An Act Regarding the Qualifications for Licensure as a Physician or Surgeon (AFTER DEADLINE)
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1629
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: HASENFUS
Amends: 32 MRSA §3271

Legislative Document
No. 1629
H.P. 1212
House of Representatives, April 27, 2021
An Act Regarding the Qualifications for Licensure as a Physician or 
Surgeon
(AFTER DEADLINE)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205.
Reference to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services 
suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative HASENFUS of Readfield.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §3271, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 189, §2, 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.  
Notwithstanding this subsection, an applicant is deemed to meet the postgraduate training 
requirements of this subsection if the applicant has graduated from an oral and 
maxillofacial surgery training program accredited by the American Dental Association 
Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, graduated from a 
medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or its successor 
organization that is associated with the training program and completed 24 months of 
postgraduate training in a program accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate 
Medical Education.
The board may not require an applicant for initial licensure or license renewal as a 
physician under this chapter to obtain certification from a specialty medical board or to 
obtain a maintenance of certification as a condition of licensure.  For the purposes of this 
subsection, "maintenance of certification" means a program that requires a physician to 
engage in periodic examination, self-assessment, peer evaluation or other activities to 
maintain certification from a specialty medical board.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that an applicant for licensure as a physician or surgeon in the State 
satisfies the postgraduate training requirements if the applicant graduates from an oral and 
maxillofacial surgery program accredited by the American Dental Association Commission 
on Dental Accreditation, graduates from a medical school associated with the training 
program that is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Accreditation and 
completes 24 months of postgraduate training at a program accredited by the Accreditation 
Council on Graduate Medical Education.