Section 2115.

(a) Physicians who are not citizens but are legally admitted to the United States and who seek postgraduate study may, after application to and approval by the Division of Licensing, be permitted to participate in a fellowship program in a specialty or subspecialty field, providing the fellowship program is given in a clinic or hospital in a medically underserved area of this state that is licensed by the State Department of Health Services or is exempt from licensure pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 1206 of the Health and Safety Code, and providing service is satisfactory to the division. These physicians shall at all times be under the direction and supervision of a licensed, board certified physician and surgeon who has an appointment with a medical school in California and is a specialist in the field in which the fellow is to be trained. The supervisor, as part of the application process, shall submit his or her curriculum vitae and a protocol of the fellowship program to be completed by the foreign fellow. Approval of the program and supervisor is for a period of one year, but may be renewed annually upon application to and approval by the division. The approval may not be renewed more than four times. The division may determine a fee, based on the cost of operating this program, which shall be paid by the applicant at the time the application is filed.

(b) Except to the extent authorized by this section, no visiting physician may engage in the practice of medicine or receive compensation therefor. The time spent under appointment in a clinic pursuant to this section may not be used to meet the requirements for licensure under Section 2102.

(c) Nothing in this section shall preclude any United States citizen who has received his or her medical degree from a medical school located in a foreign country from participating in any program established pursuant to this section.

(d) For purposes of this section, a medically underserved area means a federally designated Medically Underserved Area, a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area, and any other clinic or hospital determined by the board to be medically underserved. Clinics or hospitals determined by the board pursuant to this subdivision shall be reported to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 438, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2004.)