CHAPTER 118

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PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

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SENATE BILL 04-051 [Digest]

BY SENATOR(S) Grossman, Dyer, Entz, Gordon, Groff, Hanna, Hillman, Jones, May R., Tapia, Taylor, Teck, and Tupa;

also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Witwer, Carroll, Coleman, Garcia, Hodge, Hoppe, Schultheis, Stafford, and Young.

AN ACT

Concerning an increase in the length of time for which a temporary license may be issued to a foreign physician.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

  SECTION 1.  Legislative declaration. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that Colorado is facing a critical shortage of academic physicians, especially in speciality areas such as anesthesiology and radiology. The current statutory provision limiting a temporary license to a physician serving on the academic staff of a medical school to one year with only one renewal of one year significantly hampers the ability of Colorado's medical schools from recruiting and retaining academic physicians. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the state to increase the length of time for which a temporary license may be issued to an academic physician.

  SECTION 2.  12-36-107 (3) (b), Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

  12-36-107.  Qualifications for licensure. (3) (b)  Such temporary license shall remain in force only while the holder is serving on the academic staff of a medical school. Such license shall expire one year after its date of issuance and may be renewed annually for up to one more year up to five years by a two-thirds vote of the board only after it has specifically determined that the conditions specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) will continue during the ensuing period of licensure. The board may require an applicant for licensure under this subsection (3) to present himself or herself to the board for an interview. The board may withdraw licensure granted by these provisions prior to the expiration of such license for unprofessional conduct as defined in section 12-36-117. The board may establish and charge a fee for such temporary license pursuant to section 24-34-105, C.R.S., not to exceed the amount of the fee for a two-year renewal of a physician's license.

  SECTION 3.  Applicability. The provisions of this act shall apply to physicians who apply for a temporary license or whose temporary licenses are renewed on or after the applicable effective date of this act.

  SECTION 4.  Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.

Approved: April 8, 2004

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Capital letters indicate new material added to existing statutes; dashes through words indicate deletions from existing statutes and such material not part of act.

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