BILL NUMBER: AB 2872	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  1136
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 30, 2002
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 21, 2002
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 29, 2002

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Thomson

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2002

   An act to add Section 2104.5 to the Business and Professions Code,
relating to healing arts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2872, Thomson.  Healing arts:  physicians and surgeons.
   Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes requirements
that a graduate of a medical school located outside of the United
States or Canada is required to satisfy for licensure by the Medical
Board of California as a physician and surgeon.  These requirements
include the successful completion of one academic year of a
supervised clinical training program that is under the direction of
an approved medical school.
   This bill would make various findings by the Legislature,
including that medical schools located within California no longer
offer this clinical training program, described as the "Fifth Pathway
Program."  The bill would require the board, in consultation with
these medical schools, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development, and other designated persons to study methods to
reactivate the Fifth Pathway Program in medical schools located in
this state.  The bill would require the board to report its findings
to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2003.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) The Fifth Pathway Program allows a citizen of the United
States who attended medical school in a foreign country and completed
one academic year of supervised clinical training in an approved
medical school located in the United States and one year of a
residency program, to apply for licensure as a physician and surgeon.

   (2) The clinical training component of the Fifth Pathway Program
is not currently offered in medical schools located in California.
   (3) The Fifth Pathway Program is currently utilized successfully
in New York, and has been utilized successfully in California in the
past, to increase the number of physicians and surgeons who have an
understanding of foreign cultures and a proficiency in a foreign
language that they obtained while attending medical school in a
foreign country.
   (4) California is currently experiencing a shortage of health care
providers with the cultural and linguistic competency to serve the
state's diverse population, which has contributed to a lack of access
to care in many immigrant communities.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the
establishment of one or more Fifth Pathway Programs at approved
medical schools in California so that United States citizens who have
graduated from a medical school in a foreign country can more easily
obtain licensure in this state.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2104.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   2104.5.  The board, in consultation with various medical schools
located in California, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development, and executive directors and medical directors of
nonprofit community health centers, hospital administrators, and
medical directors with experience hiring graduates of the Fifth
Pathway Program or foreign medical school graduates shall study
methods to reactivate the Fifth Pathway Program in medical schools
located in this state.  The executive directors and medical directors
of nonprofit community health centers, the hospital administrators,
and the medical directors should serve or work with underserved
populations or in facilities located in medically underserved
communities or in health professional shortage areas.  The board
shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2003,
that shall include options for the Legislature to consider in order
to facilitate the establishment of one or more Fifth Pathway Programs
in medical schools located in California.  The study shall focus on
whether the Fifth Pathway Program can address the needs of areas
where a shortage of providers exists, communities with a non-English
speaking population in need of medical providers who speak their
native language and understand their culture, and whether it can
provide greater provider stability in these communities.