Senate Bill No. 685
(By Senator Chafin)
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[Introduced March 26, 2001; referred to the Committee on Health
and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article three, chapter
thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to license to practice
medicine and surgery or podiatry; and requiring, under
limiting circumstances, to have a passing score on all
components of the examination.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article three, chapter thirty of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. WEST VIRGINIA MEDICAL PRACTICE ACT.
§30-3-10. Licenses to practice medicine and surgery or podiatry.
(a) The board shall issue a license to practice medicine and surgery or to practice podiatry to any individual who is qualified
to do so in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(b) For an individual to be licensed to practice medicine and
surgery in this state, he or she must meet the following
requirements:
(1) He or she shall submit an application to the board on a
form provided by the board and remit to the board a reasonable
examination fee, the amount of the reasonable fee to be set by the
board. The application must, as a minimum, require a sworn and
notarized statement that the applicant is of good moral character
and that he or she is physically and mentally capable of engaging
in the practice of medicine and surgery;
(2) He or she must provide evidence of graduation and receipt
of the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent from a school
of medicine, which is approved by the liaison committee on medical
education or by the board;
(3) He or she must submit evidence to the board of having
successfully completed a minimum of one year of graduate clinical
training in a program approved by the accreditation council for
graduate medical education; and
(4) He or she must pass an examination approved by the board, which examination can be related to a national standard: Provided,
That the applicant shall be required to attain a passing score on
all components of the examination before the lapse of seven
consecutive years, commencing on the date the applicant passes the
first component of the examination. The examination shall be in
the English language and be designed to ascertain an applicant's
fitness to practice medicine and surgery. The board shall before
the date of examination determine what will constitute a passing
score: Provided, That the board, or a majority of them, may accept
in lieu of an examination of applicants, the certificate of the
national board of medical examiners: Provided, however, That the
board is authorized to enter into reciprocity agreements with
medical licensing authorities in other states, the District of
Columbia, Canada or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and, for
an
applicant who: (i) Is currently
fully licensed, excluding any
temporary, conditional or restricted license or permit, under the
laws of another state or jurisdiction having reciprocity; (ii) has
been engaged on a full-time professional basis in the practice of
medicine within that state or jurisdiction for a period of at least
five years; and (iii) is not the subject of any pending
disciplinary action by a medical licensing board and has not been the subject of professional discipline by a medical licensing board
in any jurisdiction, the board may permit licensure in this state
by reciprocity.
If an applicant fails to pass the examination on
two occasions, he or she shall successfully complete a course of
study or training, as approved by the board, designed to improve
his or her ability to engage in the practice of medicine and
surgery, before being eligible for reexamination.
(c) In addition to the requirements of subsection (b) hereof,
any individual who has received the degree of doctor of medicine or
its equivalent from a school of medicine located outside of the
United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Canada, to be
licensed to practice medicine in this state, must also meet the
following additional requirements and limitations:
(1) He or she must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction
of the board his or her ability to communicate in the English
language;
(2) Before taking a licensure examination, he or she must have
fulfilled the requirements of the educational commission for
foreign medical graduates for certification, or he or she must
provide evidence of receipt of a passing score on the examination
of the educational commission for foreign medical graduates: Provided, That an applicant who: (i) Is currently
fully licensed,
excluding any temporary, conditional or restricted license or
permit, under the laws of another state, the District of Columbia,
Canada or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (ii) has been engaged on
a full-time professional basis in the practice of medicine within
the state or jurisdiction where the applicant is fully licensed for
a period of at least five years; and (iii) is not the subject of
any pending disciplinary action by a medical licensing board and
has not been the subject of professional discipline by a medical
licensing board in any jurisdiction, is not required to have a
certificate from the educational commission for foreign medical
graduates;
(3) He or she must submit evidence to the board of either:
(i) Having successfully completed a minimum of two years of
graduate clinical training in a program approved by the
accreditation council for graduate medical education; or (ii)
current certification by a member board of the American board of
medical specialties.
(d) For an individual to be licensed to practice podiatry in
this state, he or she must meet the following requirements:
(1) He or she shall submit an application to the board on a form provided by the board and remit to the board a reasonable
examination fee, the amount of the reasonable fee to be set by the
board. The application must, as a minimum, require a sworn and
notarized statement that the applicant is of good moral character
and that he or she is physically and mentally capable of engaging
in the practice of podiatric medicine;
(2) He or she must provide evidence of graduation and receipt
of the degree of doctor of podiatric medicine and its equivalent
from a school of podiatric medicine which is approved by the
council of podiatry education or by the board;
(3) He or she must pass an examination approved by the board,
which examination can be related to a national standard. The
examination shall be in the English language and be designed to
ascertain an applicant's fitness to practice podiatric medicine.
The board shall before the date of examination determine what will
constitute a passing score. If an applicant fails to pass the
examination on two occasions, he or she shall successfully complete
a course of study or training, as approved by the board, designed
to improve his or her ability to engage in the practice of
podiatric medicine, before being eligible for reexamination; and
(4) He or she must submit evidence to the board of having successfully completed a minimum of one year of graduate clinical
training in a program approved by the council on podiatric medical
education, or the colleges of podiatric medicine. The board may
consider a minimum of two years of graduate podiatric clinical
training in the U. S. armed forces or three years private podiatric
clinical experience in lieu of this requirement.
(e) All licenses to practice medicine and surgery granted
prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one, and valid on that date, shall continue in full effect
for the term and under the
conditions provided by law at the time
of the granting of the license: Provided, That the provisions of
subsection (d) of this section shall not apply to any person
legally entitled to practice chiropody or podiatry in this state
prior to the eleventh day of June, one thousand nine hundred
sixty-five: Provided, however, That all persons licensed to
practice chiropody prior to the eleventh day of June, one thousand
nine hundred sixty-five, shall be permitted to use the term
"chiropody-podiatry" and shall have the rights, privileges and
responsibilities of a podiatrist set out in this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that applicants
for medical licenses must pass all components of the examination
within seven consecutive years from the date of passing the first
component of the examination. This standard is in accord with the
recommendation of the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.