If an applicant for licensure is already licensed in another state to practice podiatry, the Board shall issue a license to practice podiatry to the applicant upon evidence that:

(1)        The applicant is currently an active, competent practitioner in good standing; and

(2)        The applicant has practiced at least five years immediately preceding his or her application with at least three of those five years being in a state that grants similar reciprocity to North Carolina podiatrists; and

(3)        The applicant currently holds a valid license in another state; and

(4)        No disciplinary proceeding or unresolved complaint is pending anywhere at the time a license is to be issued by this State; and

(5)        The licensure requirements in the other state are equivalent to or higher than those required by this State, and the licensure requirements of that other state grant similar reciprocity to podiatrists licensed in North Carolina.

Any license issued upon the application of any podiatrist from any other state shall be subject to all of the provisions of this Article with reference to the license issued by the North Carolina State Board of Podiatry Examiners upon examination of applicants, and the rights and privileges to practice the profession of podiatry under any license so issued shall be subject to the same duties, obligations, restrictions and conditions as imposed by this Article on podiatrists originally examined by the North Carolina State Board of Podiatry Examiners. (1919, c. 78, s. 6; C.S., s. 6768; 1967, c. 1217, s. 6; 1975, c. 672, s. 1; 1981, c. 659, s. 5; 1983, c. 217, s. 7; 1991, c. 457, s. 3.)