BILL NUMBER: SB 1865 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 670
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 21, 2004
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 17, 2004
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 16, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 10, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Senator Aanestad
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Sections 1628, 1628.2, 1631, and 1632 of, to
amend, renumber, and add Section 1632.5 of, and to repeal Sections
1633 and 1633.5 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
dentistry, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1865, Aanestad. Dentists: licensing examinations.
The Dental Practice Act provides for the licensing and regulation
of dentists and associated professions by the Dental Board of
California. Existing law requires an applicant for a license to
practice dentistry to pass a written examination on subjects
prescribed by the board, and to also pass a clinical examination.
This bill would require an applicant for a license to practice
dentistry to complete various examinations, including the National
Board Dental Examination, an examination in California law and ethics
developed by the board, and a clinical and written examination
administered either by the board or the Western Regional Examining
Board. The bill would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to
review the examination offered by the Western Regional Examining
Board, and would appropriate $150,000 from the State Dentistry Fund
to the department for this purpose pursuant to a specified schedule.
The bill would require a report by the Dental Board of California on
examination passage rates.
Existing law requires an applicant for an examination to furnish
documentary evidence to the board that he or she has graduated from a
reputable dental college.
This bill would authorize the board to approve an application for
examination or accept the results of an examination from an applicant
who has not yet graduated from a reputable dental college, if
certain conditions are met.
The bill would make other related changes.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1628 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1628. Any person over 18 years of age is eligible to take an
examination before the board upon making application therefor and
meeting all of the following requirements:
(a) Paying the fee for applicants for examination provided by this
chapter.
(b) Furnishing satisfactory evidence of having graduated from a
reputable dental college approved by the board; provided, also, that
applicants furnishing evidence of having graduated after 1921 shall
also present satisfactory evidence of having completed at dental
school or schools the full number of academic years of undergraduate
courses required for graduation. For purposes of this article,
"reputable dental college approved by the board" or "approved dental
school" include a foreign dental school accredited by a body that has
a reciprocal accreditation agreement with any commission or
accreditation organization whose findings are accepted by the board.
(c) Furnishing the satisfactory evidence of financial
responsibility or liability insurance for injuries sustained or
claimed to be sustained by a dental patient in the course of the
examination as a result of the applicant's actions.
(d) If the applicant has been issued a degree of doctor of dental
medicine or doctor of dental surgery by a foreign dental school, he
or she shall furnish all of the following documentary evidence to the
board:
(1) That he or she has completed, in a dental school or schools
approved by the board pursuant to Section 1636.4, a resident course
of professional instruction in dentistry for the full number of
academic years of undergraduate courses required for graduation.
(2) Subsequent thereto, he or she has been issued by the dental
school a dental diploma or a dental degree, as evidence of the
successful completion of the course of dental instruction required
for graduation.
(e) Any applicant who has been issued a dental diploma from a
foreign dental school that has not, at the time of his or her
graduation from the school, been approved by the board pursuant to
Section 1636.4 shall not be eligible for examination until the
applicant has successfully completed a minimum of two academic years
of education at a dental college approved by the board pursuant to
Article 1 (commencing with Section 1024) of Chapter 2 of Division 10
of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations and has been issued
a degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery or
its equivalent. This subdivision shall not apply to applicants who
have successfully completed the requirements of Section 1636 as it
read before it was repealed on January 1, 2004, on or before December
31, 2003, or who have successfully completed the requirements of
Section 1628.2 on or before December 31, 2008. An applicant who has
successfully completed the requirements of Section 1636 as it read
before it was repealed on January 1, 2004, on or before December 31,
2003, or who has successfully completed the requirements of Section
1628.2 on or before December 31, 2008, shall be eligible to take the
examination required by Section 1632, subject to the limitations set
forth in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1633.
(f) Subdivisions (d) and (e) do not apply to a person who has been
issued a degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental
surgery by a foreign dental school accredited by a body that has a
reciprocal accreditation agreement with any commission or
accreditation organization whose findings are accepted by the board.
SEC. 2. Section 1628.2 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1628.2. (a) A person who has been issued a degree of doctor of
dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery by a foreign dental
school that is not approved by the board pursuant to Section 1636.4
shall be exempt from the requirements of subdivision (e) of Section
1628 if he or she meets all of the following requirements:
(1) He or she furnishes documentary evidence satisfactory to the
board of both of the following:
(A) That he or she has completed in a dental school or schools a
resident course of professional instruction in dentistry for the full
number of academic years of undergraduate courses required for
graduation.
(B) That subsequent thereto, he or she has been issued by the
dental school a dental diploma or a dental degree, as evidence of
successful completion of the course of dental instruction required
for graduation.
(2) He or she passed Parts I and II of the written examination of
the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on
National Dental Examinations or its predecessor on or before December
31, 2003.
(3) He or she has passed an examination, on or before December 31,
2008, in which the applicant is required to demonstrate his or her
skill in restorative technique, subject to the following:
(A) An applicant who obtains an overall average grade of 75
percent in the restorative technique examination and a grade of 75
percent or more in two of the three subsections shall be deemed to
have passed the examination. An applicant who obtains a grade of 85
percent in any subsection of the examination but does not pass the
examination is exempt from retaking that subsection for two years
following the date of the examination in which the grade of 85
percent was obtained.
(B) Applications for this examination shall be submitted by mail
only. An applicant for the examination shall submit to the board a
mailing address for the applicant that is located within the United
States. That mailing address shall be the sole address that the
board is required to use to communicate with the applicant.
(C) An applicant shall provide to the board copies of their
passing scores on Parts I and II of the written examination of the
National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on National
Dental Examinations or its predecessor within 90 days after April
13, 2004, which is the date of the enactment of Chapter 33 of the
Statutes of 2004. An applicant who has previously taken the
restorative technique examination or who has previously provided his
or her passing scores on Parts I and II of the written examination
of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on
National Dental Examinations or its predecessor shall not be subject
to the requirement of this subparagraph.
(D) (i) Notwithstanding Section 135, an applicant who fails to
pass the examination under this section or Section 1636, as repealed
on January 1, 2004, after four attempts or who fails to pass the
examination on or before December 31, 2008, shall not be eligible for
further reexamination under this paragraph, and shall not be
eligible for the exemption from the requirements of subdivision (e)
of Section 1628. Failure by an applicant to appear for the
examination without good cause, as determined by the board,
constitutes a failure to pass the examination for purposes of this
paragraph.
(ii) In order to be eligible to reapply to take the examination,
an applicant who fails to pass the examination or fails to appear for
the examination, and who has not used all four examination attempts,
shall submit to the board a letter of intent stating his or her
intent to reapply to take the examination. The applicant shall
submit this letter to the board within 45 days of the board mailing
notification to him or her of failure to pass the examination, or, if
the applicant failed to appear for the examination, within 45 days
of the examination date for which he or she failed to appear.
The requirements of this clause shall not be construed to require
the applicant to take the next examination offered by the board,
however, it is the intent of the Legislature that applicants apply
for reexaminations in a timely manner.
(iii) An applicant who believes he or she has good cause for
failing to appear at a scheduled examination shall state the grounds
supporting the good cause in a letter to the board. If the board
accepts those grounds as good cause, the applicant may reapply for a
future examination in the usual manner used by the board for
scheduling applicants for an examination, and the examination for
which the applicant failed to appear shall not count against the
maximum four attempts permitted by clause (i). If the board does not
accept those grounds as good cause, the examination for which the
applicant failed to appear shall be counted as one of those four
attempts.
(iv) If the applicant fails to comply with the requirements of
clause (ii), he or she shall no longer qualify to take any future
examination required by this paragraph, and shall be subject to the
requirements of subdivision (e) of Section 1628.
(E) If all qualified applicants have exhausted the four
examination attempts permitted by subparagraph (D), or become
ineligible to take the examination, the board may, prior to January
1, 2009, cease to offer administration of that examination at any
time thereafter.
(4) Failure to meet any of the requirements of paragraphs (1) to
(3), inclusive, including, but not limited to, the requirement of
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) that an applicant provide to the
board copies of his or her passing scores on Parts I and II of the
written examination within the specified time period, shall make an
applicant ineligible for the exemption from the requirements of
subdivision (e) of Section 1628 provided by this section.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the restorative
technique examination provided for by this section, including the
eligibility provisions, be a continuation of the restorative
technique examination provided for in Section 1636, as repealed on
January 1, 2004, and that an applicant for the examination have no
more than a total of four attempts to take the restorative technique
examination.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2009, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2009, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 1631 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1631. The subjects in which the applicant shall be examined shall
be those subjects as the board may from time to time prescribe.
However, the subjects of examination shall be selected in accordance
with the trend of dental education in California as that trend is
determined, from time to time by the curricula of the dental colleges
in California approved by the Dental Board of California, and no
examination shall be given on any subject which is not then, at the
time of the determination, being currently taught in those approved
dental colleges. In the event of any changes in the list of
examination subjects, all approved dental schools in the United
States shall be notified, by the executive officer of the board, at
least two years in advance of the effective date of any change or
changes in subjects. Each applicant, at the time of filing an
application to take any examination hereunder, shall be given a list
of the subjects of the examination for which he or she is making
application.
SEC. 4. Section 1632 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
1632. (a) The board shall require each applicant to successfully
complete the written examinations of the National Board Dental
Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.
(b) The board shall require each applicant to successfully
complete an examination in California law and ethics developed and
administered by the board.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in Section 1632.5, the board
shall require each applicant to have taken and received a passing
score on one of the following:
(1) A clinical and written examination developed and administered
by the board.
(2) A clinical and written examination administered by the Western
Regional Examining Board, which board shall determine the passing
score for that examination.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 1628, the board is
authorized to do either of the following:
(1) Approve an application for examination from and to examine an
applicant who is enrolled in but has not yet graduated from a
reputable dental school approved by the board.
(2) Accept the results of an examination described in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) submitted by an applicant who was enrolled in
but had not graduated from a reputable dental school approved by the
board at the time the examination was administered.
In either case, the board shall require the dean of that school or
his or her delegate to furnish satisfactory proof that the applicant
will graduate within one year of the date the examination was
administered.
SEC. 5. Section 1632.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended and renumbered to read:
1633. (a) When an applicant for a license has received a grading
of 85 percent or above in any given subject, he or she shall be
exempt from reexamination on that subject in subsequent examinations
before the board within two years after the examination on which the
applicant received the exemption.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 135, an applicant who fails to pass
the examination required by Section 1632 after three attempts shall
not be eligible for further reexamination until the applicant has
successfully completed a minimum of 50 hours of education for each
subject which the applicant failed in the applicant's last
unsuccessful examination. The coursework shall be taken at a dental
school approved by either the Commission on Dental Accreditation or a
comparable organization approved by the board, and shall be
completed within a period of one year from the date of notification
of the applicant's third failure.
(c) The coursework described in subdivision (b) shall be required
once for every three unsuccessful examination attempts. When the
applicant applies for reexamination, he or she shall furnish proof
satisfactory to the board that he or she has successfully completed
the requirements of this section.
SEC. 6. Section 1632.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
1632.5. (a) Prior to implementation of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c) of Section 1632, the department's Office of
Examination Resources shall review the Western Regional Examining
Board examination to assure compliance with the requirements of
Section 139 and to certify that the examination process meets those
standards. If the department determines that the examination process
fails to meet those standards, paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of
Section 1632 shall not be implemented. The review of the Western
Regional Examining Board examination shall be conducted during or
after the Dental Board of California's occupational analysis
scheduled for the 2004-05 fiscal year, but not later than September
30, 2005. However, an applicant who successfully completes the
Western Regional Examining Board examination on or after January 1,
2005, shall be deemed to have met the requirements of subdivision (c)
of Section 1632 if the department certifies that the Western
Regional Examining Board examination meets the standards set forth in
this subdivision.
(b) The Western Regional Examining Board examination process shall
be regularly reviewed by the department pursuant to Section 139.
(c) The Western Regional Examining Board examination shall meet
the mandates of subdivision (a) of Section 12944 of the Government
Code.
(d) As part of its next scheduled review by the Joint Committee on
Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection, the Dental Board of
California shall report to that committee and the department on the
pass rates of applicants who sat for the Western Regional Examining
Board examination, compared with the pass rates of applicants who sat
for the state clinical and written examination administered by the
Dental Board of California. This report shall be a component of the
evaluation of the examination process that is based on
psychometrically sound principles for establishing minimum
qualifications and levels of competency.
SEC. 7. Section 1633 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 1633.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 9. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000)
is hereby appropriated from the State Dentistry Fund to the
Department of Consumer Affairs for the purpose of Section 1632.5 of
the Business and Professions Code, in accordance with the following
schedule:
(a) For the 2004-05 fiscal year, the sum of one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000).
(b) For the 2005-06 fiscal year, the sum of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000).
SEC. 10. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to make necessary changes to the examination requirements
for an applicant for licensure as a dentist and to make funding
available for that purpose at the earliest possible opportunity, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.