Chap. 181.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 1747 and 1750 of the
Code of Virginia, regulating the practice of medicine and surgery in the
State of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by acts approved March 7,
1900, and April 23, 1903, amending and re-enacting section 1747 of the
Code of Virginia, and by acts approved March 7, 1900, April 24, 1903, and
December 17, 1903, amending and re-enacting section 1750 of the Code
of Virgtnia.

Approved March 14, 1910.

1. Be it enaeted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
seventeen hundred and forty-seven of the Code of Virginia, as amended
and re-enacted by acts approved March seven, nineteen hundred, and
April twenty-three, nineteen hundred and three, and section seventeen
hundred and fifty of the Code of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted
by acts approved March seventh, nineteen hundred, and April twenty-
fourth, nineteen hundred and three, and December seventeenth, nineteen
hundred and three, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:
§1747. Examination of applicants for the practice of medicine and
surgery; re-examinations; fees of board; certificates, how issued and
revokeed.—It shall be the duty of the said board at any of its said meet-
ings to examine all persons making application to it, who shall desire to
commence the practice of medicine and surgery in this State: provided,
the said applicant shall produce before said board such satisfactory evi-
dence of good moral character as may be required by the board, and
also produce a diploma or other satisfactory evidence of his or her
graduation as doctor of medicine in some medical college or institu-
tion teaching the art of healing human diseases, chartered by the
State, or territory, or government (if a foreign power), in which the
same is situated: provided, however, that any undergraduate student
in a regularly chartered medical college, which requires a full course
of not less than four years for graduation, who has completed not
less than the first two years of such graded course, shall be entitled to
examination on such subjects of the said first two years of the curricu-
lum as he or she may have completed, as attested by a certificate of suc-
cessful examination by said college, and having once passed a satisfac-
tory examination before the board on any such subject or subjects, no
further examination shall be required on it or them; but no such under-
graduate shall be permitted to appear before the board for examination
more than once before graduation as doctor of medicine.

And when an applicant shall have passed an examination before the
board in session, satisfactory as to proficiency, and shall have complied
with the requirements of the board as to habits and character, the presi-
dent thereof shall grant to such applicant a certificate to that effect: pro-
vided, however, that any applicant professing a system of medicine
which does not require the use of drugs in the treatment of diseases shall
be exempt from standing any examination on materia medica. A fee of
ten dollars shall be paid to said board, through such officer or members
as it may designate, by each applicant before such examination is had.
And in case any applicant who has graduated as doctor of medicine shall
fail to pass a satisfactory examination, he or she shall be permitted to
appear before the board and be re-examined at any regular meeting after
six months, without regard to standing at any former examination on any
subject or subjects, and for each re-examination by the board each appli-
cant shall pay a fee of five dollars: provided, however, that when any ap-
plicant has failed to pass.a satisfactory examination after having been
re-examined by the board at two successive meetings, it shall be lawful
for the board, in its discretion, to deny such applicant any further
examination until he or she shall present to the board satisfactory evi-
dence of having taken a course of not less than three months in post-
graduate instruction in some approved college of medicine or under some
approved and competent teacher of the subjects of medicine and surgery:
provided, however, that no applicant shall be rejected upon examination
on account of his or her adherence to any particuler school or system of
medicine, nor on account of his or her views as to the treatment and care
of diseases: provided further, that when, in the opinion of the president
cf the board, any applicant has been prevented by good cause from ap-
pearing before the board, he shall have authority, in his discretion, to
grant a special permit to such applicant to practice medicine and surgery
until he or she shall have an opportunity to appear before the board in
session for examination, which special permit shall be revoked at the
discretion of the president, and in no case shall it entitle the holder
thereof to practice after the next regular meeting of the board. For issu-
ing any temporary or special permit, each applicant shall pay a fee of
five dollars in addition to the regular fee charged for examination. —

The said board shall have, in its discretion, authority to accept, in lieu
of examination of an applicant, a diploma or other satisfactory evidence
of the graduation of the applicant in some reputable or regularly char-
tered medical college, and a certificate of examination from the examin-
ing board of any other State or territory of the United States or the
District of Columbia, showing that said applicant has passed a satisfactory
examination as to his or her proficiency, and obtained a license from said
board to practice medicine or surgery in the said State, territory or dis-
trict: provided further, that any person who was examined by the said
State board of medical examiners of Virginia, prior to January first,
nineteen hundred, and whose fee for such examination was duly paid,
but who failed to pass said examination, shall have the right and privilege
of taking the examination before the board, notwithstanding the pro-
vision of this act. The board shall not grant a certificate to any appli-
cant if satisfied that the safety of the public would be endangered by rea-
son of the habits or character of said applicant, and if any person shall
receive a certificate by misrepresentation or fraud, or shall become unsafe,
incompetent or unfit for the practice of his profession, by reason of im-
morality, dissipation or vicious habits, criminal or unlawful practice, or
other cause, the said board shall, on complaint, have the power to revoke
such certificate after giving such person reasonable notice and an oppor-
tunity to be heard. Whenever the board shall revoke any certificate, it
shall notify the clerk of the circuit court or the corporation court of the
county or city in which its holder may reside, and also the said holder, of
its action, and he or she shall immediately deliver to the board, or its
representative, his or her certificate, and it shall be unlawful for him or
her to engage in the practice of medicine or surgery in the State of Vir-
ginia, or to reccive a license for such practice: provided, however, the
board shall have the power to reinstate, at its discretion, any certificate
revoked by it, should, after the lapse of sufficient time, it be found that
the condition and habits of its former holder have become such as to
make him or her safe, competent and fit for the practice of medicine and
surgery, and on the payment of the same fee as for an examination bv the
holder of such certificate reinstated: provided, however, any person whose
certificate has been so revoked shall have the right of appeal to the
circuit or corporation court of the county or city in which he or she may
reside.

§1750. Who prohibited from practicing medicine and surgery without
certificate; penalty for practicing illegally; what courts have jurisdiction
to inflict—No person who shall have commenced the practice of medi-
cine or surgery in this State since the first day of January, eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-five, or who shall hereafter commence the practice of the
same, shall practice as a physician or surgeon for compensation, without
first having obtained a certificate from the State board of medical exam-
iners and caused the same to be recorded as aforesaid, or a special per-
mit from the president of said board; nor shall it be lawful for any per-
son to engage in the practice of medicine or surgery for compensation
after the revoking of his or her certificate as provided for in section seven-
teen hundred and forty-seven amended as aforesaid.

To open an office for such purpose or to announce to the public in any
way a readiness to practice medicine in any county or city of the State,
av prescribe for, or to give surgical assistance, or to heal, cure or relieve
those suffering from injury or deformity, or disease of mind or body, or to
advertise, or to announce to the public in any manner a readiness or
ability to heal, cure or relieve those who may be suffering from injury or
deformity, or disease of mind or body, shall he or she engage in the.
practice of medicine within the meaning of this section: provided, that
nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to or to limit in any
manner the manufacture or sale of proprietary medicines, or to apply to,
affect or interfere in any way with the operation of any hospital now
established in this State, or any person while engaged in conducting such.
hospital now established, if there be a licensed physician resident and
practicing therein, or to any person who commenced the practice of oste-
opathy in this State prior to January first, nineteen hundred and three.

It shall be regarded as practicing medicine within the meaning of
this section, if anyone shall use in connection with his or her name the
words or letters “Dr.,” “Doctor,” “Professor,” “M. D.,” or “Iealer,” or
any other title, word, letter or designation intending to imply or desig-
nate him or her as a practitioner of medicine or surgery in anv of its
branches, but this section sha]] not be construed to apply to non-itinerant
opticians who are at this time engaged in the practice of optometry in
this State, nor to professional or other nurses. Any person who shall
practice medicine or surgery in this State in violation of the provisions
of this section shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hun-
dred dollars for each offense; and it shall not be lawful for him or her
to recover by action, suit, motion or warrant in any of the courts of the
State any compensation for services which he or she may claim to have
rendered as such physician or surgeon.

The circuit and corporation courts shall have exclusive original juris-
diction to try offenses for violations of this section committed within
their respective counties and corporations.

2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby re-
pealed.

3. This being an emergency act under the Constitution of Virginia, it
shall take effect from its passage.