(a) Within 180 days after beginning a board-approved postgraduate training program pursuant to Section 2065, medical school graduates shall obtain a physician’s and surgeon’s postgraduate training license. To be considered for a postgraduate training license, the applicant shall submit the application forms and primary source documents required by the board, shall successfully pass all required licensing examinations, shall pay a nonrefundable application and processing fee, and shall not have committed any act that would be grounds for denial.

(1) Each application submitted pursuant to this section shall be made upon an online electronic form, or another form provided by the board, and each application form shall contain a legal verification by the applicant certifying under penalty of perjury that the information provided by the applicant is true and correct and that any information in supporting documents provided by the applicant is true and correct.

(2) Each application shall include the following:

(A) A diploma issued by a board-approved medical school. The requirements of the school shall not have been less than those required under this chapter at the time the diploma was granted or by any preceding medical practice act at the time that the diploma was granted. In lieu of a diploma, the applicant may submit evidence satisfactory to the board of having possessed the same.

(B) An official transcript or other official evidence satisfactory to the board showing each approved medical school in which a resident course of professional instruction was pursued covering the minimum requirements for certification as a physician and surgeon, and that a diploma and degree were granted by the school.

(C) Other information concerning the professional instruction and preliminary education of the applicant as the board may require.

(D) An affidavit showing to the satisfaction of the board that the applicant is the person named in each diploma and transcript that the applicant submits, that the applicant is the lawful holder thereof, and that the diploma or transcript was procured in the regular course of professional instruction and examination without fraud or misrepresentation.

(E) Either fingerprint cards or a copy of a completed Live Scan form from the applicant in order to establish the identity of the applicant and in order to determine whether the applicant has a record of any criminal convictions in this state or in any other jurisdiction, including foreign countries. The information obtained as a result of the fingerprinting of the applicant shall be used in accordance with § 11105 of the Penal Code, and to determine whether the applicant is subject to denial of licensure under the provisions of Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475) and Section 2221 of this code.

(F) If the medical school graduate graduated from a foreign medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084, an official Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Certification Status Report confirming the graduate is ECFMG certified.

(b) Any physician’s and surgeon’s postgraduate training license in an active status issued on or after January 1, 2020, shall be valid for a period of 36 months. The physician’s and surgeon’s postgraduate training licensee may engage in the practice of medicine only in connection with the licensee’s duties as an intern or resident physician in a board-approved program, including its affiliated sites, or under those conditions as are approved in writing and maintained in the postgraduate licensee’s file by the director of the program.

(c) The postgraduate training licensee may engage in the practice of medicine in locations authorized by subdivision (b), and as permitted by the Medical Practice Act and other applicable statutes and regulations, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Diagnose and treat patients.

(2) Prescribe medications without a cosigner, including prescriptions for controlled substances, if the licensee has the appropriate Drug Enforcement Agency registration or permit and is registered with the Department of Justice CURES program.

(3) Sign birth certificates without a cosigner.

(4) Sign death certificates without a cosigner.

(5) Sign any other forms a physician and surgeon is authorized to sign.

(d) The postgraduate training licensee may be disciplined by the board at any time for any of the grounds that would subject the holder of a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate to discipline.

(e) If the medical school graduate fails to obtain a postgraduate license within 180 days after beginning a board-approved postgraduate training program or if the board denies the graduate’s application for a postgraduate license, all privileges and exemptions under this section shall automatically cease.

(f) Each medical school graduate who was issued a postgraduate training authorization letter by the board prior to January 1, 2020, and is enrolled in a board-approved postgraduate training program by April 30, 2025, will be issued a postgraduate training license automatically by June 30, 2020, or by June 30 of the year following initial enrollment into a board-approved postgraduate training program, whichever is earlier, upon proof of enrollment in the postgraduate training program.

(g) The board shall confidentially destroy the file of each medical school graduate who was issued a postgraduate training authorization letter by the board prior to January 1, 2020, who did not enroll in a postgraduate training program by April 30, 2025.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 294, Sec. 7. (SB 815) Effective January 1, 2024.)