By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 2390
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.