(a) The Arkansas State Medical Board may issue a temporary license to any physician who meets the qualifications and requirements for medical licensure as established by the board except for successful passage of the examination as prescribed by the rules of the board. However, the physician must fulfill the following additional conditions and requirements to be eligible for temporary licensure:
(1) The physician must practice medicine in an area of critical medical shortage in Arkansas; and
(2) The physician, if a graduate of a foreign medical school, must have satisfactorily passed the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination.
(b) To be eligible for a renewal of a temporary license by the board, the physician must fulfill the following requirements to be administered by the board:
(1) The physician must submit a written request for the renewal to the board;
(2) The physician must agree to repeat the examination for licensure during the twelve-month term of the renewed temporary license; and
(3) The physician must continue to fulfill the conditions and requirements of this subchapter for temporary licensure during the term of the renewed licensure.
(c) The board shall review the physician's progress toward successfully passing the examination for licensure, as well as the physician's performance in the community where he or she is practicing medicine before renewing the physician's temporary license.