(a) Unless otherwise provided by law, no postgraduate trainee, intern, resident, postdoctoral fellow, or instructor may engage in the practice of medicine, or receive compensation therefor, or offer to engage in the practice of medicine unless he or she holds a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended physician’s and surgeon’s certificate issued by the board. However, a graduate of an approved medical school may engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as a part of a postgraduate training program under the following conditions:

(1) The medical school graduate has taken and passed the board-approved medical licensing examinations required to qualify the applicant to participate in an approved postgraduate training program.

(2) If the medical school graduate graduated from a foreign medical school approved by the board pursuant to Section 2084, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) has submitted an official ECFMG Certification Status Report directly to the board confirming the graduate is ECFMG certified.

(3) The medical school graduate is enrolled in a postgraduate training program approved by the board.

(4) The board-approved postgraduate training program has submitted the required board-approved form to the board documenting the medical school graduate is enrolled in an approved postgraduate training program.

(5) The medical school graduate obtains a physician’s and surgeon’s postgraduate training license in accordance with Section 2064.5.

(b) A medical school graduate enrolled in an approved first-year postgraduate training program in accordance with this section may engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as a part of the training program, and may receive compensation for that practice.

(c) A graduate who has completed the first year of postgraduate training may, in an approved residency or fellowship, engage in the practice of medicine whenever and wherever required as part of that residency or fellowship, and may receive compensation for that practice. The resident or fellow shall qualify for, take, and pass the next succeeding written examination for licensure. If the resident or fellow fails to receive a license to practice medicine under this chapter within 27 months from the commencement of the residency or fellowship, except as otherwise allowed under subdivision (g) or (h), or if the board denies his or her application for licensure, all privileges and exemptions under this section shall automatically cease.

(d) All approved postgraduate training the medical school graduate has successfully completed in the United States or Canada shall count toward the 39-month license exemption, except as otherwise allowed under subdivision (h).

(e) A medical school graduate from a medical school approved by the board shall have successfully completed a minimum of 36 months of approved postgraduate training, which includes successful progression through 24 months in the same program, to be eligible for a California physician’s and surgeon’s certificate.

(f) The program director for an approved postgraduate training program in California shall report to the board, on a form approved by the board, and provide any supporting documents as required by the board, the following actions within 30 days of the action:

(1) A postgraduate trainee is notified that he or she has received partial or no credit for a period of postgraduate training, and his or her postgraduate training period is extended.

(2) A postgraduate trainee takes a leave of absence or any break from his or her postgraduate training, and he or she is notified that his or her postgraduate training period is extended.

(3) A postgraduate trainee is terminated from the postgraduate training program.

(4) A postgraduate trainee resigns, dies, or otherwise leaves the postgraduate training program.

(5) A postgraduate trainee has completed a one-year contract approved by the postgraduate training program.

(g) Upon review of supporting documentation, the board, in its discretion, may grant an extension beyond 39 months to a postgraduate training licensee to successfully complete the 36 months of required approved postgraduate training.

(h) An applicant for a physician’s and surgeon’s license who has successfully completed 36 months of approved postgraduate training in another state or in Canada and who is accepted into an approved postgraduate training in another state or in Canada and who is accepted into an approved postgraduate training program in California shall obtain his or her physician’s and surgeon’s license within 90 days after beginning that postgraduate training program or all privileges and exemptions under this section shall automatically cease.

(i) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 775, Sec. 29) by Stats. 2018, Ch. 571, Sec. 5. (SB 1480) Effective January 1, 2019.)