(a) Any person who does not immediately qualify for a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate under this chapter and who is offered by the dean of an approved medical school, or dean or chief medical officer of an academic medical center, in this state a full-time faculty position may, after application to and approval by the board, be granted a certificate of registration to engage in the practice of medicine only to the extent that the practice is incident to and a necessary part of that person’s duties as approved by the board in connection with the faculty position. A certificate of registration does not authorize a registrant to admit patients to a nursing or a skilled or assisted living facility unless that facility is formally affiliated with the sponsoring medical school. A clinical fellowship shall not be submitted as a faculty service appointment.

(b) Application for a certificate of registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by a registration fee fixed by the board in an amount necessary to recover the actual application processing costs of the program. To qualify for the certificate, an applicant shall submit all of the following:

(1) If the applicant is a graduate of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada, documentary evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant has been licensed to practice medicine and surgery for not less than four years in another state or country whose requirements for licensure are satisfactory to the board, or has been engaged in the practice of medicine in the United States for at least four years in approved facilities, or has completed a combination of that licensure and training.

(2) If the applicant is a graduate of a medical school in the United States or Canada, documentary evidence that the medical school is approved by the board.

(3) Written certification by the head of the department in which the applicant is to be appointed of all of the following:

(A) The applicant will be under the head of the department’s direction.

(B) The applicant will not be permitted to practice medicine unless incident to and a necessary part of the applicant’s duties as approved by the board in subdivision (a).

(C) The applicant will be accountable to the medical school’s or academic medical center’s chair or division chief for the specialty in which the applicant will practice.

(D) The applicant will be proctored in the same manner as other new faculty members, including, as appropriate, review by the medical staff of the sponsoring medical school or academic medical center.

(E) The applicant will not be appointed to a supervisory position at the level of a medical school or academic medical center’s department chair or division chief.

(4) Demonstration by the dean of the medical school, or dean or chief medical officer or an academic medical center, that the applicant has the requisite qualifications to assume the position to which the applicant is to be appointed and that shall include a written statement of the recruitment procedures followed by the medical school or academic medical center before offering the faculty position to the applicant.

(c) A certificate of registration shall be issued only for a faculty position at one approved medical school, or academic medical center, and a person shall not be issued more than one certificate of registration for the same period of time.

(d) (1) A certificate of registration is valid for one year from its date of issuance and may be renewed twice.

A request for renewal shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by a renewal fee fixed by the board in an amount necessary to recover the actual application processing costs of the program.

(2) The dean of the medical school, or the dean or chief medical officer of an academic medical center, may request renewal of the registration by submitting a plan at the beginning of the third year of the registrant’s appointment demonstrating the registrant’s continued progress toward licensure and, if the registrant is a graduate of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada, that the registrant has been issued a certificate by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The board may, in its discretion, extend the registration for a two-year period to facilitate the registrant’s completion of the licensure process.

(e) If the registrant is a graduate of a medical school other than in the United States or Canada, the registrant shall meet the requirements of Section 2065 or 2135, as appropriate, in order to obtain a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board may accept clinical practice in an appointment pursuant to this section as qualifying time to meet the postgraduate training requirements in Section 2065, and, in its discretion, waive the examination and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certification requirements specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 2065 in the event the registrant applies for a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate. As a condition to waiving any examination or the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certification requirement, the board in its discretion, may require an applicant to pass a clinical competency examination approved by the board. The board shall not waive any examination for an applicant who has not completed at least one year in the faculty position.

(f) Except to the extent authorized by this section, the registrant shall not engage in the practice of medicine, bill individually for medical services provided by the registrant, or receive compensation therefor, unless the registrant is issued a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate.

(g) When providing clinical services, the registrant shall wear a visible name tag containing the title “visiting professor” or “visiting faculty member,” as appropriate, and the institution at which the services are provided shall obtain a signed statement from each patient to whom the registrant provides services acknowledging that the patient understands that the services are provided by a person who does not hold a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate but who is qualified to participate in a special program as a visiting professor or faculty member.

(h) The board shall notify both the registrant and the dean of the medical school, or the dean or chief medical officer of an academic medical center, of a complaint made about the registrant. The board may terminate a registration for any act that would be grounds for discipline if done by a licensee. The board shall provide both the registrant and the dean of the medical school, or the dean or chief medical officer of an academic medical center, with written notice of the termination and the basis for that termination. The registrant may, within 30 days after the date of the notice of termination, file a written appeal to the board. The appeal shall include any documentation the registrant wishes to present to the board.

(i) A registrant granted a certificate of registration before January 1, 2021, to engage in the practice of medicine pursuant to this section at an academic medical center shall be deemed to be authorized at that academic medical center as though the initial application had been sponsored by the academic medical center.

(j) As used in this section, “academic medical center” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2168.

(k) The certificate of registration authorized by this section may be canceled in the following circumstances:

(1) Upon request by the certificate holder.

(2) Upon request by an authorized representative of the sponsoring facility or institution.

(3) By the board after the certificate has expired and is no longer eligible for renewal.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 649, Sec. 13. (SB 806) Effective January 1, 2022.)