An Act Relating To the Licensure of Physicians and Surgeons
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1200
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: HYMANSON
Amends: 32 MRSA §2581, 32 MRSA §3271

Legislative Document
No. 1200
H.P. 837
House of Representatives, March 28, 2017
An Act Relating To the Licensure of Physicians and Surgeons
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative HYMANSON of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §2581, as amended by PL 2001, c. 492, §6, is further amended 
by adding after the 2nd paragraph a new paragraph to read: 
Nothing in this chapter may be construed to require an osteopathic physician or 
surgeon licensed under this chapter to secure a maintenance of certification as a condition 
of licensure, reimbursement, employment or admitting privileges at a hospital in the 
State.  For the purposes of this section, "maintenance of certification" means a process, 
subsequent to initial board certification, that requires periodic recertification 
examinations to maintain specialty medical board certification. 
Sec. 2.  32 MRSA §3271, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 355, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Postgraduate training.  Each applicant who has graduated from an accredited 
medical school on or after January 1, 1970 but before July 1, 2004 must have 
satisfactorily completed at least 24 months in a graduate educational program accredited 
by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the Canadian Medical 
Association or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  
Notwithstanding other requirements of postgraduate training, an applicant is eligible for 
licensure when the candidate has satisfactorily graduated from a combined postgraduate 
training program in which each of the contributing programs is accredited by the 
Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education and the applicant is eligible for 
accreditation by the American Board of Medical Specialties in both specialties.  Each 
applicant who has graduated from an accredited medical school prior to January 1, 1970 
must have satisfactorily completed at least 12 months in a graduate educational program 
accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the Canadian 
Medical Association or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  Each 
applicant who has graduated from an accredited medical school on or after July 1, 2004 
or an unaccredited medical school must have satisfactorily completed at least 36 months 
in a graduate educational program accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate 
Medical Education, the Canadian Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians 
and Surgeons of Canada or the Royal Colleges of England, Ireland or Scotland.  An 
applicant who has completed 24 months of postgraduate training and has received an 
unrestricted endorsement from the director of an accredited graduate education program 
in the State is considered to have satisfied the postgraduate training requirements of this 
subsection if the applicant continues in that program and completes 36 months of 
postgraduate training.  Notwithstanding this subsection, an applicant who is board 
certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties is deemed to meet the 
postgraduate training requirements of this subsection.  Notwithstanding this subsection, in 
the case of subspecialty or clinical fellowship programs, the board may accept in 
fulfillment of the requirements of this subsection postgraduate training at a hospital in 
which the subspecialty clinical program, such as a training program accredited by the 
American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor 
organization, is not accredited but the parent specialty program is accredited by the 
Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. 
Nothing in this chapter may be construed to require a physician or surgeon licensed under 
this chapter to secure a maintenance of certification as a condition of licensure, 
reimbursement, employment or admitting privileges at a hospital in the State.  For the 
purposes of this subsection, "maintenance of certification" means a process, subsequent to 
initial board certification, that requires periodic recertification examinations to maintain 
specialty medical board certification. 
SUMMARY 
This bill specifies that nothing in the chapters of law governing the licensure of 
physicians may be construed to require a maintenance of certification as a condition of 
licensure, reimbursement, employment or admitting privileges at a hospital in Maine.