STAND. COM. REP. 3126

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2092

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 2092, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICINE AND SURGERY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to facilitate the licensure of qualified foreign-educated or foreign-trained physicians by authorizing the recognition of Canadian medical residency programs and the Canadian licensing examination.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Board of Medical Examiners (Board), Hawaii Pacific Health, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Hawaii Medical Association. An individual submitted comments on the measure.

For purposes of physician licensure, current law allows for the recognition of medical residency programs substantially equivalent to a residency program in the United States (U.S.) accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). In the past, the Board has recognized training received in Canadian residency programs accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). Further, a Board study has confirmed that Canadian residency training is substantially similar to residency training in the U.S.

This measure codifies the Board's practice and allows graduates of U.S. and Canadian medical schools who have completed a minimum of one year of residency training in a program accredited by the RCPSC or the CFPC to qualify for licensure. This measure also allows foreign medical school graduates, who under current law must have received their residency training in an ACGME-accredited program in the U.S., to qualify for licensure with two years of training in a program accredited by the RCPSC or the CFPC. Your Committee finds that this measure will bring Hawaii into line with forty-nine other jurisdictions that allow foreign medical school graduates to fulfill their residency training requirement in accredited Canadian programs.

This measure also authorizes the recognition of the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination and Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) for licensure purposes. Your Committee further finds that the MCCQE is comparable to the United States Medical Licensing Examination.

Finally, this measure requires the Board to periodically review the licensing requirements for all medical school graduates established in section 453-4(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes. Your Committee further finds that granting the Board broad authority to conduct a review of the overall licensing requirements will facilitate a more efficient and comprehensive review and analysis of the licensing requirements for physicians.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical amendments for purposes of style and to correctly reflect the language in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2092, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2092, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing,

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair