Assigned to HHS FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR S.B.1249
international medical graduates; licensure.
Purpose
Requires, effective January 1, 2024, the Arizona Medical Board (AMB) to grant a medical
license to an international medical graduate who meets outlined criteria and who is licensed to
practice in one of outlined countries.
Background
An applicant for a medical license in Arizona must: 1) graduate from an approved school
of medicine or receive a medical education that the AMB deems to be of equivalent quality;
2) successfully complete an approved 12-month hospital internship, residency or clinical
fellowship program; 3) have the physical and mental capability to safely engage in the practice of
medicine; 4) have a professional record that indicates that the applicant has not committed any act
that would constitute grounds for disciplinary action; 5) not have surrendered a license, currently
be under investigation, suspension or restriction or have had a medical license revoked by a
medical regulatory board in another jurisdiction that constitutes unprofessional conduct; 6) pay all
AMB-required fees; 7) complete an AMB-prescribed training unit; 8) submit a five-year medical
employment history including verification of licensure from every state in which the applicant has
ever held a medical license; and 9) submit a full set of fingerprints to the AMB for a state and
federal criminal records check (A.R.S. § 32-1422). An applicant for a medical license in Arizona
who has graduated from an unapproved school of medicine must meet additional outlined
requirements (A.R.S. § 32-1423).
The primary duty of the AMB is to protect the public from unlawful, incompetent,
unqualified, impaired or unprofessional practitioners of allopathic medicine through licensure,
regulation and rehabilitation of the profession in Arizona. The powers and duties of the AMB
include: 1) initiating investigations and determining whether a doctor has engaged in
unprofessional conduct, provided incompetent medical care or is mentally or physically unable to
engage in the practice of medicine; 2) reviewing the credentials and abilities of applicants whose
professional records or physical or mental capabilities do not meet licensure requirements;
3) developing and recommending standards governing the profession; 4) engaging in a full
exchange of information with licensing boards, disciplinary boards and medical associations of
other states, foreign countries and the Arizona Medical Association; 5) adopting rules for licensure
and regulation of doctors of medicine; and 6) establishing fees and penalties (A.R.S. § 32-1403).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
FACT SHEET
S.B. 1249
Page 2
Provisions
International Medical Graduate Licensure
1. Requires the AMB to grant a medical license to engage in the practice of medicine in Arizona
to an international medical graduate who meets outlined criteria and who is licensed to practice
in:
a) Australia;
b) Hong Kong;
c) Ireland;
d) Israel;
e) New Zealand;
f) Singapore;
g) South Africa;
h) Switzerland;
i) the United Kingdom;
j) Canada; or
k) any additional countries added by the AMB.
2. Allows an international medical graduate, who is licensed to practice in one of outlined
countries, to engage in the practice of medicine in Arizona without additional training or
residency requirements if all outlined requirements are met.
3. Stipulates that the AMB may grant a license only to an international medical program graduate:
a) whose federal immigration status allows the person to work as a physician in the US; and
b) who meets the statutory requirements for medicine and surgery licensure and the additional
requirements for students graduating from an unapproved allopathic school of medicine.
4. States that the AMB is not required to license an international medical graduate who does not
provide:
a) evidence of substantially similar medical training as required by Arizona law;
b) evidence of satisfactory passage of exams;
c) documentation of legal status to work in the United States;
d) a complete license application; and
e) payment of all required licensing fees.
5. Allows the AMB to require an applicant international medical graduate to submit:
a) any necessary supporting application materials so that the board may properly evaluate the
applicant for licensure; and
b) at the applicant's expense, medical education information through the Educational
Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates or another third-party records service.
6. Allows an international medical graduate, whose license in one of outlined countries has
expired or lapsed within the previous five years but who meets all other requirements, to be
granted a medical license, if the graduate was in good standing with the medical licensing or
regulatory institution of the licensing country at the time the license expired or lapsed.
FACT SHEET
S.B. 1249
Page 3
Provisional International Medical Graduate Licensure
7. Requires the AMB to grant a provisional medical license to engage in the practice of medicine
in Arizona to any international medical graduate:
a) who has an employment offer as a physician with an Arizona health care provider;
b) whose federal immigration status allows the person to work as a physician in the United
States; and
c) who meets the statutory requirements for medicine and surgery licensure and, if applicable,
the additional requirements for students graduating from an unapproved allopathic school
of medicine.
8. Requires a provisional license to automatically be converted into a full medical license after
three years unless the licensee is disciplined in that three-year period.
9. Allows the AMB to discipline an international medical graduate licensee or revoke a
provisional license based on clear and compelling evidence after conducting a disciplinary
action investigation.
10. Allows, within 120 days of the revocation of a provisional license, a licensee to appeal the
decision to the Maricopa County Superior Court.
11. Requires the Maricopa County Superior Court to reinstate a revoked provisional license if the
court finds that the AMB's actions did not meet the prescribed standards.
Miscellaneous
12. Defines international medical graduate as an individual who:
a) has been granted a medical doctorate or a substantially similar degree by an international
medical program of good standing;
b) is in good standing with the medical licensing or regulatory institution of the individual's
resident country;
c) has completed a residency or substantially similar postgraduate medical training or has
practiced as a medical professional performing the duties of a physician in the individual's
resident country for at least two years; and
d) possesses basic fluency in the English language.
13. Defines international medical program as any medical school, residency program, medical
internship program or entity that provides physicians with a medical education or training
outside of the United States that is substantially similar to that required to practice as a
physician in Arizona.
14. Defines terms.
15. Becomes effective on January 1, 2023.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 3, 2023
MM/MC/slp