81R11590 YDB-F
	By: Thompson	H.B. No. 3674

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the licensing requirements for a foreign-trained
	physician applicant.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 155.004, Occupations Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 155.004.  ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR
	GRADUATES OF CERTAIN FOREIGN MEDICAL SCHOOLS.  A license applicant
	who is a graduate of a medical school that is located outside the
	United States and Canada must present proof satisfactory to the
	board that the applicant:
	(1)  is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets
	the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by
	a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education
	Coordinating Board;
	(2)  has successfully completed at least three years of
	graduate medical training in the United States or Canada that was
	approved by the board;
	(3)  [is eligible for a license to practice medicine in
	the country in which the school is located, except for any
	citizenship requirements;
	[(4)]  holds a valid certificate issued by the
	Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates; and
	(4) [(5)]  is able to communicate in English.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to physician applicants submitting license applications under
	Chapter 155, Occupations Code, on or after the effective date of
	this Act. An application submitted before that date is covered by
	the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
	Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.