81R11590 YDB-F By: Thompson H.B. No. 3674 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the licensing requirements for a foreign-trained physician applicant. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. 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 at least three years of graduate medical training in the United States or Canada that was 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 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to physician applicants submitting license applications under Chapter 155, Occupations Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. An application submitted before that date is covered by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.