By:  Cain                                             S.B. No. 1295

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to licensure of certain international medical students who

 1-2     have successfully completed a Fifth Pathway Program.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  The Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's

 1-5     Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 3.041 to read

 1-6     as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 3.041.  ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS OF FOREIGN MEDICAL

 1-8     SCHOOL STUDENTS.  (a)  An applicant who has been a student of a

 1-9     foreign medical school, to be eligible for the issuance of a

1-10     license, must present satisfactory proof to the board that the

1-11     applicant:

1-12                 (1)  meets the requirements set out in Sections 3.03,

1-13     3.04, and 3.05 of this Act;

1-14                 (2)  has studied medicine in an acceptable medical

1-15     school, as defined by the board, located outside the United States

1-16     and Canada;

1-17                 (3)  has completed all of the didactic work of the

1-18     foreign medical school but has not graduated from the school;

1-19                 (4)  has attained a score satisfactory to a medical

1-20     school in the United States approved by the Liaison Committee on

1-21     Medical Education on a qualifying examination and has

1-22     satisfactorily completed one academic year of supervised clinical

1-23     training for foreign medical students, as defined by the American

 2-1     Medical Association Council on Medical Education (Fifth Pathway

 2-2     Program), under the direction of the medical school in the United

 2-3     States;

 2-4                 (5)  has attained a passing score on the Educational

 2-5     Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination or other

 2-6     examination, if required by the board;

 2-7                 (6)  has successfully completed three years of graduate

 2-8     medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved

 2-9     by the board on the date the training was completed; and

2-10                 (7)  has passed an examination required by the board of

2-11     all applicants for license as required by this Act.

2-12           (b)  Satisfaction of the requirements of this section are in

2-13     lieu of the completion of any requirements of the foreign medical

2-14     school beyond completion of the didactic work.

2-15           (c)  Satisfaction of the requirements specified in Subsection

2-16     (a) of this section shall be in lieu of certification by the

2-17     Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, and the

2-18     certification is not a condition of licensure to practice medicine

2-19     in this state for candidates who have completed the requirements of

2-20     Subsection (a) of this section.

2-21           (d)  A hospital that is licensed by this state, that is

2-22     operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or

2-23     that receives state financial assistance, directly or indirectly,

2-24     may not require an individual who has been a student of a foreign

2-25     medical school but has not graduated from the school to satisfy any

 3-1     requirements other than those contained in Subsection (a) of this

 3-2     section prior to commencing an internship or residency.

 3-3           (e)  A document granted by a medical school located outside

 3-4     the United States issued after the completion of all the didactic

 3-5     work of the foreign medical school shall, on certification by the

 3-6     medical school in the United States in which the training was

 3-7     received of satisfactory completion by the person to whom the

 3-8     document was issued of the requirements listed in Subsection (a)(4)

 3-9     of this section, be considered the equivalent of a degree of doctor

3-10     of medicine or doctor of osteopathy for purposes of licensure.

3-11           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-12     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-13     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-14     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-15     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

3-16     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

3-17     passage, and it is so enacted.