TITLE: Relating to the issuance of a provisional license to practice medicine to certain foreign medical license holders with offers of employment; authorizing fees.

SUMMARY: Relating to the issuance of a provisional license to practice medicine to certain foreign medical license holders with offers of employment; authorizing fees.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the issuance of a provisional license to practice medicine to certain foreign medical license holders with offers of employment; authorizing fees. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 155, Occupations Code, is amended by adding Section 155.1015 to read as follows: Sec. 155.1015. PROVISIONAL LICENSE FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN MEDICAL LICENSE HOLDERS WITH OFFERS OF EMPLOYMENT. (a) The board shall issue a provisional license to practice medicine to an applicant who resides in this state and who: (1) has been licensed in good standing and actively practicing medicine in another country for three years immediately before applying for a provisional license under this section; (2) has been granted a degree of doctor of medicine or a substantially similar degree by a program of medical education in another country; (3) has been certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates; (4) satisfies the examination requirements of Section 155.051; (5) has completed three years of residency or substantially similar postgraduate medical training in the applicant's country of licensure; (6) has been offered employment in this state by a person who: (A) provides health care services in the normal course of business, including a health system, hospital, hospital-based facility, freestanding emergency facility, or urgent care clinic; and (B) operates a postgraduate training program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; (7) submits to a criminal history record information check under Section 155.008; (8) is authorized under federal law to work in the United States; and (9) applies for a provisional license under this section in the manner prescribed by the board accompanied by the fee established by the board. (b) The holder of a provisional license under this section may practice medicine only: (1) under the supervision of a physician who holds an unencumbered license to practice medicine in this state; and (2) at a health care provider that meets the requirements of Subsection (a)(6)(B). (c) A provisional license issued under this section expires on the second anniversary of the date the provisional license was issued. (d) On application, the board shall issue a license under this subtitle to the holder of a provisional license under this section if the provisional license holder is in good standing and will have practiced under the provisional license for at least two years at the time the license will be issued. SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas Medical Board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement Section 155.1015, Occupations Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.