ARIZONA STATE SENATE

KATI PRATT

ASSISTANT RESEARCH ANALYST

JASON THEODOROU

LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST

REGULATORY AFFAIRS & GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE

Telephone: (602) 926-3171

RESEARCH STAFF

TO:                  MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

REGULATORY AFFAIRS & GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE

DATE:            February 17, 2025

SUBJECT:      Strike everything amendment to S.B. 1395, relating to international medical graduates; requirements

Purpose

Modifies the additional medical licensure requirements for students graduating from an unapproved allopathic school of medicine.

Background

The purpose of the Arizona Medical Board (AMB) is to protect the public from unlawful, incompetent, unqualified, impaired or unprofessional practitioners of allopathic medicine through licensure, regulation and rehabilitation of the profession in Arizona (A.R.S. § 32-1403).

An applicant for a medical license in Arizona must: 1) graduate from an approved school of medicine or receive a medical education of equivalent quality; 2) successfully complete an approved 12 month hospital internship, residency or clinical fellowship program; 3) have a professional record that indicates no actions of conduct that would constitute grounds for disciplinary action, including not having a license revoked and not being currently under investigation, suspensions or restriction; 4) submit various forms of document verification to the AMB, such as licensure from every state the applicant has ever held  medical license and a full set of fingerprints for obtaining a state and federal criminal records check ; and 5) pass steps one, two and three of the U.S. medical licensing examination (A.R.S. §§ 32-1422 and 32-1425).

Statute also outlines additional requirements for applicants who have graduated from an unapproved school of medicine, including: 1) being able to read, write, speak, understand and be understood in the English language; 2) holding a standard certificate issued by the educational council for foreign medical graduates, complete a fifth pathway program or complete 36 months as a full-time assistant professor or in a higher position in an approve school of medicine; and
3) successfully complete an approved 24 month hospital internship, residency or clinical fellowship program, in addition to the 12 months statutorily required, for a total of 36 months of training unless the applicant successfully completed a fifth pathway program or has served as a full-time assistant professor or in a higher position in an approved school of medicine for a total of 36 months (A.R.S § 32-1423).

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1. Requires graduates from an unapproved school of medicine who apply to the AMB for licensure as a physician to be enrolled in, rather than successfully complete, an additional approved 24 months of hospital internships, residency or clinical fellowship program.

2. Makes technical changes.

3. Becomes effective on the general effective date.