2023 California Code › Business and Professions Code - BPC › DIVISION 2 - HEALING ARTS › CHAPTER 5 - Medicine › ARTICLE 5 - Foreign Medical Graduates › Section 2111.

2111. (a) Physicians who are not citizens but who meet the requirements of subdivision (b) and who seek postgraduate study in an approved medical school or academic medical center may, after receipt of an appointment from the dean of the California medical school, or dean or chief medical officer of an academic medical center, and application to and approval by the board, be permitted to participate in the professional activities of the department or division in the medical school or academic medical center to which they are appointed. The physician shall be under the direction of the head of the department to which the physician is appointed, supervised by the medical center staff of the medical school or academic medical center, and known for these purposes as a “visiting fellow.” The visiting fellow shall wear a visible name tag containing the title “visiting fellow” when the visiting fellow provides clinical services.
(b) (1) Application for approval shall be made on a form prescribed by the division and shall be accompanied by a fee fixed by the board in an amount necessary to recover the actual application processing costs of the program. The application shall show that the person does not immediately qualify for a physician’s and surgeon’s certificate under this chapter and that the person has completed at least three years of postgraduate basic residency requirements. The application shall include a written statement of the recruitment procedures followed by the medical school or academic medical center before offering the appointment to the applicant.
(2) Approval shall be granted only for appointment to one medical school or academic medical center, and a physician shall not be granted more than one approval for the same period of time.
(3) Approval may be granted for a maximum of three years and shall be renewed annually. The medical school or academic medical center shall submit a request for renewal on a form prescribed by the board, which 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.
(c) Except to the extent authorized by this section, the visiting fellow may not engage in the practice of medicine. The visiting fellow or the medical school or academic medical center shall not assess any charge for the medical services provided by the visiting fellow, and the visiting fellow shall not receive any other compensation therefor.
(d) The time spent under appointment in a medical school or academic medical center pursuant to this section shall not be used to meet the requirements for licensure.
(e) (1) The board shall notify both the visiting fellow and the dean of the appointing medical school or the dean or chief medical officer of the academic medical center of any complaint made about the visiting fellow.
(2) The board may terminate its approval of an appointment for any act that would be grounds for discipline if done by a licensee. The board shall provide both the visiting fellow and the dean of the medical school or dean or chief medical officer of the academic medical center with a written notice of termination including the basis for that termination. The visiting fellow 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 visiting fellow wishes to present to the board.
(f) This section shall not preclude any United States citizen who has received a medical degree from a medical school located in a foreign country and recognized by the board from participating in any program established pursuant to this section.
(g) A visiting fellow approved pursuant to this section before January 1, 2021, who participates in the professional activities of the department or division in an academic medical center shall be deemed to be appointed to that academic medical center as though the initial application had been sponsored by the academic medical center.
(h) As used in this section, “academic medical center” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2168.
(i) The permit authorized by this section may be canceled in any of the following circumstances:
(1) Upon request by the permit holder.
(2) Upon request by an authorized representative of the sponsoring facility or institution.
(3) By the board after the permit has expired and is no longer eligible for renewal.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 649, Sec. 11. (SB 806) Effective January 1, 2022.)