District of Columbia Code
Subchapter II - Establishment of Health Occupation Boards and Advisory Committees; Membership; Terms
§ 3–1202.03. Board of Medicine; Advisory Committees on Acupuncture, Anesthesiologist Assistants, Naturopathic Medicine, Physician Assistants, Polysomnography, Surgical Assistants, Trauma Technologists, Athletic Trainers, and Certified Professional Mi...

(a)(1) There is established a Board of Medicine to consist of 15 members appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council.
(2) The Board shall regulate the practice of medicine the practice of acupuncture with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Acupuncture, the practice by anesthesiologists assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Anesthesiologists Assistants, the practice of naturopathic medicine with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Naturopathic Medicine, the practice by physician assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Physician Assistants, the practice of surgical assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Surgical Assistants, the practice by physicians-in-training, the practice of trauma technologists with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Trauma Technologists, the practice of athletic trainers with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Athletic Trainers, and the practices of doulas and certified professional midwives with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Maternal Care Professionals.
(3) Of the members of the Board, 10 shall be physicians licensed to practice in the District, 4 shall be consumer members, and 1 shall be the Director of the Department of Health, or his or her designee.
(4) In selecting nominees to the Board, the Mayor shall consult with appropriate officials of professional medical societies and schools of medicine located in the District, and shall submit nominees whose professional training and experience provide a representative sample of the medical specialties practiced in the District.
(5) Except as provided in paragraph (6) of this subsection, members of the Board shall be appointed for terms of 3 years. This paragraph shall not apply to the Director of the Department of Health who shall serve for the duration of his or her term as Director.
(6) Of the members initially appointed under this section, 3 shall be appointed for a term of 1 year, 3 shall be appointed for a term of 2 years, and 4 shall be appointed for a term of 3 years. The terms of the members first appointed shall begin on the date that a majority of the first members are sworn in, which shall become the anniversary date for all subsequent appointments.
(7)(A) The Mayor shall appoint an executive director who shall be a full-time employee of the District to administer and implement the orders of the Board in accordance with this chapter and rules and regulations issued pursuant to this chapter.
(B) On or before January 1, 2007, in addition to the executive director, the Mayor shall require, at a minimum, that an investigator, an attorney, and 2 clerical support staff be hired, which persons shall be full-time employees of the District and whose work shall be limited solely to administering and implementing the orders of the Board in accordance with this chapter and rules and regulations issued pursuant to this chapter. The mandatory minimum number of employees established under this section shall not restrict the Mayor’s ability to authorize additional staff.
(8) The Board shall provide recommendations to the Mayor for his or her consideration in developing and issuing rules authorizing:
(A) The practice of acupuncture in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Acupuncture;
(B) Repealed;
(B-i) The practice by anesthesiologist assistants in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Anesthesiologist Assistants;
(B-ii) The practice of naturopathic medicine in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Naturopathic Medicine;
(C) The practice by physician assistants in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Physician Assistants;
(C-i) The practice of polysomnography in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Polysomnography;
(D) The practice of surgical assistants in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Surgical Assistants;
(E) The practice by physicians-in-training;
(F) The practice of trauma technologists in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Trauma Technologists;
(G) The practice of athletic trainers in accordance with guidelines approved by the Advisory Committee on Athletic Trainers;
(H) The practice of certified professional midwifery in accordance with guidelines issued by the Advisory Committee on Maternal Care Professionals; and
(I) The practice of doulas in accordance with guidelines issued by the Advisory Committee on Maternal Care Professionals.
(a-1)(1) The Board shall waive the educational and examination requirements for any applicant for licensure as a physician assistant who can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Board, that he or she has performed the function of a physician assistant, as defined in this chapter and rules issued pursuant to this chapter, on a full-time or substantially full-time basis continuously for at least 36 months immediately preceding March 25, 1986, and is qualified to do so on the basis of pertinent education, training, experience, and demonstrated current competence, provided that application for the license is made within 12 months of July 25, 1990.
(2) An applicant licensed under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be eligible for license renewal on the same terms as any other licensed physician assistant.
(a-2) Pursuant to § 7-1671.07, the Board shall review and audit written recommendations for the use of medical marijuana issued by a physician, individual licensed to practice naturopathic medicine, or physician assistant pursuant to § 7-1671.04 and shall have the authority to discipline any physician, individual licensed to practice naturopathic medicine, or physician assistant who has acted outside the scope of such person's authority under Chapter 16B of Title 7 [§ 7-1671.01 et seq.].
(b) Repealed.
(c) Repealed.
(c-1) Repealed.
(c-2) Repealed.
(d) Repealed.
(d-1) Repealed.
(d-2) Repealed.
(d-3) Repealed.
(e) Repealed.
(f) Repealed.
(g) Repealed.
(h)(1) The Board may convene a subcommittee, of either members of the Board or nonmembers of the Board, to provide advice and assistance on a specified issue or discipline under the purview of the Board.
(2) The individuals appointed pursuant to this subsection shall be exempt from §§ 3-1204.01(a) and (b), 3-1204.02, and 3-1204.03. The Board shall specify:
(A) The purpose and scope of the subcommittee;
(B) The qualifications for appointment;
(C) The length of each individual’s term, if any;
(D) The powers, duties, and responsibilities of each individual; and
(E) Any other criteria that the Board considers necessary and appropriate.
(Mar. 25, 1986, D.C. Law 6-99, § 203, 33 DCR 729; Oct. 7, 1987, D.C. Law 7-31, § 3(b), 34 DCR 3789; Jan. 30, 1990, D.C. Law 8-60, § 2, 36 DCR 7386; July 25, 1990, D.C. Law 8-152, § 2, 37 DCR 3743; Mar. 21, 1995, D.C. Law 10-231, § 2(c), 42 DCR 15; Mar. 23, 1995, D.C. Law 10-247, § 2(d), 42 DCR 457; July 8, 2004, D.C. Law 15-172, § 2(c), 51 DCR 4938; Mar. 16, 2005, D.C. Law 15-237, § 2(c), 51 DCR 10593; Oct. 20, 2005, D.C. Law 16-33,§ 5022, 52 DCR 7503; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 17(a), 53 DCR 6794; Mar. 6, 2007, D.C. Law 16-228, § 2(c), 53 DCR 10244; Mar. 14, 2007, D.C. Law 16-263, § 201(a), 54 DCR 807; Mar. 25, 2009, D.C. Law 17-353, § 188(a), 56 DCR 1117; July 7, 2009, D.C. Law 18-12, § 2(b), 56 DCR 3605; July 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-210, § 3(a), 57 DCR 4798; Mar. 14, 2012, D.C. Law 19-104, § 2(b), 59 DCR 435; Jan. 25, 2014, D.C. Law 20-64, § 2(c), 60 DCR 16533; May 2, 2015, D.C. Law 20-271, § 201, 62 DCR 1884; Feb. 18, 2017, D.C. Law 21-209, § 3(b), 63 DCR 15291; Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 22-300, § 2(b), 66 DCR 2024; June 17, 2020, D.C. Law 23-97, § 2(c), 67 DCR 3912; Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 5042(c), 68 DCR 010163; Sept. 21, 2022, D.C. Law 24-170, § 3(b), 69 DCR 009207.)
1981 Ed., § 2-3302.3.
This section is referenced in § 1-523.01 and § 3-1201.02.
D.C. Law 15-172, in the section heading, substituted “, Naturopathic Medicine, and” for “and”; in subsec. (a), added “the practice of naturopathic medicine with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Naturopathic Medicine” after “Advisory Committee on Acupuncture” in par. (2), deleted “and” in subpar. (A) of par. (8), and added subpar. (B-1) of par. (8); added subsec. (c-1); in subsec. (e), substituted “Naturopathic Medicine, and Physician” for “and Physician” and substituted “Commissioner of Public Health or the Director of the Department of Health, or to their designees” for “Commissioner of Public Health or his or her designee”; and rewrote subsec. (f). Prior to amendment, subsec. (f) had read as follows: “(f) Upon request by the Board, the Advisory Committees on Acupuncture and Physician Assistants shall review applications for licensure to practice acupuncture or to practice as a physician assistant, respectively, and shall forward recommendations to the Board for action.”
D.C. Law 15-237, in the section heading, inserted “Anesthesiologist Assistants,”; in par. (2) of subsec. (a), inserted “the practice by anesthesiologist assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Anesthesiologist Assistants,”; in par. (8) of subsec. (a), redesignated former subpar. (B-1) as (B-2) and added new subpar. (B-1); redesignated former subsec. (c-1) as (c-2) and added new subsec. (c-1); in subsec. (e), inserted “Anesthesiologist Assistants,”; and, in subsec. (f), inserted “Anesthesiologist Assistants,” and “an anesthesiologist assistant or”.
D.C. Law 16-33, in subsec. (a)(3), substituted “Director of the Department of Health, or his or her designee” for “Commissioner of Public Health”; in subsec. (a)(5), substituted “Director of the Department of Health” for “Commissioner of Public Health”, and substituted “as Director” for “as Commissioner”; in subsec. (b)(3), substituted “Director of the Department of Health” for “Commissioner of Public Health”; in subsec. (d), substituted “Director of the Department of Health” for “Commissioner of Public Health”; and in subsec. (e), substituted “Director of the Department of Health, or his or her designee” for “Commissioner of Public Health or the Director of the Department of Health, or to their designees”.
D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (a)(8)(B-1), validated a previously made technical correction.
D.C. Law 16-228, in the section heading, substituted “ Surgical Assistants” for “and Physician Assistants”; in subsec. (a), par. (2), substituted “the practice of physician assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Physician Assistants, and the practice of surgical assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Surgical Assistants” for “and the practice of physician assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Physician Assistants”; in subsec. (a), par. (8), added subparagraph (D); added subsec. (c-3); and in subsecs. (e) and (f), added surgical assistants to the scope of each respective subsection.
D.C. Law 16-263, in subsec. (a)(7), designated subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B).
D.C. Law 17-353, in subsec. (a)(8), substituted the subparagraph designations (B-i) and (B-ii) for (B-1) and (B-2), respectively.
D.C. Law 18-12, in the section heading, inserted “Polysomnography,”; in subsec. (a)(8), deleted “and” from the end of subpars. (B-ii) and (C) and added subpar. (C-i); redesignated subsec. (c-3) as (d-2); and added subsec. (d-1).
D.C. Law 18-210 added subsec. (a-2).
D.C. Law 19-104, in subsec. (a)(1), substituted “15” for “11”; in subsec. (a)(2), substituted “Assistants, the practice of surgical assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Surgical Assistants, and the practice by physicians-in-training. ” for “Assistants, and the practice of surgical assistants with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Surgical Assistants.”; in subsec. (a)(3), substituted “10” for “7” and “4” for “3”; in subsec. (a)(8), redesignated subpar. (c-1) as (c-i) and substituted a semicolon for a period at the end, substituted “; and” for a period in subpar. (D), and added subpar. (E); and added subsec. (h).
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-64 added “Trauma Technologists” to the section heading and (e); added “the practice of trauma technologists with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Trauma Technologists” to the end of (a)(2); added (a)(8)(F); added (d-3); rewrote (f); and made related changes.
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-271 repealed (b), (c-1), (c-2), (d), (d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (e), and (f).
Section 7078 of D.C. Law 23-149 repealed section 6 of D.C. Law 23-97 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore, the amendment of this section by Law 23-97 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 23-97: § 6 of D.C. Law 23-97 provided that the change made to this section by § 2(c) of D.C. Law 23-97 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 5042(c) of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 5022 of Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-168, July 26, 2005, 52 DCR 7667).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 201 of the New Columbia Statehood Initiative, Omnibus Boards and Commissions, and Election Transition Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-481, Nov. 18, 2014, 61 DCR 12133, 20 STAT 4405).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 201 of the New Columbia Statehood Initiative, Omnibus Boards and Commissions, and Election Transition Reform Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-7, Feb. 26, 2015, 62 DCR 2646, 21 STAT 807).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 1985 Physician Assistants Temporary Amendment Act of 1989 (D.C. Law 8-60, January 30, 1990, law notification 37 DCR 1210).
Short title of subtitle C of title V of Law 16-33: Section 5021 of D.C. Law 16-33 provided that subtitle C of title V of the act may be cited as the Board of Medicine Amendment Act of 2005.
Section 5 of D.C. Law 23-97 provided that the Mayor, pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 2, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of D.C. Law 23-97.

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