Perez Bill Lets Foreign Doctors Skip U.S. Residency

The text as introduced · 452 words

89R9913 BEE-D

By: Perez of El Paso
H.B. No. 2852

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the issuance of a provisional license to practice

medicine to certain foreign medical license holders with offers of

employment; authorizing fees.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 155, Occupations Code, is

amended by adding Section 155.1015 to read as follows:

Sec. 155.1015. PROVISIONAL LICENSE FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN

MEDICAL LICENSE HOLDERS WITH OFFERS OF EMPLOYMENT. (a) The board

shall issue a provisional license to practice medicine to an

applicant who resides in this state and who:

(1) has been licensed in good standing and actively

practicing medicine in another country for three years immediately

before applying for a provisional license under this section;

(2) has been granted a degree of doctor of medicine or

a substantially similar degree by a program of medical education in

another country;

(3) has been certified by the Educational Commission

for Foreign Medical Graduates;

(4) satisfies the examination requirements of Section

155.051;

(5) has completed three years of residency or

substantially similar postgraduate medical training in the

applicant's country of licensure;

(6) has been offered employment in this state by a

person who:

(A) provides health care services in the normal

course of business, including a health system, hospital,

hospital-based facility, freestanding emergency facility, or

urgent care clinic; and

(B) operates a postgraduate training program

accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical

Education;

(7) submits to a criminal history record information

check under Section 155.008;

(8) is authorized under federal law to work in the

United States; and

(9) applies for a provisional license under this

section in the manner prescribed by the board accompanied by the fee

established by the board.

(b) The holder of a provisional license under this section

may practice medicine only:

(1) under the supervision of a physician who holds an

unencumbered license to practice medicine in this state; and

(2) at a health care provider that meets the

requirements of Subsection (a)(6)(B).

(c) A provisional license issued under this section expires

on the second anniversary of the date the provisional license was

issued.

(d) On application, the board shall issue a license under

this subtitle to the holder of a provisional license under this

section if the provisional license holder is in good standing and

will have practiced under the provisional license for at least two

years at the time the license will be issued.

SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas Medical

Board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement Section 155.1015,

Occupations Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.