2080-2099
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 2080-2099
2080. (a) Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of this article applicable to applications generally shall apply to all certificates issued. (b) Every applicant for a physician's and surgeon's certificate shall comply with the requirements of this article unless other specific requirements of this chapter are applicable to a particular class of applicant. 2081. Each application shall be made upon a form provided by the Division of Licensing, and each application form shall contain a legal verification to be signed by the applicant verifying under penalty of perjury that the information provided by the applicant is true and correct and that any information in supporting documents provided by the applicant is true and correct. 2082. Each application shall include the following: (a) A diploma issued by an approved medical school. The requirements of the school shall have been at the time of granting the diploma in no degree less than those required under this chapter or by any preceding medical practice act at the time that the diploma was granted. In lieu of a diploma, the applicant may submit evidence satisfactory to the Division of Licensing of having possessed the same. (b) An official transcript or other official evidence satisfactory to the division showing each approved medical school in which a resident course of professional instruction was pursued covering the minimum requirements for certification as a physician and surgeon, and that a diploma and degree were granted by the school. (c) Other information concerning the professional instruction and preliminary education of the applicant as the division may require. (d) An affidavit showing to the satisfaction of the division that the applicant is the person named in each diploma and transcript that he or she submits, that he or she is the lawful holder thereof, and that the diploma or transcript was procured in the regular course of professional instruction and examination without fraud or misrepresentation. (e) Either fingerprint cards or a copy of a completed Live Scan form from the applicant in order to establish the identity of the applicant and in order to determine whether the applicant has a record of any criminal convictions in this state or in any other jurisdiction, including foreign countries. The information obtained as a result of the fingerprinting of the applicant shall be used in accordance with Section 11105 of the Penal Code, and to determine whether the applicant is subject to denial of licensure under the provisions of Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475) and Section 2221. 2083. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each application for a certificate shall be accompanied by the fee required by this chapter and shall be filed with the Division of Licensing. (b) The license fee shall be waived for a physician and surgeon residing in California who certifies to the Medical Board of California that the issuance of the license or the renewal of the license is for the sole purpose of providing voluntary, unpaid service. 2084. The Division of Licensing may approve every school which substantially complies with the requirements of this chapter for resident courses of professional instruction. Graduates of medical schools approved under this section shall be deemed to meet the requirements of Section 2089. Medical schools accredited by a national accrediting agency approved by the division and recognized by the United States Department of Education shall be deemed approved by the division under this section. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the division from considering the quality of the resident courses of professional instruction required for certification as a physician and surgeon. 2085. (a) Notwithstanding Section 2084, a graduate of an approved medical school located in the United States or Canada who has graduated from a special medical school program that does not substantially meet the requirements of Section 2089 with respect to any aspect of curriculum length or content may be approved by the Division of Licensing if the division determines that the applicant has otherwise received adequate instruction in the subjects listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2089. "Adequate instruction" means the applicant has received instruction adequate to prepare the applicant to engage in the practice of medicine in the United States. This definition applies to the sufficiency of instruction of the following courses: (1) Anatomy, including gross anatomy, embryology, histology, and neuroanatomy. (2) Bacteriology and immunology. (3) Biochemistry. (4) Pathology. (5) Pharmacology. (6) Physiology. The division may require an applicant under this section to undertake additional education to bring up to standard, instruction in the subjects listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2089 as a condition of issuing a physician and surgeon's certificate. In approving an applicant under this section, the division may take into account the applicant's total relevant academic experience, including performance on standardized national examinations. (b) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or Sections 2084 and 2089, an applicant who is a graduate of an approved medical school located in the United States or Canada who has graduated from a special medical school program that does not substantially meet the requirements of Section 2089 with respect to any aspect of curriculum length or content shall be presumed to meet the requirements of Sections 2084 and 2089 if the special medical school program has been reviewed and approved by a national accrediting agency approved by the division and recognized by the United States Department of Education. (2) This presumption may be overcome upon a finding by the division that the medical education received by the applicant is not the educational equivalent of the medical education received by graduates of medical schools approved pursuant to subdivision (a) or Section 2084. In making its finding, the division shall consider, at a minimum, the applicant's total academic and medical training experience prior to, and following, as well as during, medical school, the applicant's performance on standardized national examinations, including the National Board Examinations, the applicant's achievements as a house staff officer, and the number of years of postgraduate medical training completed by the applicant. (3) An applicant under this subdivision who (A) has satisfactorily completed at least two years of postgraduate clinical training approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the Coordinating Council of Medical Education of the Canadian Medical Association and whose postgraduate training has included at least one year of clinical contact with patients and (B) has achieved a passing score on the written examination required for licensure, satisfies the requirements of Sections 2084 and 2089. For purposes of this subdivision, an applicant who has satisfactorily completed at least two years of approved postgraduate clinical training on or before July 1, 1987, shall not be required to have at least one year of clinical contact with patients. (4) Applicants under this subdivision who apply after satisfactorily completing one year of approved postgraduate training shall have their applications reviewed by the division and shall be informed by the division either that satisfactory completion of a second year of approved postgraduate training will result in their being deemed to meet the requirements of Sections 2084 and 2089, or informed of any deficiencies in their qualifications or documentation and the specific remediation, if any, required by the division to meet the requirements of Sections 2084 and 2089. Upon satisfactory completion of the specified remediation, the division shall promptly issue a license to the applicant. 2086. The Division of Licensing may utilize medical consultants and investigators employed by the board pursuant to Section 2020 to evaluate the curricula of medical schools. A medical consultant or investigator shall meet such reasonable standards of experience and education, to be determined by the division, as will enable him or her to competently perform such duties of evaluation. 2087. If any medical school is not approved by the Division of Licensing or any applicant for licensure is rejected by it, then the school or the applicant may commence an action in the superior court as provided in Section 2019 against the division to compel it to approve the school or to issue the applicant a certificate or for any other appropriate relief. If the applicant is denied a certificate on the grounds of unprofessional conduct, the provisions of Article 12 (commencing with Section 2220) shall apply. In such an action the court shall proceed under Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the court may not exercise an independent judgment on the evidence. The action shall be speedily determined by the court and shall take precedence over all matters pending therein except criminal cases, applications for injunction, or other matters to which special precedence may be given by law. 2088. (a) An applicant for a physician's and surgeon's license who is otherwise eligible for that license but is unable to practice some aspects of medicine safely due to a disability may receive a limited license if he or she does both of the following: (1) Pays the initial license fee. (2) Signs an agreement on a form prescribed by the board in which the applicant agrees to limit his or her practice in the manner prescribed by the reviewing physician and agreed to by the board. (b) The board may require the applicant described in subdivision (a) to obtain an independent clinical evaluation of his or her ability to practice medicine safely as a condition of receiving a limited license under this section. (c) Any person who knowingly provides false information in the agreement submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be subject to any sanctions available to the board. 2089. (a) Each applicant for a physician's and surgeon's certificate shall show by official transcript or other official evidence satisfactory to the Division of Licensing that he or she has successfully completed a medical curriculum extending over a period of at least four academic years, or 32 months of actual instruction, in a medical school or schools located in the United States or Canada approved by the division, or in a medical school or schools located outside the United States or Canada which otherwise meets the requirements of this section. The total number of hours of all courses shall consist of a minimum of 4,000 hours. At least 80 percent of actual attendance shall be required. If an applicant has matriculated in more than one medical school, the applicant must have matriculated in the medical school awarding the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent for at least the last full academic year of medical education received prior to the granting of the degree. (b) The curriculum for all applicants shall provide for adequate instruction in the following subjects: Alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency, detection and treatment. Anatomy, including embryology, histology, and neuroanatomy. Anesthesia. Biochemistry. Child abuse detection and treatment. Dermatology. Geriatric medicine. Human sexuality. Medicine, including pediatrics. Neurology. Obstetrics and gynecology. Ophthalmology. Otolaryngology. Pain management and end-of-life care. Pathology, bacteriology, and immunology. Pharmacology. Physical medicine. Physiology. Preventive medicine, including nutrition. Psychiatry. Radiology, including radiation safety. Spousal or partner abuse detection and treatment. Surgery, including orthopedic surgery. Therapeutics. Tropical medicine. Urology. (c) The requirement that an applicant successfully complete a medical curriculum that provides instruction in pain management and end-of-life care shall only apply to a person entering medical school on or after June 1, 2000. 2089.5. (a) Clinical instruction in the subjects listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2089 shall meet the requirements of this section and shall be considered adequate if the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 2089 and the requirements of this section are satisfied. (b) Instruction in the clinical courses shall total a minimum of 72 weeks in length. (c) Instruction in the core clinical courses of surgery, medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry shall total a minimum of 40 weeks in length with a minimum of eight weeks instruction in surgery, eight weeks in medicine, six weeks in pediatrics, six weeks in obstetrics and gynecology, a minimum of four weeks in family medicine, and four weeks in psychiatry. (d) Of the instruction required by subdivision (b), including all of the instruction required by subdivision (c), 54 weeks shall be performed in a hospital that sponsors the instruction and shall meet one of the following: (1) Is a formal part of the medical school or school of osteopathic medicine. (2) Has a residency program, approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), in family practice or in the clinical area of the instruction for which credit is being sought. (3) Is formally affiliated with an approved medical school or school of osteopathic medicine located in the United States or Canada. If the affiliation is limited in nature, credit shall be given only in the subject areas covered by the affiliation agreement. (4) Is formally affiliated with a medical school or a school of osteopathic medicine located outside the United States or Canada. (e) If the institution, specified in subdivision (d), is formally affiliated with a medical school or a school of osteopathic medicine located outside the United States or Canada, it shall meet the following: (1) The formal affiliation shall be documented by a written contract detailing the relationship between the medical school, or a school of osteopathic medicine, and hospital and the responsibilities of each. (2) The school and hospital shall provide to the board a description of the clinical program. The description shall be in sufficient detail to enable the board to determine whether or not the program provides students an adequate medical education. The board shall approve the program if it determines that the program provides an adequate medical education. If the board does not approve the program, it shall provide its reasons for disapproval to the school and hospital in writing specifying its findings about each aspect of the program that it considers to be deficient and the changes required to obtain approval. (3) The hospital, if located in the United States, shall be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, and if located in another country, shall be accredited in accordance with the law of that country. (4) The clinical instruction shall be supervised by a full-time director of medical education, and the head of the department for each core clinical course shall hold a full-time faculty appointment of the medical school or school of osteopathic medicine and shall be board certified or eligible, or have an equivalent credential in that specialty area appropriate to the country in which the hospital is located. (5) The clinical instruction shall be conducted pursuant to a written program of instruction provided by the school. (6) The school shall supervise the implementation of the program on a regular basis, documenting the level and extent of its supervision. (7) The hospital-based faculty shall evaluate each student on a regular basis and shall document the completion of each aspect of the program for each student. (8) The hospital shall ensure a minimum daily census adequate to meet the instructional needs of the number of students enrolled in each course area of clinical instruction, but not less than 15 patients in each course area of clinical instruction. (9) The board, in reviewing the application of a foreign medical graduate, may require the applicant to submit a description of the clinical program, if the board has not previously approved the program, and may require the applicant to submit documentation to demonstrate that the applicant's clinical training met the requirements of this subdivision. (10) The medical school or school of osteopathic medicine shall bear the reasonable cost of any site inspection by the board or its agents necessary to determine whether the clinical program offered is in compliance with this subdivision. 2089.7. (a) The requirement of four weeks of clinical course instruction in family medicine shall apply only to those applicants for licensure who graduate from medical school or a school of osteopathic medicine after May 1, 1998. (b) This section shall become operative on June 30, 1999. 2090. "Human sexuality" as used in Sections 2089 and 2191 means the study of a human being as a sexual being and how he or she functions with respect thereto. 2091. The requirement that instruction in child abuse detection and treatment be provided shall apply only to applicants who matriculate on or after September 1, 1979. 2091.1. The requirement that instruction in alcoholism and other chemical substance dependency be provided applies only to applicants who matriculate on or after September 1, 1985. 2091.2. The requirements that instruction in spousal or partner abuse detection and treatment be provided shall apply only to applicants who matriculate on or after September 1, 1994. The requirement for coursework in spousal or partner abuse detection and treatment shall be satisfied by, and the board shall accept in satisfaction of the requirement, a certification from the chief academic officer of the educational institution from which the applicant graduated that the required coursework is included within the institution's required curriculum for graduation. 2096. (a) In addition to other requirements of this chapter, before a physician's and surgeon's license may be issued, each applicant, including an applicant applying pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 2100), except as provided in subdivision (b), shall show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she has satisfactorily completed at least one year of postgraduate training. (b) An applicant applying pursuant to Section 2102 shall show by evidence satisfactory to the board that he or she has satisfactorily completed at least two years of postgraduate training. (c) The postgraduate training required by this section shall include at least four months of general medicine and shall be obtained in a postgraduate training program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). (d) The amendments made to this section at the 1987 portion of the 1987-88 session of the Legislature shall not apply to applicants who completed their one year of postgraduate training on or before July 1, 1990. 2099. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Division of Licensing may delegate to any member of the division its authority to approve the admission of candidates to examinations and to approve the issuance of physician's and surgeon's certificates to applicants who have met the specific requirements therefor. The division may further delegate to the executive director or other official of the board the authority to approve the admission of candidates to examinations and to approve the issuance of physician's and surgeon's certificates to applicants who have met the specific requirements therefor in routine cases to candidates and applicants who clearly meet the requirements of this chapter.