(a) Any person who does not immediately qualify for a physician’s 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 board, 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 board in connection with the faculty position. A certificate of registration does not authorize a registrant to admit patients to a nursing or a skilled or assisted living facility unless that facility is formally affiliated with the sponsoring medical school. A clinical fellowship shall not be submitted as a faculty service appointment.
(b) Application for a certificate of registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by a registration fee fixed by the board in an amount necessary to recover the actual application processing costs of the program. To qualify for the certificate, an applicant shall submit all of the following:
(1) If the applicant is a graduate of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada, documentary evidence satisfactory to the board 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 board, 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.
(2) If the applicant is a graduate of an approved medical school in the United States or Canada, documentary evidence that he or she has completed a resident course of professional instruction as required in Section 2089.
(3) Written certification by the head of the department in which the applicant is to be appointed of all of the following:
(A) The applicant will be under his or her direction.
(B) The applicant will not be permitted to practice medicine unless incident to and a necessary part of his or her duties as approved by the board in subdivision (a).
(C) The applicant will be accountable to the medical school’s department chair or division chief for the specialty in which the applicant will practice.
(D) The applicant will be proctored in the same manner as other new faculty members, including, as appropriate, 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 medical school department chair or division chief.
(4) Demonstration by the dean of the medical school that the applicant has the requisite qualifications to assume the position to which he or she is to be appointed and that shall include a written statement of the recruitment procedures followed 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 from its date of issuance and may be renewed twice.
A request for renewal shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by a renewal fee fixed by the board in an amount necessary to recover the actual application processing costs of the program.
(2) The dean of the medical school may request renewal of the registration by submitting a plan at the beginning of the third year of the registrant’s appointment demonstrating the registrant’s continued progress toward licensure and, if the registrant is a graduate of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada, that the registrant has been issued a certificate by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The board may, in its discretion, extend the registration for a two-year period to facilitate the registrant’s completion of the licensure process.
(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 and surgeon’s certificate. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board may accept clinical practice in an appointment pursuant to this section as qualifying time to meet the postgraduate training requirements in Section 2102, and 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 and surgeon’s certificate. As a condition to waiving any examination or the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certification requirement, the board, in its discretion, may require an applicant to pass a clinical competency examination approved by the board. The board shall not waive any examination for an applicant who has not completed at least one year in the faculty position.
(f) Except to the extent authorized by this section, the registrant shall not engage in the practice of medicine, bill individually for medical services provided by the registrant, or receive compensation therefor, unless he or she is issued a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate.
(g) When providing clinical services, the registrant shall wear a visible name tag containing the title “visiting professor” or “visiting faculty member,” as appropriate, and the institution at which the services are provided shall obtain a signed statement from each patient to whom the registrant provides services acknowledging that the patient understands that the services are provided by a person who does not hold a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate but who is qualified to participate in a special program as a visiting professor or faculty member.
(h) The board shall notify both the registrant and the dean of the medical school of a complaint made about the registrant. The board may terminate a registration for any act that would be grounds for discipline if done by a licensee. The board shall provide both the registrant and the dean of the medical school with written notice of the termination and the basis for that termination. The registrant may, within 30 days after the date of the notice of termination, file a written appeal to the board. The appeal shall include any documentation the registrant wishes to present to the board.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 775, Sec. 60. (SB 798) Effective January 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2020, by its own provisions. See later operative version added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 775.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018