AB 2190, as amended, Salas. Acupuncture Board: executive officer: education.
Existing law, the Acupuncture Licensure Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of acupuncture by the Acupuncture Board, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the board, with the approval of the Director of Consumer Affairs, to appoint an executive officer who is exempt from civil service. Existing law repeals the provisions establishing the board and authority for it to appoint an executive officer on January 1, 2017.
The bill would extend the operation of the board and the board’s authority to appoint an executive officer until January 1, 2019.
Existing law requires, among other things, the completion of an approved educational and training program in order to be issued a license to practice acupuncture. For purposes of the act, beginning January 1, 2017, existing law defines “approved educational and training program” as a school or college offering education and training in the practice of an acupuncturist who meets various requirements, including offering curriculum that includes specified hours of didactic and laboratory training and supervised clinical instruction. Existing law requires these programs to submit that curriculum to the board and to receive board approval of the curriculum.
This bill would provide that any school or college offering education and training in the practice of acupuncture that was approved by the board prior to January 1, 2017, is deemed to have had its curriculum approved by the board if its approval has not been revoked and it has not changed its curriculum since receiving board approval.
Beginning January 1, 2017, existing law requires the board to establish standards for the approval of educational training and clinical experience received outside the United States.
This bill would repeal that board requirement. The bill would insteadbegin delete authorize the board toend delete require an applicant completing education outside of the United States to submit documentation of his or her education to abegin insert board approvedend insert credential evaluation servicebegin delete that is approved by the boardend delete for evaluation and to have the results of the evaluation sent directly from the credential evaluation service to the board.begin insert The bill would require the board to examine the received results to determine if an applicant meets requirements for licensure and, if the evaluated education is not
sufficient, would authorize the board to offer the applicant additional education, training, or testing, as specified.end insert The bill would require the board to establish, by regulation, an application process, criteria, and procedures for approval of a credential evaluationbegin delete service to assess the equivalency of an applicant’s education.end deletebegin insert service.end insert The bill would require the regulations to, at a minimum, require the credential evaluation service to meet specified requirements.begin insert The bill would define, for these purposes, an “approved credential evaluation service” as an agency or organization that is approved by the board to evaluate education completed outside the United States and identify the equivalency of that education
to education completed within the United States.end insertbegin insert The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 4927.5 of the Business and Professions
2Code, as added by Section 2 of Chapter 397 of the Statutes of
32014, is amended to read:
(a) For purposes of this chapter, “approved educational
5and training program” means a school or college offering education
6and training in the practice of an acupuncturist that meets all of
7the following requirements:
8(1) Offers curriculum that includes at least 3,000 hours of which
9at least 2,050 hours are didactic and laboratory training, and at
10least 950 hours are supervised clinical instruction. Has submitted
11that curriculum to the board, and has received board approval of
12the curriculum. Any school or college offering education and
13training in the practice of acupuncture that was approved by the
14board prior to January 1, 2017, has not had its approval revoked,
15and has not changed its curriculum since receiving board approval,
16is deemed to have had its
curriculum approved by the board for
17the purposes of this section.
18(2) Has received full institutional approval under Article 6
19(commencing with Section 94885) of Chapter 8 of Part 59 of
20Division 10 of Title 3 of the Education Code in the field of
21traditional Asian medicine, or in the case of institutions located
22outside of this state, approval by the appropriate governmental
23educational authority using standards equivalent to those of Article
246 (commencing with Section 94885) of Chapter 8 of Part 59 of
25Division 10 of Title 3 of the Education Code.
26(3) Meets any of the following:
27(A) Is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for
28Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
29(B) Has been granted candidacy status by the Accreditation
30Commission for Acupuncture
and Oriental Medicine.
31(C) Has submitted a letter of intent to pursue accreditation to
32the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental
33Medicine within 30 days of receiving full institutional approval
34pursuant to paragraph (2), and is granted candidacy status within
35three years of the date that letter was submitted.
36(b) Within 30 days after receiving curriculum pursuant to
37paragraph (1), the board shall review the curriculum, determine
38whether the curriculum satisfies the requirements established by
P4 1the board, and notify the school or college, the Accreditation
2Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and Bureau
3of Private and Postsecondary Education of whether the board has
4approved the curriculum.
5(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.
Section 4928 of the Business and Professions Code is
7amended to read:
(a) The Acupuncture Board, which consists of seven
9members, shall enforce and administer this chapter.
10(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
11and as of that date is repealed.
12(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section
13renders the board subject to review by the appropriate policy
14committees of the Legislature.
Section 4934 of the Business and Professions Code is
16amended to read:
(a) The board, by and with the approval of the director,
18may appoint an executive officer who is exempt from the State
19Civil Service Act (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18500) of
20Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
21(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
22and as of that date is repealed.
begin insertSection 4938 of the end insertbegin insertBusiness and Professions Codeend insertbegin insert is
24amended to read:end insert
begin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insertThe board shall issue a license to practice
26acupuncture to any person who makes an application and meets
27the following requirements:
28(a)
end delete29begin insert(1)end insert Is at least 18 years of age.
30(b)
end delete
31begin insert(2)end insert Furnishes satisfactory evidence of completion of one of the
32following:
33(1) (A)
end delete34begin insert(A)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insert(i)end insertbegin insert end insertAn approved educational and training program.
35(B)
end delete
36begin insert(ii)end insert If an
applicant began his or her educational and training
37program at a school or college that submitted a letter of intent to
38pursue accreditation to, or attained candidacy status from, the
39Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine,
40but the commission subsequently denied the school or college
P5 1candidacy status or accreditation, respectively, the board may
2review and evaluate the educational training and clinical experience
3to determine whether to waive the requirements set forth in this
4subdivision with respect to that applicant.
5(2)
end delete
6begin insert(B)end insert Satisfactory completion of a tutorial program in the practice
7of an acupuncturist that is approved by the board.
8(3)
end delete
9begin insert(C)end insert In the case of an applicant who has completed education
10and training outside the United States, documented educational
11training and clinical experience that meets the standards established
12pursuant to Sections 4939 and 4941.
13(c)
end delete
14begin insert(3)end insert Passes a written examination administered by the board that
15tests the applicant’s ability, competency, and knowledge in the
16practice of an acupuncturist. The written examination shall be
17developed by the Office of Professional Examination Services of
18the Department of
Consumer Affairs.
19(d)
end delete
20begin insert(4)end insert Is not subject to denial pursuant to Division 1.5 (commencing
21with Section 475).
22(e)
end delete
23begin insert(5)end insert Completes a clinical internship training program approved
24by the board. The clinical internship training program shall not
25exceed nine months in duration and shall be located in a clinic in
26this state that is an approved
educational and training program.
27The length of the clinical internship shall depend upon the grades
28received in the examination and the clinical training already
29satisfactorily completed by the individual prior to taking the
30examination. On and after January 1, 1987, individuals with 800
31or more hours of documented clinical training shall be deemed to
32have met this requirement. The purpose of the clinical internship
33training program shall be to ensure a minimum level of clinical
34competence.
35Each
end delete
36begin insert(b)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertEachend insert applicant who qualifies for a license shall pay, as a
37condition precedent to its issuance and in
addition to other fees
38required, the initial licensure fee.
Section 4939 of the Business and Professions Code,
3as amended by Section 37 of Chapter 426 of the Statutes of 2015,
4is
repealed.
Sectionbegin delete 4942end deletebegin insert 4939end insert is added to the Business and
7Professions Code, to
read:
(a)
(a) For purposes of this chapter, “approved credential
10evaluation service” means an agency or organization that is
11approved by the board to evaluate education completed outside
12the United States and identify the equivalency of that education to
13education completed within the United States.
14begin insert(b)end insert If an applicant completes education outside of the United
15States, thebegin delete board may require the applicant to submitend deletebegin insert
applicant
16shall do both of the following:end insert
17begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertSubmitend insert documentation of his or her education to a
18begin insert board-approvedend insert credential evaluation servicebegin delete that is approved by
19the board
for evaluation and to haveend delete
20begin insert(2)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertHaveend insert the results of the evaluation sent directly from the
21credential evaluation service to thebegin delete board in order to assess begin insert board.end insert
22educational equivalency.end delete
23
(c) If the board receives the results of an applicant’s evaluation
24pursuant to subdivision (b), the board shall examine the
results
25and determine whether the applicant meets requirements for
26licensure. If the evaluated education is not sufficient to meet the
27requirements for licensure, the board may offer the applicant
28additional education, training, or standardized testing to satisfy
29the educational requirements. The board shall not require the
30applicant to complete education, training, or testing that is not
31otherwise required of applicants who complete education or
32training within the United States.
33(b)
end delete
34begin insert(d)end insert The board shall establish, by regulation, an application
35process, criteria, and procedures for approval of credential
36evaluationbegin delete services to assess the equivalency of an applicant’s begin insert
services.end insert The regulations shall, at a minimum, require
37education.end delete
38the credential evaluation service to meet all of the following
39requirements:
40(1) Furnish evaluations written in English directly to the board.
P7 1(2) Be a member of a nationally recognized foreign credential
2evaluation association, such as, but not limited to, the American
3Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers or
4the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.
5(3) Undergo reevaluation by the board every five years.
6(4) Certify to the board that the credential evaluation service
7maintains a complete set of reference materials as determined by
8the board.
9(5) Base evaluations only
upon verified authentic, official
10transcripts, and degrees.
11(6) Have a written procedure for identifying fraudulent
12transcripts.
13(7) Include in an evaluation report submitted to the board the
14specific method or methods of authentication for the transcripts,
15certification, degrees, and other education evaluated for the
16purposes of the report.
17(8) Include in the evaluation report, for each degree held by the
18applicant, the equivalent degree offered in the United States, the
19date the degree was granted, the institution granting the degree,
20an English translation of the course titles, and the semester unit
21equivalence for each course.
22(9) Have an appeal procedure for applicants.
23(10) Provide
information concerning the credential evaluation
24service to the board that includes, but is not limited to, resumes or
25curriculum vitae for each evaluator and translator, which includes
26biographical information, three letters of references from public
27or private agencies, statistical information on the number of
28applications processed annually for the past five years, and any
29other information the board may require to determine whether the
30credential evaluation service meets the standards under this
31subdivision and the board’s regulations.
32(11) Provide to the board all information required by the board,
33including, but not limited to, the following:
34(A) Its credential evaluation policy.
35(B) A complete list of terminology and evaluation terms used
36in producing its credential evaluations.
37(C) A detailed description of the specific methods utilized for
38credential authentication.
begin insertSection 4974 of the end insertbegin insertBusiness and Professions Codeend insertbegin insert is
40amended to read:end insert
The board shall report to the Controller at the beginning
2of each month for the month preceding the amount and source of
3all revenue received by it pursuant to this chapter, and shall pay
4the entire amount thereof to the Treasurer for deposit in the
5Acupuncture Fund, which fund is created to carry out the
6provisions of thisbegin delete chapter.end deletebegin insert chapter, upon appropriation by the
7Legislature.end insert
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