APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 16, 2021 229
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
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IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
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H.P. 1212 - L.D. 1629
An Act Regarding the Qualifications for Licensure as a Physician or Surgeon
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the sole reliance on completing 36 months of postgraduate training has
created unnecessary barriers for otherwise qualified applicants who have completed certain
oral and maxillofacial surgery training to obtain licensure in medicine; and
Whereas, immediate enactment of this legislation is necessary to give the Board of
Licensure in Medicine statutory authority to consider on a case-by-case basis an applicant's
postgraduate training equivalency in meeting the postgraduate training qualifications for
licensure; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now,
therefore,
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
Page 1 - 130LR2026(03)
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,
including training that occurs following graduation from a dental school accredited by the
American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor
organization, but before graduation from a medical school accredited by the Liaison
Committee on Medical Education or its successor organization.
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.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation
takes effect when approved.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1629, HP 1212: 32.3271
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 229: 32.3271