459.021 Registration of resident physicians, interns, and fellows; list of hospital employees; penalty.

459.021 Registration of resident physicians, interns, and fellows; list of hospital employees; penalty.

   (1) Any person who holds a degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from a college of osteopathic medicine recognized and approved by the American Osteopathic Association who desires to practice as a resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, intern, or fellow in fellowship training which leads to subspecialty board certification in this state, or any person desiring to practice as a resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, intern, or fellow in fellowship training in a teaching hospital in this state as defined in s. 408.07(45) or s. 395.805(2), who does not hold an active license issued under this chapter shall apply to the department to be registered, on an application provided by the department, before commencing such a training program and shall remit a fee not to exceed $300 as set by the board.

   (2) Any person required to be registered under this section shall renew such registration annually and shall remit a renewal fee not to exceed $300 as set by the board. Such registration shall be terminated upon the registrant’s receipt of an active license issued under this chapter. A person may not be registered under this section for an aggregate of more than 5 years, unless additional years are approved by the board.

   (3) Every hospital or teaching hospital having employed or contracted with or utilized the services of a person who holds a degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from a college of osteopathic medicine recognized and approved by the American Osteopathic Association as a resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, intern, or fellow in fellowship training registered under this section shall designate a person who shall furnish, on dates designated by the board, in consultation with the department, to the department a list of all such persons who have served in such hospital during the preceding 6-month period. The chief executive officer of each such hospital shall provide the executive director of the board with the name, title, and address of the person responsible for filing such reports.

   (4) The registration may be revoked or the department may refuse to issue any registration for any cause which would be a ground for its revocation or refusal to issue a license to practice osteopathic medicine, as well as on the following grounds:

   (a) Omission of the name of an intern, resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, or fellow in fellowship training from the list of employees required by subsection (3) to be furnished to the department by the hospital or teaching hospital served by the employee.

   (b) Practicing osteopathic medicine outside of a bona fide hospital training program.

   (5) It is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, for any hospital or teaching hospital, and also for the superintendent, administrator, and other person or persons having administrative authority in such hospital to willfully:

   (a) Employ the services in such hospital of any person listed in subsection (3), unless such person is registered with the department under the law or the holder of a license to practice osteopathic medicine under this chapter.

   (b) Fail to furnish to the department the list and information required by subsection (3).

   (6) Any person desiring registration pursuant to this section shall meet all the requirements of s. 459.0055.

   (7) The board shall promulgate rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 as necessary to implement this section.

   (8) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or s. 120.52 to the contrary, any person who is registered under this section is subject to the provisions of s. 459.015.

   (9) A person registered as a resident physician under this section may in the normal course of his or her employment prescribe medicinal drugs described in schedules set out in chapter 893 when:

   (a) The person prescribes such medicinal drugs through use of a Drug Enforcement Administration number issued to the hospital or teaching hospital by which the person is employed or at which the person’s services are used;

   (b) The person is identified by a discrete suffix to the identification number issued to such hospital; and

   (c) The use of the institutional identification number and individual suffixes conforms to the requirements of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

History. ss. 1, 6, ch. 79-230; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 21, 27, 29, ch. 86-290; s. 4, ch. 90-254; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 90, ch. 92-149; s. 30, ch. 97-264; s. 249, ch. 98-166; s. 41, ch. 2000-318; s. 7, ch. 2005-81; s. 2, ch. 2007-229.