LICENSURE OF PHYSICIANS

APPLICATION FOR EXAMINATION

Each person who desires to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery shall file with the secretary of the State Medical Board a written application, under oath, on a form prescribed by the Board, and furnish satisfactory proof that he is more than eighteen years of age and of good moral character. ORC § 4731.08

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO EXAMINATION

The State Medical Board appoints an entrance examiner who determines the sufficiency of an applicant's preliminary education. The minimum requirement is two years of collegiate work in an approved college of arts and sciences in addition to high school graduation. When the entrance examiner finds the preliminary education of the applicant sufficient, he issues a certificate of preliminary examination upon the payment to the treasurer of the Board of a fee of $10.

The applicant must also produce a diploma from a medical institution or college of osteopathy in the United States in good standing at the time the diploma was issued or a school or a diploma or license approved by the Board which conferred the full right to practice all branches of medicine or surgery in a foreign country. In addition, the applicant must produce satisfactory evidence to the Board verifying the successful completion of not less than twelve months of postdoctoral training in an approved hospital in the United States. ORC § 4731.09 (A)

EXAMINATION

"The examinations of applicants for certificates to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery shall be conducted under rules prescribed by the State Medical Board. Each applicant shall be examined in such subjects as the Board requires. The Board shall examine in subjects pertinent to current medical educational standards." ORC § 4731.13

"The examination given in Ohio to applicants for certificates to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery shall be the FLEX. This examination is given in English only. Each applicant shall be required to take both component 1 and component 2 of the FLEX at the first sitting in Ohio." OAC § 4731-6-08

An applicant must attain a score of seventy-five or above in one sitting on both component 1 and component 2 to pass. If an applicant achieves a passing score on only one component, he must retake only the failed component until he achieves a passing score. However, the initially failed component must be passed within seven years or the applicant shall be required to retake both component 1 and component 2 of the FLEX in one sitting. OAC § 4731-6-09

"If the applicant passes the examination, and has paid the required fee, the State Medical Board shall issue its certificate...Such certificate shall be prominently displayed in the physician's office or place where a major portion of such physician's practice is conducted and shall entitle the holder to practice either medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery provided such physician maintains current registration..." ORC § 4731.14

For additional information, contact:
The State of Ohio Medical Board
77 South High Street
17th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 466-3934

 

FOREIGN MEDICAL GRADUATES

Applicants who are graduates of foreign medical schools and who have met the preliminary educational requirements may be eligible for admission to the examination in the following instances:

  1. "A foreign-born graduate of a foreign medical school holding a diploma approved by the Board or holding a right to practice in a foreign country, may, at the discretion of the Board, be admitted to the examination upon completion of not less than twenty-four months of postdoctoral training in an approved hospital in the United States." ORC § 4731.09 (A) Postdoctoral training in an approved hospital in the United States means an approved internship, residency or clinical fellowship. The Medical Board approves internships and residencies that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and clinical fellowships that are at an institution that has a residency program in the same or related clinical field that is accredited by the ACGME or AOA. OAC § 4731-6-03
  2. A graduate of a foreign medical school who holds a diploma approved by the Board, holds Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certification, has achieved a score of at least 230 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and who has completed twenty-four months of postdoctoral training in an approved hospital in the United States is eligible to take the examination for medical and osteopathic licensure. Postdoctoral training in an approved hospital in the United States means an approved internship, residency or clinical fellowship. The Medical Board approves internships and residencies that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and clinical fellowships if the institution at which the fellowship is pursued has a residency program in the same or a related clinical field that is accredited by the ACGME. OAC § 4731-6-03 The approved diploma must grant the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent. In the case of Mexican diplomas, only the titulo or the acta, along with appropriate evidence of nonconcurrent internship and social service, shall be considered equivalent to the degree of doctor of medicine. OAC § 4731-6-04
  3. Special requirements exist for a United States citizen who completed his undergraduate studies at a college or university in the United States approved for preliminary training by the State Medical Board, and who has studied medicine at a medical school located outside the United States that is listed by the World Health Organization, but who is not authorized to practice all branches of medicine or surgery in the foreign country in which he studied medicine. ORC § 4731.09 (B), OAC § 4731-6-03
  4. A pilot program to test the clinical competency of Ohio residents who have graduated from unapproved foreign medical schools has been authorized by the Ohio legislature. ORC § 4731.09 (H) (K) Rules governing the administration of this Medical Education Evaluation Program (MEEP) are listed in OAC § 4731-6-25 to OAC § 4731-6-35. For more information on MEEP, contact the State Medical Board.

Criteria for evaluation of foreign medical schools are found in OAC § 4731-6-06, 4731-6-07, and 4731-6-27.

All applicants for licensure under this section who do not hold a diploma from a medical school located in the United States or Canada and accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) must produce satisfactory evidence of achieving a score of at least two hundred thirty (230) on the Test of Spoken English of the Educational Testing Service. ORC § 4731.09 (G)

"No applicant is eligible for licensure in Ohio if the applicant graduated after January 1, 1991, from a medical school not located in the United States or Canada and not accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association if less than fifty percent
of the school's annual graduating class are citizens by birth of the country in which the school is located." ORC § 4731.09 (L)

 

BIENNIAL LICENSURE REGISTRATION

LICENSURE BY RECIPROCITY

"When a physician or surgeon licensed by the licensing department of another state, a territory, or the District of Columbia, a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners or the National Board of Examiners for osteopathic physicians and surgeons, or a licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada wishes to remove to this state to practice his profession, the State Medical Board may...issue to him a certificate to practice medicine or surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery without requiring the applicant to submit to examination." ORC § 4731.29 (A)

"A fee of one hundred seventy-five dollars ($175) shall be submitted with each application for certification." ORC § 4731.29 (D)

Endorsement of a license may be denied if the applicant, within the preceding two years, has not been engaged in the active practice of medicine or surgery, the taking of post-graduate training accredited by the ACGME or AOA, or been enrolled as a student at a medical or osteopathic school in good standing. OAC § 4731-6-16

(See also:  CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION; and under State Medical Board Policy Positions:  FLEX EXAMINATION - INTERPRETATION OF EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS)

LICENSURE OF PHYSICIANS

 
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