degree in the United States. This subsection
6-18 does not apply to postgraduate medical education or training.
6-19 (e) An applicant who cannot comply with the medical
6-20 education requirements of Subsection (d) of this section shall be
6-21 eligible for an unrestricted license if the applicant is specialty
6-22 board certified by a board approved by the American Board of
6-23 Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Association.
6-24 (f) In addition to the other requirements of this section,
6-25 an applicant who is a graduate of a medical school that is located
7-1 outside the United States and Canada and that was not approved by
7-2 the board at the time the degree was conferred must, in order to be
7-3 eligible for the issuance of a license, present satisfactory proof
7-4 to the board that the applicant:
7-5 (1) is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets
7-6 the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by
7-7 a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education
7-8 Coordinating Board;
7-9 (2) has successfully completed three years of graduate
7-10 medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved
7-11 by the board on the date the training was completed;
7-12 (3) is eligible for licensure to practice medicine in
7-13 the country in which the school is located;
7-14 (4) possesses a valid certificate issued by the
7-15 Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates;
7-16 (5) has the ability to communicate in the English
7-17 language; and
7-18 (6) has passed the examination required by the board
7-19 of all applicants for license as required by Section 3.05 of this
7-20 Act.
7-21 (g) The board by rule may establish alternate educational
7-22 prerequisites to those required by Section (a)(3) for an applicant
7-23 who graduated from an unapproved medical school located outside the
7-24 United States and Canada.
7-25 (h) In addition to other licensure requirements, the board,
8-1 before approving the applicant, may require by rule that a graduate
8-2 of an unapproved medical school located outside the United States
8-3 and Canada or the school of which the person is a graduate provide
8-4 additional information to the board concerning the school.
8-5 (i) The board may refuse to issue a license to an applicant
8-6 who graduated from an unapproved medical school located outside the
8-7 United States and Canada if it finds that:
8-8 (1) the applicant does not possess the requisite
8-9 qualifications to provide the same standard of medical care as
8-10 provided by a physician licensed in this state; or
8-11 (2) the applicant failed to provide the board evidence
8-12 to establish that the applicant completed medical education or
8-13 professional training substantially equivalent to that provided by
8-14 a medical school in this state. <The requirements for eligibility
8-15 for licensure of a graduate of an unapproved foreign medical school
8-16 are set out in Section 5.035 of this Act, and the requirements for
8-17 eligibility for licensure of a person who has completed all of the
8-18 didactic work of a foreign medical school but has not graduated
8-19 from the school (Fifth Pathway Program) are set out in Section 5.04
8-20 of this Act.>
8-21 SECTION 4. Sections 5.035 and 5.04, Medical Practice Act
8-22 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
8-23 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
8-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
9-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
9-4 passage, and it is so enacted.