BILL NUMBER: AB 2260 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Negrete McLeod
FEBRUARY 22, 2006
An act to amend Sections 2111 and 2113 of, and to add Section
2220.7 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to physicians
and surgeons, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2260, as introduced, Negrete McLeod Approvals and certificates
of registration.
(1) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, prohibits the practice
of medicine without a physician and surgeon's certificate issued by
the Medical Board of California through its Division of Licensing.
The act, however, authorizes a foreign physician who seeks
postgraduate study in an approved medical school to apply to the
division for approval to participate in the school's professional
activities. Under the act, a foreign physician may apply to the
division for 2 extensions of the approval granted to him or her. The
act also authorizes a person who does not immediately qualify for a
physician and surgeon's certificate and has been offered a medical
school faculty position to apply to the division for a certificate of
registration to engage in the practice of medicine. Under the act, a
certificate of registration may be renewed for a total period of 5
years, and renewal may be denied if the registrant is a graduate of a
foreign medical school, as specified. The act directs the deposit of
all revenue collected by the board into the Contingent Fund of the
Medical Board of California, where funds other than penalty revenue
are continuously appropriated.
This bill would revise the renewal provisions for approvals
granted to foreign physicians, limiting the duration of those
approvals to 3 years, and would also revise the renewal provisions
for certificates of registration, allowing 2 renewals and an
additional extension, at the division's discretion, upon a showing of
continued progress towards obtaining a physician and surgeon's
certificate and issuance of a certificate by the Educational
Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates for graduates of foreign
medical schools, other than those located in Canada. The bill would
require additional information on the applications for approval and
for certificates of registration. The bill would require a foreign
physician and a registrant to provide identifying information to
their patients and would prohibit a registrant from charging patients
for the medical services he or she provides and would prohibit the
medical school from charging patients for those provided by a foreign
physician. The bill would require the division to notify the medical
school and the foreign physician or registrant of a complaint and
would authorize the Division of Medical Quality to take disciplinary
action against the foreign physician or registrant. The bill would
authorize the division to charge application and renewal fees for the
approval and the certificate of registration. By increasing that
part of the revenue in the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board that
is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation.
(2) The board through its Division of Medical Quality may take
disciplinary action against a physician and surgeon for violating the
Medical Practice Act. The act also makes a violation of its
regulatory provisions a crime.
This bill would prohibit a physician and surgeon from including
certain provisions in an agreement to settle a civil dispute arising
from his or her practice that interferes with communications, as
specified, between the board and another party to the dispute. The
bill would make the violation of this requirement subject to
disciplinary action by the board and because it would also be
punishable as a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2111 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2111. (a) Physicians who are not citizens but who meet the
requirements of subdivision (b), are legally admitted to the United
States, and who seek postgraduate study in an approved medical school
may, after receipt of an appointment from the dean of the California
medical school and application to and approval by the Division of
Licensing, be permitted to participate in the professional activities
of the department in the medical school to which they are appointed.
The physician shall be under the direction
direct supervision of the head of the department to which he or
she is appointed, and shall be known for these purposes as a
"Section 2111 guest physician." "visiting
fellow." The visiting fellow shall wear a visible name tag containing
the title "visiting fellow" when he or she provides medical
services.
(b) (1) Application for approval shall be made on a form
prescribed by the division and shall be accompanied by a fee in
an amount fixed by the division . The application shall show
that the person does not immediately qualify for a physician and
surgeon surgeon's certificate under
this chapter and that the person has completed at least three years
of postgraduate basic residency requirements. The application
shall also describe the recruitment efforts made by the medical
school before offering the appointment to the applicant.
(2) Approval shall be granted only for appointment to one
medical school, and no physician shall be granted more than one
approval for the same period of time.
(3) Approval shall
may be granted for a maximum of three years and shall be
renewed annually. Renewal shall be granted subject to the
discretion of the division. Notwithstanding the limitations in this
subdivision on the length of the approval, a Section 2111 guest
physician may apply for, and the division may in its discretion
grant, not more than two extensions of that approval. An extension
may be granted only if the dean of the California medical school has
provided justification that the extension is necessary and the person
holds a certificate issued by the Educational Commission for Foreign
Medical Graduates The visiting fellow shall submit a
request for renewal to the division on a form it prescribes and shall
include a renewal fee in an amount fixed by the division .
(c) Except to the extent authorized by this section, the visiting
physician fellow may not engage in the
practice of medicine , bill . Neither the
visiting fellow nor the medical school may assess any charge
for his or her the medical services
, or otherwise provided by the visiting
fellow, and the visiting fellow may not receive compensation
therefor. The
(d) The time spent under
appointment in a medical school pursuant to this section may not be
used to meet the requirements for licensure under Section 2102.
(e) The division shall notify the visiting fellow and the dean of
the appointing medical school of a complaint made about the visiting
fellow. The Division of Medical Quality may take action against a
visiting fellow as provided in this chapter.
(d)
(f) The amount of the fees fixed by the division
pursuant to this section shall not exceed its cost in administering
the approval program.
(g) Nothing in this section shall preclude
any United States citizen who has received his or her medical degree
from a medical school recognized by the division that is
located in a foreign country from participating in any program
established pursuant to this section.
SEC. 2. Section 2113 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
2113. (a) Any person who does not immediately qualify for a
physician's physician and surgeon's
certificate under this chapter and who is offered by the dean of an
approved medical school in this state a full-time faculty position
may, after application to and approval by the Division of Licensing,
be granted a certificate of registration to engage in the
practice of medicine only to the extent that the practice is incident
to and a necessary part of his or her duties as approved by the
division in connection with the faculty position . A
clinical fellowship shall not qualify a person to apply for a
certificate of registration.
(b) To qualify for the certificate , an applicant shall
meet all the following requirements submit
an application to the division in a form it prescribes along with a
registration fee in an amount fixed by the division. The applicant
shall include with his or her application the following i
nformation :
(1) Furnish documentary Documentary
evidence satisfactory to the division that the applicant is a United
States citizen or is legally admitted to the United States.
(2) If the applicant is a graduate of a medical school other than
in the United States or Canada, furnish
documentary evidence satisfactory to the division that he or she has
been licensed to practice medicine and surgery for not less than four
years in another state or country whose requirements for licensure
are satisfactory to the division, or has been engaged in the practice
of medicine in the United States for at least four years in approved
facilities, or has completed a combination of that licensure and
training.
(3) If the applicant is a graduate of an
approved medical school in the United States or Canada,
furnish documentary evidence that he or she has completed a
resident course of professional instruction as required in Section
2089.
(3) The
(4) Written certification by the
head of the department in which where
the applicant is to will be appointed
shall certify in writing to the division that the
of the following matters:
(A) The applicant will be under
his or her direction and .
(B) The applicant will not be
permitted to practice medicine unless incident to and a necessary
part of the applicant's his or her
duties as approved by the division in subdivision (a)
(f) .
(4) Submit an application on a form prescribed by the division.
(C) The applicant will be under the direct supervision of the
department chair for the speciality in which the applicant will
practice.
(D) The applicant will be proctored in the same manner as other
new faculty members, including review by the medical staff of the
school's medical center.
(E) The applicant will not be appointed to a supervisory position
at the level of a department chair or division chief.
(5) The Demonstration by the dean of
the medical school shall demonstrate that the
applicant has the requisite qualifications to assume the position to
which he or she is to be appointed and a description of the
recruitment efforts made by the medical school before offering the
faculty position to the applicant .
(c) A certificate of registration shall be issued
only for a faculty position at one approved medical school, and no
person shall be issued more than one certificate of registration for
the same period of time.
(d) (1) A certificate
of registration is valid for one year after its date of
issuance and may be renewed twice . During this
period the division may require the registrant to take the written
examination required for issuance of a physician's and surgeon's
certificate. If the registrant is required to take the written
examination and does not pass, the certificate of registration shall
nevertheless be effective for the one-year period issued and if the
effective period of the certificate will lapse before the examination
may be retaken, the certificate of registration may be renewed,
subject to the discretion of the division, for a period not to exceed
one additional year.
If the registrant is not required to take the written examination
in order to be issued a certificate of registration or has passed
that examination, the certificate of registration may be renewed
annually at the discretion of the division for a total period of five
years from the date of issuance of the original certificate,
provided, however, that the division, may in its discretion refuse to
renew a certificate of registration if the registrant is a graduate
of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada and has
not, within two years after registration, been issued a certificate
by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The
division may condition any renewal on passing the written examination
as described in this subdivision.
(d) A request for
renewal shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the division with
a renewal fee in an amount fixed by the division.
(2) If the registrant has not completed the prerequisites for the
physician and surgeon's certificate, the dean of the medical school
may submit a plan to the division before the term of the second
renewal of the registrant's certificate expires, that demonstrates
the registrant's continued progress toward satisfying those
prerequisites and the issuance of a certificate by the Educational
Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, if the registrant is a
graduate of a medical school located in a country other than the
United States or Canada. The division may, in it discretion, extend
the certificate of registration for a two-year period to allow the
registrant to obtain a physician and surgeon's certificate.
(e) If the registrant is a graduate of a medical school
other than in the United States or Canada, he or she shall meet the
requirements of Section 2102 or 2135, as appropriate, in order to
obtain a physician's physician and
surgeon's certificate. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the division may accept practice in an appointment pursuant to this
section as qualifying time to meet the postgraduate training
requirements in Section 2102, and may, in its discretion, waive the
examination and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical
Graduates certification requirements specified in Section 2102 in the
event the registrant applies for a physician's
physician and surgeon's certificate. As a condition to
waiving any examination or the Educational Commission for Foreign
Medical Graduates certification requirement, the division in its
discretion, may require an applicant to pass the clinical competency
examination referred to in subdivision (d) of Section 2135. The
division shall not waive any examination for an applicant who has not
completed at least one year in the faculty position.
(e) Except to the extent authorized by this section, the
(f) The registrant shall
not may engage in the practice of medicine
only to the extent that the practice is incident to, and a necessary
part of, his or her duties as approved by the division in
connection with the faculty position. The registrant shall not admit
a patient to a nursing facility or a skilled or assisted living
facility that is not formally affiliated with the medical school
where he or she is a faculty member. The registrant shall not assess
a charge for the medical services he or she provides for a patient
or receive compensation therefor , unless he or she is
issued a physician's and surgeon's certificate .
(g) The registrant shall wear a visible name tag while providing
medical services containing the title "visiting professor" or
"visiting faculty member" and shall obtain a signed statement from
each patient he or she treats, acknowledging the services are
provided by a person who does not hold a physician and surgeon's
certificate but who is qualified to participate in a special program
as a visiting professor or faculty member.
(h) The division shall notify the registrant and the dean of the
medical school of a complaint made about the registrant. The Division
of Medical Quality may take action against a registrant as provided
in this chapter.
(i) The amount of the fees fixed by the division pursuant to this
section shall not exceed its costs in administering the registration
program.
SEC. 3. Section 2220.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
2220.7. (a) A physician and surgeon shall not include or permit
to be included, any of the following provisions in an agreement to
settle a civil dispute arising from his or her practice, whether the
agreement is made before or after filing the action:
(1) A provision that prohibits another party to the dispute from
contacting or cooperating with the board.
(2) A provision that prohibits another party to the dispute from
filing a complaint with the board.
(3) A provision that requires another party to the dispute to
withdraw a complaint he or she has filed with the board.
(b) A provision described in subdivision (a) is void as against
public policy.
(c) A physician and surgeon who violates this section is subject
to disciplinary action by the board.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.