Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

      Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         By:  Cain                                    S.B. No. 1295

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to licensure of certain international medical graduates

 1-2     who 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, Art. 4495b,

 1-5     Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, is amended by adding Section 3.041,

 1-6     to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 3.041.  (a)  An applicant who has been a student of a

 1-8     foreign medical school, to be eligible for the issuance of a

 1-9     license, must present satisfactory proof to the board that the

1-10     applicant:

1-11                 (1)  meets the requirements set out in Sections 3.03,

1-12     3.04 and 3.05 of this Act;

1-13                 (2)  has studied medicine in an acceptable medical

1-14     school as defined by the board located outside the United States

1-15     and Canada;

1-16                 (3)  has completed all of the didactic work of the

1-17     foreign medical school but has not graduated from the school;

1-18                 (4)  has attained a score satisfactory to a medical

1-19     school in the United States approved by the Liaison Committee on

1-20     Medical Education on a qualifying examination and has

1-21     satisfactorily completed one academic year of supervised clinical

1-22     training for foreign medical students as defined by the American

1-23     Medical Association Council on Medical Education (Fifth Pathway

 2-1     Program) under the direction of the medical school in the United

 2-2     States;

 2-3                 (5)  has attained a passing score on the Educational

 2-4     Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination, or other

 2-5     examination, if required by the board;

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

 2-7     medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved

 2-8     by the board on the date the training was completed; and

 2-9                 (7)  has passed an examination required by the board of

2-10     all applicants for license as required by this Act.

2-11           (b)  Satisfaction of the requirements of this section are in

2-12     lieu of the completion of any requirements of the foreign medical

2-13     school beyond completion of the didactic work.

2-14           (c)  Satisfaction of the requirements specified in Subsection

2-15     (a) of this section shall be in lieu of certification by the

2-16     Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, and the

2-17     certification is not a condition of licensure to practice medicine

2-18     in this state for candidates who have completed the requirements of

2-19     Subsection (a) of this section.

2-20           (d)  A hospital that is licensed by this state, that is

2-21     operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or

2-22     that receives state financial assistance, directly or indirectly,

2-23     may not require an individual who has been a student of a foreign

2-24     medical school but has not graduated from the school to satisfy any

2-25     requirements other than those contained in Subsection (a) of this

 3-1     section prior to commencing an internship or residency.

 3-2           (e)  A document granted by a medical school located outside

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

 3-4     work of the foreign medical school shall, on certification by the

 3-5     medical school in the United States in which the training was

 3-6     received of satisfactory completion by the person to whom the

 3-7     document was issued of the requirements listed in Subdivision (4)

 3-8     of Subsection (a) of this section, be considered the equivalent of

 3-9     a degree of doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy for purposes

3-10     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.