A. Sections 61-6-7 through 61-6-10 NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Physician Assistant Act".

B. The board may license as a physician assistant a qualified person who has graduated from a physician assistant program accredited by the national accrediting body as established by rule and has passed a physician assistant national certifying examination as established by rule. The board may also license as a physician assistant a person who passed the physician assistant national certifying examination administered by the national commission on certification of physician assistants prior to 1986.

C. A person shall not perform, attempt to perform or hold the person's own self out as a physician assistant without first applying for and obtaining a license from the board.

D. Physician assistants may prescribe, administer, dispense and distribute dangerous drugs other than controlled substances in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act [Chapter 30, Article 31 NMSA 1978] pursuant to rules adopted by the board after consultation with the board of pharmacy if the prescribing, administering, dispensing and distributing are done with the supervision of a licensed physician or in collaboration with a licensed physician. The distribution process shall comply with state laws concerning prescription packaging, labeling and recordkeeping requirements.

E. A physician assistant shall perform only the acts and duties that are within the physician assistant's scope of practice.

F. An applicant for licensure as a physician assistant shall complete application forms supplied by the board and shall pay a licensing fee as provided in Section 61-6-19 NMSA 1978.

G. A physician assistant shall biennially submit proof of current certification by the national commission on certification of physician assistants or another certifying agency as designated by rules promulgated by the board and shall renew the license and registration of supervision of the physician assistant with the board.

H. A physician assistant shall not practice medicine until the physician assistant has established a supervising or collaborating relationship with a licensed physician in accordance with rules adopted by the board.

I. Each biennial renewal of licensure shall be accompanied by a fee as provided in Section 61-6-19 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 67-5-3.3, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 361, § 3; 1977, ch. 110, § 2; 1978 Comp., § 61-6-6, recompiled as § 61-6-7 by Laws 1989, ch. 9, § 1; 1994, ch. 57, § 13; 1994, ch. 80, § 2; 1997, ch. 187, § 2; 2003, ch. 19, § 7; 2017, ch. 103, § 2.

Recompilations. — Laws 1989, ch. 9, § 3 recompiled former 61-6-7 NMSA 1978, relating to denial, suspension or revocation, as 61-6-8 NMSA 1978, effective March 4, 1989.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, removed the requirement that a physician assistant register with the New Mexico medical board the physician assistant's supervising physician, provided that a physician assistant may prescribe, administer, and dispense certain drugs in collaboration with a licensed physician, and required that a physician assistant establish a supervisory or collaborative relationship with a licensed physician prior to practicing medicine; in Subsection B, after the second occurrence of "physician assistant", deleted "or surgeon assistant"; in Subsection C, after "board", deleted "and without registering his supervising licensed physician in accordance with board rules"; in Subsection D, after "administer", added "dispense", after "administering", added "dispensing", after "with the", deleted "direction" and added "supervision", after "of a", deleted "supervising", after the first occurrence of "licensed physician", deleted "and within the parameters of a board-approved formulary and guidelines established under Subsection C of Section 61-6-9 NMSA 1978" and added "or in collaboration with a licensed physician", and after "requirements", deleted "Physician assistants shall not otherwise dispense dangerous drugs or controlled substances."; in Subsection E, after "duties", deleted "assigned to the physician assistant by a supervising licensed physician that are within the scope of practice of the supervising licensed physician" and added "that are within the physician assistant's scope of practice"; in Subsection G, after "assistants", added "or another certifying agency as designated by rules promulgated by the board", and deleted the last sentence of the subsection, which provided for registration of a supervising physician; and deleted former Subsection H, which prohibited a physician assistant from practicing until the physician assistant's supervising physician is registered with the New Mexico medical board, and added a new Subsection H.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "license renewal" for "change" in the section heading; rewrote former Subsection B and divided it into present Subsections B and C; inserted present Subsection H; and rewrote and redesignated remaining subsections.

The 1997 amendment, effective July 1, 1997, in the section heading, substituted "licensure" for "registration", substituted "biennial" for "annual", deleted "employment" following "registration of", and substituted "supervision" for "employment"; rewrote Subsection B; and substituted "board" for "New Mexico board of medical examiners" in Subsection C; in Subsection E, in the first sentence, substituted "licensure" for "registration", deleted "as" preceding "supplied", and substituted "licensed" for "registered"; rewrote Subsection F; and in Subsection G, substituted "biennial" for "annual" and substituted "supervision" for "employment".

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, which inserted "licensed" throughout Subsection B to D and F, and inserted all of the language in the first sentence in Subsection C beginning with "in Schedule I" and ending with "pharmacy"; substituted "Paragraph (3) of Subsection A" for "Subsection C" in the first sentence in Subsection C; added "or controlled substances" at the end of the last sentence in Subsection C; and deleted all of the former language at the end of the first sentence in Subsection E and the second sentence in Subsection F, and at the end of Subsection F, all beginning with "and if no fee is provided". Laws 1994, ch. 57, § 13 enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 1994, ch. 80, § 2. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 1989 amendment, effective March 4, 1989, renumbered this section, which formerly was 61-6-6 NMSA 1978; added present Subsection A; substituted the present provisions of Subsection B for former Subsection A, which read "No person shall perform or attempt to perform as a physician's assistant without first applying for and obtaining a certificate of qualification from the board as a physician's assistant and having his employment registered in accordance with board regulations"; added present Subsection C; redesignated former Subsection B as present Subsection D and made minor stylistic changes therein; rewrote former Subsections C and D and redesignated them as present Subsections E and F; and added Subsection G.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Liability to patient for results of medical or surgical treatment by one not licensed as required by law, 57 A.L.R. 978.

Right of corporation or individual, not himself licensed, to practice medicine, surgery or dentistry through licensed employees, 103 A.L.R. 1240.

Liability of operating surgeon for negligence of nurse assisting him, 12 A.L.R.3d 1017.

Filing of false insurance claims for medical services as ground for disciplinary action against dentist, physician, or other medical practitioner, 70 A.L.R.4th 132.