1-1     By:  Cain                                             S.B. No. 1295

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1997; March 18, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;

 1-4     April 7, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 7, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1295                By:  Moncrief

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to licensure of certain international medical students who

1-11     have successfully completed a Fifth Pathway Program.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  The Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's

1-14     Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 3.041 to read

1-15     as follows:

1-16           Sec. 3.041.  ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS OF FOREIGN MEDICAL

1-17     SCHOOL STUDENTS.  (a)  An applicant who has been a student of a

1-18     foreign medical school, to be eligible for the issuance of a

1-19     license, must present satisfactory proof to the board that the

1-20     applicant:

1-21                 (1)  meets the requirements set out in Sections 3.03,

1-22     3.04, and 3.05 of this Act;

1-23                 (2)  has studied medicine in an acceptable medical

1-24     school, as defined by the board, located outside the United States

1-25     and Canada;

1-26                 (3)  has completed all of the didactic work of the

1-27     foreign medical school but has not graduated from the school;

1-28                 (4)  has attained a score satisfactory to a medical

1-29     school in the United States approved by the Liaison Committee on

1-30     Medical Education on a qualifying examination and has

1-31     satisfactorily completed one academic year of supervised clinical

1-32     training for foreign medical students, as defined by the American

1-33     Medical Association Council on Medical Education (Fifth Pathway

1-34     Program), under the direction of the medical school in the United

1-35     States;

1-36                 (5)  has attained a passing score on the Educational

1-37     Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination or other

1-38     examination, if required by the board;

1-39                 (6)  has successfully completed three years of graduate

1-40     medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved

1-41     by the board on the date the training was completed; and

1-42                 (7)  has passed an examination required by the board of

1-43     all applicants for license as required by this Act.

1-44           (b)  Satisfaction of the requirements of this section are in

1-45     lieu of the completion of any requirements of the foreign medical

1-46     school beyond completion of the didactic work.

1-47           (c)  Satisfaction of the requirements specified in Subsection

1-48     (a) of this section shall be in lieu of certification by the

1-49     Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, and the

1-50     certification is not a condition of licensure to practice medicine

1-51     in this state for candidates who have completed the requirements of

1-52     Subsection (a) of this section.

1-53           (d)  A hospital that is licensed by this state, that is

1-54     operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or

1-55     that receives state financial assistance, directly or indirectly,

1-56     may not require an individual who has been a student of a foreign

1-57     medical school but has not graduated from the school to satisfy any

1-58     requirements other than those contained in Subsection (a) of this

1-59     section prior to commencing an internship or residency.

1-60           (e)  A document granted by a medical school located outside

1-61     the United States issued after the completion of all the didactic

1-62     work of the foreign medical school shall, on certification by the

1-63     medical school in the United States in which the training was

1-64     received of satisfactory completion by the person to whom the

 2-1     document was issued of the requirements listed in Subsection (a)(4)

 2-2     of this section, be considered the equivalent of a degree of doctor

 2-3     of medicine or doctor of osteopathy for purposes of licensure.

 2-4           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 2-9     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-10     passage, and it is so enacted.

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