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ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 317
(By Senators Jenkins, Stollings, Bowman, Prezioso, Plymale and McKenzie)
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[Passed March 6, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §30-3-10 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to licenses to practice medicine
and surgery or podiatry; clarifying the licensing provisions;
removing the reciprocity provision; authorizing ten years for
an applicant to pass the licensing examination; requiring an
applicant who fails the licensing examination three times to
appear before the board; establishing the requirements for a
restricted license in extraordinary circumstances; and
authorizing rule-making authority for a restricted license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-3-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, 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 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. 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 it, may accept in lieu of an examination of applicants the
certificate of the National Board of Medical Examiners: Provided,
however, That an applicant is required to attain a passing score on
all components or steps of the examination within a period of ten
consecutive years: Provided further, That an applicant who has
failed to successfully complete and pass any one of the three steps
of the United States medical licensing examination (USMLE) in three
attempts is required to appear before the board for a determination
by the board, in its discretion, as to what, if any, further
education, evaluation and training is required for further
consideration of licensure. The board need not reject a candidate
for a nonmaterial technical or administrative error or omission in
the application process that is unrelated to the candidate's
professional qualifications as long as there is sufficient
information available to the board to determine the eligibility of
the candidate for licensure.
(c) In addition to the requirements of subsection (b) of this
section, 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 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 or 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: Provided, That an applicant is required
to attain a passing score on all components or steps of the
examination within a period of ten consecutive years: Provided,
however, That an applicant who has failed to successfully complete
and pass any one of the three steps of the National Board of
Podiatric Medical Examiners examination in three attempts shall be
required to appear before the board for a determination by the
board, in its discretion, as to what, if any, further education, evaluation and/or training is required for further consideration of
licensure; 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) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this article, the
board may issue a restricted license to an applicant in
extraordinary circumstances under the following conditions:
(1) Upon a finding by the board that based on the applicant's
exceptional education, training and practice credentials, the
applicant's practice in the state would be beneficial to the public
welfare;
(2) Upon a finding by the board that the applicant's
education, training and practice credentials are substantially
equivalent to the requirements of licensure established in this
article;
(3) Upon a finding by the board that the applicant received
his or her post-graduate medical training outside of the United
States and its territories;
(4) That the restricted license issued under extraordinary
circumstances is approved by a vote of three fourths of the members of the board;
(5) That orders denying applications for a restricted license
under this subsection are not appealable; and
(6) That the board report to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Delegates all decisions made pursuant
to this subsection and the reasons for those decisions.
(f) The board shall propose rules for legislative approval in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code, that establish and regulate the restricted
license issued to an applicant in extraordinary circumstances
pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(g) All licenses to practice medicine and surgery granted
prior to the first day of July, two thousand eight, 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 do 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.
(h) The board may not issue a license to a person not previously licensed in West Virginia whose license has been revoked
or suspended in another state until reinstatement of his or her
license in that state.