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Introduced Version Senate Bill 526 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 526

(By Senators Foster, Stollings and Laird)

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[Introduced March 10, 2009; referred to the Committee on Government Organization.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-14-1, §30-14-2, §30-14-4, §30-14-5 and §30-14-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the regulation of osteopathy; defining terms; revising requirements for post-doctoral training as a requirement for licensure; providing for educational permits for post-doctoral clinical training; authorizing the promulgation of an emergency legislative rule; eliminating redundant language regarding licenses, internships, formation of medical corporations and fees; and defining the scope and duration of educational permits.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-14-1, §30-14-2, §30-14-4, §30-14-5 and §30-14-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14. OSTEOPATHIC PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.
§30-14-1. License required.

It shall be is unlawful for any person to practice or offer to practice medicine and surgery as an osteopathic physician and surgeon in this state without a license or permit issued by the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy: Provided, That any certificate of license heretofore issued under the laws of this state, authorizing its holder to practice osteopathy and surgery, shall in no way be affected by the enactment of this article; except that the holder of every such certificate of license shall be subject to all of the provisions of this article respecting the requirements and obligations herein prescribed for the continuance in force of such certificate of license.
§30-14-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
(a) "Approved Accredited osteopathic college" shall mean means a college of osteopathy and surgery, which requires as a minimum prerequisite for admission preprofessional training of at least two years of academic work in specified scientific subjects, as prescribed by the board, or by the college accrediting agency of the American Osteopathic Association, in a standard an accredited college of arts and sciences of equal rank with the college of arts and sciences of West Virginia University, and which requires for graduation a four-year course of nine months each approved by the board in accordance with the minimum standards established by the American osteopathic association;
"Approved hospital for intern training" shall mean a hospital approved for intern training by the board or by the hospital accrediting agency of the American osteopathic association;
(b) "Approved program of post graduate clinical training" means a program of clinical training approved by, or subject of approval by, the American Osteopathic Association, or approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, for the purposes of intern or resident training;
(c) "Board" shall mean means the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy;
(d) "License" means legal authorization issued by the board to a fully-qualified osteopathic physician to engage in the regular practice of osteopathic medicine and surgery:
(e) "Osteopathy" shall mean means that system of the healing art which places the chief emphasis on the structural integrity of the body mechanism as being the most important single factor in maintaining the well-being of the organism in health and disease;
(f) "Permit" means a limited, legal authorization issued by the board to an osteopathic physician to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery in this state while serving under special circumstances of public need or while undergoing post-graduate clinical training as a prerequisite to licensure;
(g) "Reciprocal endorsement" shall mean means a duly authenticated certificate verification of the board, addressed to a board or agency of another country, state, territory, province or the District of Columbia, vouching that a certificate of license issued to an osteopathic physician and surgeon pursuant to the laws of this state is currently valid and not suspended or revoked for any cause or causes specified in this article.
§30-14-4. Application for license or educational permit.
Each applicant for examination by the board, with the exception of assistants to osteopathic physicians and surgeons, as hereinafter provided, shall submit an application therefor on forms prepared and furnished by the board, accompanied by
(a) Each applicant for a license shall furnish evidence verified by oath and satisfactory to the board, establishing that the applicant has satisfied the following requirements:
(a) (1) That The applicant is eighteen years of age or over;

(b) (2) That The applicant is of good moral character;
(c) (3) That The applicant has graduated from an approved accredited osteopathic college;
(d) (4) That The applicant has submitted a letter of verification from an AOA approved hospital stating that he has been approved for an AOA approved internship or that the applicant is currently in an AOA approved internship, if internship has not already been completed; successfully completed either of the following:
(A) A minimum of one year of post doctoral, clinical training in a program approved by the American Osteopathic Association; or
(B) A minimum of one year of post doctoral, clinical training in a program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and forty hours of continuing medical education in osteopathic manipulative medicine and osteopathic manipulative treatment in courses approved, and classified as Category 1A, by the American Osteopathic Association.
(e) that the applicant has paid to the board a reasonable fee, the amount of such reasonable fee to be set by the board rules.
(b) Each applicant for an educational permit shall furnish evidence verified by oath and satisfactory to the board, establishing that the applicant has satisfied the following requirements:
(1) The applicant is eighteen years of age or over;
(2) The applicant is of good moral character;
(3) The applicant has graduated from an accredited osteopathic college, and;
(4) The applicant is under contract as an intern or resident in an approved program of post graduate clinical training.
(c) The board may not issue a license or permit to any person until the applicant has paid the application fee established by legislative rule of the board.
(d) In order to give timely effect to the amendments to this section and section ten of this article, the board is authorized to propose a legislative rule consistent with these amendments as an emergency rule under the provisions of section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
§30-14-5. Examination.

The examination for a license to practice medicine and surgery as an osteopathic physician and surgeon shall be written and oral and shall cover substantive and clinical knowledge in all the essential branches of medicine and surgery including anatomy, physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, pathology, public health--preventive medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, osteopathic medicine, materia medica principles and practice of osteopathy. and this The list of subjects may be expanded or regrouped at the discretion of the board.
The board shall issue certificates of license to all applicants who shall successfully pass the said examination and shall present evidence showing that they have served an internship in a hospital approved by the AOA for intern training. The board shall also examine the application of any one or more osteopathic physicians or surgeons for the formation of an osteopathic medical corporation, filed pursuant to the provisions of section nine-a of this article, and issue a certificate of authorization therefor to any applicant or applicants legally entitled to receive the same. The board shall also have authority to authorize osteopathic medical corporations, in accordance with the provisions of sections nine-a and nine-b of this article, to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery through duly licensed osteopathic physicians and surgeons.
The board shall have the power to certify and establish standards for employment of assistants to osteopathic physicians and surgeons.
No license shall be issued under the provisions of this section until the person applying therefor shall have paid to the board a fee of five dollars.
§30-14-10. Renewal of license; fee; refresher training a prerequisite; effect of failure to renew; reinstatement; educational permit.

(a) All holders of certificates of license licenses to practice as osteopathic physicians and surgeons in this state shall renew them the licenses biennially on or before July 1, by the payment of a reasonable renewal fee, the amount of such reasonable fee to be set by the board rules to the secretary of the board. The secretary of the board shall notify each certificate holder by mail licensee of the necessity of renewing his or her certificate license at least thirty days prior to July 1, of each year the expiration of the license.
(b) As a prerequisite to renewal of a certificate of license issued by the board, each holder of such a certificate licensee shall furnish biennially to the secretary of the board satisfactory evidence of having completed thirty-two hours of educational refresher course training, of which the total amount of hours must be AOA approved by the American Osteopathic Association, and fifty percent of the required thirty-two hours shall be classified as category (1).
(c) The failure to renew a certificate of license shall operate as an automatic suspension of the rights and privileges granted by its issuance. The board may propose rules for legislative approval, pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, providing that an osteopathic physician may renew a certificate of license on an inactive basis.
(d) A certificate of license suspended by a failure to make a biennial renewal thereof may be reinstated by the board upon compliance of the certificate holder licensee with the following requirements:
(1) Presentation to the board of satisfactory evidence of educational refresher training of quantity and standard approved by the board for the previous two years;
(2) Payment of all fees for the previous two years that would have been paid had the certificate holder suspended licensee maintained his or her certificate license in good standing; and
(3) Payment to the board of a reasonable reinstatement fee, the amount of such reasonable fee to be set by the board rules specified by legislative rule of the board.
(e) An educational permit authorizes the holder to practice osteopathic medicine and surgery only for work performed within an approved program of post graduate clinical training under the supervision of a duly-licensed osteopathic or allopathic physician. The first educational permit issued to a graduate of an accredited osteopathic college may be valid for a period of fifteen months and subsequent educational permits issued to the same person may be valid for not more than twelve months. An educational permit shall expire upon the termination of the permit holder from an approved program of post graduate clinical training and may also be suspended or revoked by the board at any time upon grounds defined by the board by legislative rule.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to revise requirements for post doctoral training as a requirement for licensure as an osteopathic physician. Current definitions in section two have been alphabetized.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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