§ 1391. Qualifications for medical licensure

(a) Upon payment of an examination fee, a person who has attained the age of majority, and is of good moral character, who is a graduate of a legally chartered college or university authorized to confer degrees in medicine and surgery, which is recognized by the Board, shall be entitled to examination. Evidence of good moral character and competence in being able to communicate in reading, writing, and speaking the English language, shall be presented from the chief of service and two other active physician staff members at the hospital where the person was last affiliated. In the discretion of the Board, evidence from different sources may be presented.

(b) If a person successfully completes the examination, he or she may then apply for licensure to practice medicine in the State of Vermont. In addition, each applicant may be interviewed by a Board member.

(c) Students who have completed the studies of anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and histology may be examined after presenting a certificate from the secretary of the college or university in which they are pursuing their studies that they have completed the work of the second year. The fee that shall accompany such certificate shall be half of that for the final examination and shall be credited to the student as a part of the whole fee when he or she takes his or her final examination, which examination shall not include the subjects in which such student was found qualified by such previous examination.

(d) In its discretion, the Board may refuse applicants who are graduates of foreign universities or medical schools unless their credentials have first been passed upon and approved by the educational council for foreign medical graduates.

(e) An applicant for limited temporary license, who shall furnish the Board with satisfactory proof that he or she has attained the age of majority, is of good moral character, is a graduate of a legally chartered medical school of this country or of a foreign country that is recognized by the Board and which has power to grant degrees in medicine, that all other eligibility requirements for house officer status have been met, and that he or she has been appointed an intern, resident, fellow, or medical officer in a licensed hospital or in a clinic that is affiliated with a licensed hospital, or in any hospital or institution maintained by the State, or in any clinic or outpatient clinic affiliated with or maintained by the State, may upon the payment of the required fee, be granted a limited temporary license by the Board as a hospital medical officer for a period of up to 54 weeks and such license may be renewed or reissued, upon payment of the fee, for the period of the applicant's postgraduate training, internship, or fellowship program. Such limited temporary license shall entitle the said applicant to practice medicine only in the hospital or other institution designated on his or her certificate of limited temporary license and in clinics or outpatient clinics operated by or affiliated with such designated hospital or institution and only if such applicant is under the direct supervision and control of a licensed physician. Such licensed physician shall be legally responsible and liable for all negligent or wrongful acts or omissions of the limited temporary licensee and shall file with the Board the name and address both of himself or herself and the limited temporary licensee and the name of such hospital or other institution. Such limited temporary license shall be revoked upon the death or legal incompetency of the licensed physician or, upon ten days written notice, by withdrawal of his or her filing by such licensed physician. The limited temporary licensee shall at all times exercise the same standard of care and skill as a licensed physician, practicing in the same specialty, in the State of Vermont. Termination of appointment as intern, resident, fellow, or medical officer of such designated hospital or institution shall operate as a revocation of such limited temporary license. An application for limited temporary license shall not be subject to subsection 1391(d) of this title. (Amended 1961, No. 256; 1967, No. 307 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 22, 1968; 1969, No. 187 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1971, No. 14, § 15, eff. March 11, 1971; 1971, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.), § 19, eff. March 29, 1972; 1977, No. 91, § 2; 1977, No. 259 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1989, No. 250 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 39, 40; 2003, No. 34, § 9, eff. May 23, 2003; 2011, No. 61, § 2, eff. June 2, 2011.)