PRINTER'S NO. 3146
No. 2418 Session of 1980
INTRODUCED BY YAHNER, C. GEORGE, GEIST, FEE, M. R. CLARK,
STEWART, A. K. HUTCHINSON, LIVENGOOD, D. R. WRIGHT, DeMEDIO,
GALLAGHER, IRVIS, MANDERINO, RODGERS, WACHOB AND
S. E. HAYES, JR., MARCH 25, 1980
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, MARCH 25, 1980
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 20, 1974 (P.L.551, No.190), entitled
2 "An act relating to the right to practice medicine and
3 surgery in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and establishing
4 means and methods whereby the right to practice medicine and
5 surgery and any of its branches and limited right to practice
6 medically related acts may be obtained, and exemptions
7 therefrom; imposing powers and duties on the State Board of
8 Medical Education and Licensure; providing for appropriation
9 of board fees to carry out the provisions thereof, and for
10 the granting, revocation and suspension of licenses;
11 providing penalties for violations; and making repeals,"
12 further providing for licensure of graduates of foreign
13 medical schools and further providing for programs of
14 clinical training.
15 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 hereby enacts as follows:
17 Section 1. Section 6.1, act of July 20, 1974 (P.L.551,
18 No.190), known as the "Medical Practice Act of 1974," added
19 December 2, 1976 (P.L.1234, No.273), is amended to read:
20 Section 6.1. Graduates of Foreign Medical Schools.--(a) A
21 document granted by a medical school located outside the United
22 States, which is listed by the World Health Organization, issued
23 after the completion of all the formal requirements of the
1 foreign medical school except internship and social service,
2 upon certification by the medical school in which the training
3 was received of satisfactory completion by the person to whom
4 the document was issued of the requirements listed in this
5 section, shall qualify a person for participation in "fifth
6 pathway" programs as hereinafter defined. Participating [medical
7 schools] teaching hospitals may require such additional evidence
8 of student fitness for admission into "fifth pathway" programs
9 as [they deem necessary] is deemed necessary by the Pennsylvania
10 State Board of Medical Education and Licensure.
11 (b) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Department
12 of Education shall fund adequate programs of clinical training
13 for students in "fifth pathway" programs [established by medical
14 schools in Pennsylvania] in teaching hospitals as prescribed by
15 the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical
16 Association [in teaching hospitals affiliated with medical
17 schools] to meet the needs of all those United States of America
18 citizens who were legal residents of Pennsylvania immediately
19 prior to entering a foreign medical school, provided that the
20 requirements of said programs shall be equivalent to those
21 recommended by the Council on Medical Education of the American
22 Medical Association and the Pennsylvania State Board of Medical
23 Education and Licensure.
24 (c) The Department of Education and the Pennsylvania State
25 Board of Medical Education and Licensure may[, before funding
26 any program of clinical training established pursuant to
27 subsection (b),] require each [medical school] teaching hospital
28 to submit such information as the department deems necessary to
29 determine that each [medical school] teaching hospital complies
30 with all the guidelines established for clinical training
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1 programs by the Council on Medical Education of the American
2 Medical Association and the Pennsylvania State Board of Medical
3 Education and Licensure. Successful completion by the student of
4 the requirements of the "fifth pathway" program shall be deemed
5 the equivalent of a [degree of doctor of medicine] medical
6 program necessary for purposes of licensing and practice as a
7 physician in the Commonwealth.
8 (d) For purposes of this section "teaching hospital" shall
9 mean an approved hospital that has a program whose requirements
10 are equivalent to those recommended by the Council of Medical
11 Education of the American Medical Association.
12 Section 2. This act shall take effect August 1, 1979.
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