2065. (a) Unless otherwise provided by law, no postgraduate training licensee, intern, resident, postdoctoral fellow, or instructor may engage in the practice of medicine, or receive compensation therefor, or offer to engage in the practice of medicine unless they hold a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended physician’s and surgeon’s certificate issued by the board. However, a graduate of an approved medical school may engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as a part of a postgraduate training program under the following conditions:
(1) The medical school graduate has taken and passed the board-approved medical licensing examinations required to qualify the applicant to participate in an approved postgraduate training program.
(2) If the medical school graduate graduated from a foreign medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) has submitted an official ECFMG Certification Status Report directly to the board confirming the graduate is ECFMG certified.
(3) The medical school graduate is enrolled in a postgraduate training program approved by the board.
(4) The board-approved postgraduate training program has submitted the required board-approved form to the board documenting the medical school graduate is enrolled in an approved postgraduate training program.
(5) The medical school graduate obtains a physician’s and surgeon’s postgraduate training license in accordance with Section 2064.5.
(b) A medical school graduate enrolled in an approved first-year postgraduate training program in accordance with this section may engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as a part of the training program, and may receive compensation for that practice.
(c) A graduate who has completed the first year of postgraduate training may, in an approved residency or fellowship, engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as part of that residency or fellowship, and may receive compensation for that practice. The resident or fellow shall qualify for, take, and pass the next succeeding written examination for licensure. If the resident or fellow fails to receive a license to practice medicine under this chapter within 27 months from the commencement of the residency or fellowship, except as otherwise allowed under subdivision (g) or (h), or if the board denies their application for licensure, all privileges and exemptions under this section shall automatically cease.
(d) All approved postgraduate training the medical school graduate has successfully completed in the United States or Canada shall count toward the 15-month license exemption for graduates of medical schools in the United States and Canada or 27-month license exemption for graduates of foreign medical schools approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084 other than Canadian medical schools, except as otherwise allowed under subdivision (h).
(e) The program director for an approved postgraduate training program in California shall report to the board, on a form approved by the board, and provide any supporting documents as required by the board, the following actions within 30 days of the action:
(1) A postgraduate training licensee is notified that they have received partial or no credit for a period of postgraduate training, and their postgraduate training period is extended.
(2) A postgraduate training licensee takes a leave of absence or any break from their postgraduate training, and they are notified that their postgraduate training period is extended.
(3) A postgraduate training licensee is terminated from the postgraduate training program.
(4) A postgraduate training licensee resigns, dies, or otherwise leaves the postgraduate training program.
(5) A postgraduate training licensee has completed a one-year contract approved by the postgraduate training program.
(f) Upon review of supporting documentation, the board, in its discretion, may grant an extension beyond 15 months to a postgraduate training licensee who graduated from a medical school in the United States or Canada, or beyond 27 months to a postgraduate training licensee who graduated from a foreign medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084 other than a Canadian medical school, to receive credit for the 12 months of required approved postgraduate training for graduates of medical schools in the United States and Canada and 24 months of required approved postgraduate training for graduates of foreign medical schools other than Canadian medical schools.
(g) An applicant for a physician’s and surgeon’s license who has received credit for 12 months of approved postgraduate training in another state or in Canada and who is accepted into an approved postgraduate training program in California shall obtain their physician’s and surgeon’s license within 90 days after beginning that postgraduate training program or all privileges and exemptions under this section shall automatically cease.
(h) Upon review of supporting documentation, the board, in its discretion, may grant a physician’s and surgeon’s license to an applicant who demonstrates substantial compliance with this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 649, Sec. 7. (SB 806) Effective January 1, 2022.)
Structure California Code