| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the physician licensing requirements for foreign |
|
|
medical graduates. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Sections 155.0031(c) and (d), Occupations Code, |
|
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) Applicants for a license must subscribe to an oath [in
|
|
|
writing before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths]. |
|
|
The written oath is part of the application. |
|
|
(d) An applicant must present proof satisfactory to the |
|
|
board that: |
|
|
(1) each medical school attended by the applicant is |
|
|
substantially equivalent to a Texas medical school as determined by |
|
|
board rule; or |
|
|
(2) the applicant is specialty board certified by a |
|
|
specialty board organization acceptable to the board. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 155.004, Occupations Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 155.004. ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR |
|
|
GRADUATES OF CERTAIN FOREIGN MEDICAL SCHOOLS. A license applicant |
|
|
who is a graduate of a medical school that is located outside the |
|
|
United States and Canada must present proof satisfactory to the |
|
|
board that the applicant: |
|
|
(1) is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets |
|
|
the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by |
|
|
a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education |
|
|
Coordinating Board; |
|
|
(2) has successfully completed: |
|
|
(A) at least three years of graduate medical |
|
|
training in the United States or Canada that was approved by the |
|
|
board; or |
|
|
(B) at least two years of graduate medical |
|
|
training in the United States or Canada that was approved by the |
|
|
board and at least one year of graduate medical training outside the |
|
|
United States or Canada that was approved for advanced standing by a |
|
|
specialty board organization approved by the board; |
|
|
(3) [is eligible for a license to practice medicine in
|
|
|
the country in which the school is located, except for any
|
|
|
citizenship requirements;
|
|
|
[(4)] holds a valid certificate issued by the |
|
|
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates; and |
|
|
(4) [(5)] is able to communicate in English. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Sections 155.0031 and 155.004, Occupations Code, |
|
|
as amended by this Act, apply only to an application for a license |
|
|
filed with the applicable licensing authority on or after the |
|
|
effective date of this Act. An application for a license filed |
|
|
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
|
|
effect on the date the application was filed, and that law is |
|
|
continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |