HBA-MPM H.B. 1987 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1987 By: McCall Public Health 6/7/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Medical Practice Act is used to license physicians in Texas. This Act requires physicians seeking licensure in this state by way of endorsement or by way of original license to be reviewed, examined, and evaluated according to certain standards. The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (board) is the state agency which carries out laws prescribing the regulation of physicians who practice medicine in Texas. H.B. 1987 permits the board to accept an appropriate licensure examination currently being given on a national basis. This bill also sets forth the methods in which an examination for licensure is to be administered and provides for a method of reporting examination scores to examinees. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners in SECTION 1 (Section 3.05, Article 4495b, V.T.C.S.) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 3.05, Article 4495b, V.T.C.S. (Medical Practice Act), as follows: Sec. 3.05. New title: EXAMINATIONS ADMINISTERED OR ACCEPTED. (a) Authorizes the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (board) to administer or accept certain examinations for licensure as determined by rule. Sets forth a list of acceptable examinations. (b) Provides that each examination used by the board for licensure to practice medicine must be in writing in the English language and be fair and impartial to all individuals and every school or system of medicine. Requires an applicant wishing to request reasonable accommodations due to a disability to submit the request on filing the application. (c) Requires examinations to include subjects generally taught by medical schools, a knowledge of which is commonly and generally required of candidates for the degree of doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy conferred by schools in this state. (d) Requires the board to additionally administer the Texas medical jurisprudence examination to all applicants. (e) Requires the board, by rule, to determine the passing grade for each examination used. (f) Requires examinations administered to evaluate basic medical knowledge and clinical competency to be prepared by a national testing service or the board and validated by qualified independent testing professionals. (g) Requires all questions, answers, and grades to be preserved for one year, as per board rule. (h) Requires all applicants to be given notice of the date and place of the examination, if it is administered by the board. (i) Requires each examinee to be notified of examination results no later than the 120th day after the date the board administers the examination. Requires the board to notify each examinee of the examination results no later than the 30th day after it receives the results from a national testing service, if the examination is graded or reviewed by the service. (j) Provides that except as provided by Subsection (k), an applicant must pass each part of certain examinations described in Subsection (a) within seven years. (k) Provides that an applicant who is a graduate of a program designed to lead to both a doctor of philosophy degree and a doctor of medicine degree or doctor of osteopathy degree must pass each part of an examination described by Subsection (a) no later than the second anniversary of the date the applicant was awarded a doctor of medicine degree or doctor of osteopathy degree. (l) Prohibits an applicant from taking an examination more than three times, but authorizes an applicant who has passed all but one part of an examination within three attempt to take the remaining part one additional time. (m) Provides that, notwithstanding Subsection (l) of this section, an applicable satisfies this section's requirements if the applicant passed all but one part of an examination approved by the board before September 1, 1993, within three attempts and passed the remaining part of the examination within five attempts; is specialty board certified by certain boards; enrolled before September 1, 1993, in a board-approved postgraduate medical training program in this state; and completed two years of board-approved postgraduate medical training in this state. Deletes existing text relating to examinations administered for licensure of physicians. SECTION 2. Provides that an applicant is considered to have satisfied the requirements of this Act, regardless of its effective date, if the applicant passed all but one part of an examination within three attempts and passed the remaining part of the examination on the fourth attempt. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.