CHAPTER 461

AN ACT to amend and reenact §§ 54-298, 54-299, 54-300 as amended, 54-302
as amended, 54-806 as amended, 54-306.3, 54-309, 54-316 as amended,
54-318 as amended, 54-319 and 54-320 as amended, of the Code of
Virginia, relating generally to examinations and issuance of certifi-
cates to practice the healing arts; remedies for applicants refused ex-
amination; revocation or suspension of licenses; and appeals from
such revocations or suspensions; and to amend the Code of Virginia
by adding sections numbered 54-817.1 and 54-321.2, to provide for
immediate suspension of licenses or certificates to practice healing
arts and for termination of such suspension. Ht 550]

Approved March 29, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 54-298, 54-299, 54-300 as amended, 54-302 as amended, 54-306
as amended, 54-306.3, 54-309, 54-316 as amended, 54-318 as amended,
54-319 and 54-320 as amended, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and
reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be amended by adding sections
numbered 54-317.1 and 54-321.2, as follows:

§ 54-298. Part I of the examination shall be given by the Board and
shall be taken and passed by all applicants, except those desiring to be
examined on chiropody, irrespective of the particular school or branch of
the healing arts to which they adhere, and the examination given at any
particular time shall be the same for all candidates, the same subjects
being included and the same questions being asked. Part I of the examina-
tion shall embrace the subjects of anatomy, histology, pathology, physi-
ology, bacteriology or microbiology, biochemistry, diagnosis, sanitation and
hygiene. No candidate shall be held to have passed Part I of the examina-
tion unless he has made an average grade of seventy-five per cent or more
on the several subjects embraced therein, with no grade lower than *
seventy per cent on any one subject.

Examinations shall be written or partly written and partly oral and
examination papers shall be preserved for a period of three years, after
which they may be destroyed.

§ 54-299. (1) Generally—Part II of the examination, except as
hereinafter provided, shall be given by the Board, and shall be taken by
each candidate for admission to practice and successfully passed with an
average grade of seventy-five per cent or more on the several subjects
embraced in the examination, with no grade lower than * seventy per cent
on any one subject. No candidate, unless excepted under the provisions of
§ 54-280, shall be permitted to take Part II of the examination until he has
successfully passed Part I thereof.

(2) Medicine.—For candidates applying for certificates to practice
medicine, Part II of the examination shall embrace the subjects of practice
of medicine, including pediatrics, neurology and psychiatry; surgery,
including gynecology; obstetrics, including embryology, materia medica
and therapeutics; and medical jurisprudence, public health and hygiene.

(83) * Osteopathy.—For candidates applying for certificates to prac-
tice * osteopathy, Part II of the examination shall embrace the same sub-
jects as for candidates for certificates to practice medicine, except that *
practice of osteopathy * shall be substituted for practice of medicine, but
the examination * shall include the subjects of pediatry, neurology and
psychiatry.

(4) Chiropractic or naturopathy.—For candidates applying for cer-
tificates to practice chiropractic or naturopathy, Part II of the examina-
tion shall embrace the subjects of philosophy, practice, jurisprudence and
therapeutics of their particular school or branch of the healing arts. The
questions for the examination on philosophy, practice and therapeutics of
the applicant’s particular school of practice shall be prepared and the
answers thereto shall be graded by the member or members of the Board
representing such school or branch of practice.

§ 54-300. The representatives of each branch of the healing arts on
which examinations are given shall prescribe rules and regulations for
the examination of candidates taking Part II of the examination on the
practice of the branch which they represent, but the members representing
the medical * and osteopathic branches shall jointly prescribe rules and
regulations for the medical * and osteopathic examinations.

§ 54-302. Chiropody examinations shall not be divided, but shall be
given at a single session of the Board, and an average grade of seventy-
five per cent or more on the several subjects embraced in the examination,
with no grade lower than * seventy per cent on any one subject, shall be
required for passing.

§ 54-306. The Board shall admit to Part II examination any candi-
date who has successfully passed Part I examination, and who meets the
further requirements of this chapter. The Board may, in its discretion,
admit to Part II examination any candidate who has had five or more
years of legal and reputable practice, in which event such candidate shall
not be required to take and pass the Part I examination, but all other
requirements of this section shall be met, including the full period of study
leading to the professional degree and the passing of the Part II exam-
ination. In addition to these requirements, every candidate for Part II
examination must submit evidence verified by affidavit and satisfactory to
the Board that he is twenty-one years of age or older, is of good moral
character, and that he has studied that branch of the healing arts in which
he desires a certificate to practice for not less than four school years, in-
cluding four satisfactory courses of at least eight months each, or for not
less than thirty-two months with four equivalent satisfactory courses of
at least eight months each, in one or more recognized professional schools
in the United States or Canada, which school or schools at the time of such
study * were on the published list of approved schools prepared by the
following organizations, respectively: For medical schools, the Council on
Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association and
the Executive Council of the Association of American Medical Colleges; *
for osteopathic schools, the American Osteopathic Association; for chiro-
practic schools, the International Chiropractors Association or the National
Chiropractic Association, Incorporated; and for naturopathic schools, the
American Naturopathic Association.

*

Except as otherwise provided herein, no candidate shall be admitted
to the Part II examination unless he holds a degree or certificate of gradua-
tion from a professional school in the United States or Canada which at
the time of the candidate’s attendance met the requirements prescribed
herein for schools of attendance and study. However, the Board may, in
its discretion, admit to the examination any graduate of a * medical school
outside of the United States and Canada, * if the Board is satisfied from
the evidence submitted that the candidate’s postgraduate training or ex-
perience, or his professional education supplemented by the internship
training required by § 54-306.3, is of such duration and character that
his qualifications are equal to those required of other candidates for ad-
mission to the examination. Every such candidate shall meet the other
requirements of this * article, including the full period of study leading
to the professional degree.
§ 54-306.3. No graduate of a school outside of the United States
and Canada, * shall be admitted to any examination given by the Board
unless and until he has completed two years of satisfactory service as an
intern in a hospital in the United States or Canada approved by the Coun-
cil on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Associa-
tion for internship training. Such training must have been completed
within the five-year period preceding the examination. The Board may
in its discretion consider one or more years of postgraduate study in an
approved medical school in the United States or Canada as a substitute
for one year of the internship training herein required.

§ 54-309. Upon completion of satisfactory examinations under the
rules of the Board, applicants shall be granted certificates to practice
medicine, * osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy, or chiropody, as the
case may be, and each certificate shall show plainly on its face the school
or branch of the healing arts in which the holder thereof is permitted to
practice. All certificates shall be attested by the signature of the president
and secretary of the Board, respectively.

§ 54-316. The Board may refuse to admit a candidate to any exam-
ination, and may refuse to issue a certificate to any applicant who applies
for the same through reciprocity or otherwise, and may suspend or revoke
any certificate or license held by any person, if it find that such candidate,
applicant or licensee: ;

(1) Has made false statements or representations or has been guilty
of fraud or deceit in obtaining admission to the practice, or has been
guilty of fraud or deceit in the practice, of any branch of the healing arts;

*

(2) Uses intoxicating liquors, narcotics, or other drugs to the extent
that he is unfitted for the performance of his professional obligations and
duties;

*

(8) Is guilty of immoral conduct, or of unprofessional conduct as
defined in § 54-317; ;

(4) Is grossly ignorant or careless in his practice, or is guilty of
gross malpractice. .

§ 54-318. In case an applicant is refused admittance to an examina-
tion, or is refused a certificate or license by the Board, for any of the
reasons set out in §§ 54-316 or 54-317, such applicant may apply to the
circuit court of the county or the corporation court of the city in which he
resides for a writ requiring the Board to show cause why the admittance
or certificate or license was refused. In such case service of process may
be had upon the member of the Board residing in the congressional dis-
trict in which the court is located, or, if for any reason such service can-
not be obtained, then upon any other member of the Board wherever found.
The burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner to establish his right to
be examined or to be granted a certificate or license. It shall be the duty
of the Commonwealth’s attorney of the county or corporation to represent
the Board in the proceeding. From any judgment of the court upon the
issue tried there may be an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals as in
other cases.

§ 54-319. In order to suspend or revoke the certificate or license of a
practitioner of medicine, homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturo-
pathy, or chiropody, for any of the reasons set out in §§ 54-316 or 54-317,
the member of the Board, if any, residing in the congressional district in
which the practitioner resides, or if there be no such member residing
therein then any other member of the Board, shall present to the Board in
writing charges against the character or conduct of the practitioner. If
upon considering such charges the Board is of opinion that a prima facie
case has been made out, it shall appoint a time and place for a hearing
thereon. No such hearing shall be held until the practitioner shall have
been given at least ten days’ written notice of the time and place thereof,
which notice, together with a copy of the charges, shall be served on him
in accordance with the provisions of § 8-51. ;

The practitioner shall have the right of attendance upon the hearing
and to be represented by counsel, and to summon witnesses to testify in
his behalf at such hearing. The cost of employing such counsel and the
expense of obtaining attendance of the witnesses shall be borne by the
practitioner. The failure of the practitioner to attend, or his failure to
defend himself, shall not serve to delay or make void the proceedings. The
Board shall have the power to employ counsel and a stenographer and to
summon witnesses, and the cost thereof shall be paid out of the State
treasury. Not less than nine members of the Board, at least one of whom
shall be of the same school as the practitioner on trial, shall sit as the
hearing body, and the affirmative vote of not less than three-fourths of
the members in attendance shall be necessary to revoke or suspend a
certificate or license. The proceedings at the hearing shall be recorded
formally, and be certified by the president and secretary of the Board.

§ 54-320. In case the certificate or license is suspended or revoked,
as provided in § 54-819, the practitioner affected may appeal from the
decision of the Board to the circuit court of the county or the circuit or
corporation court of the city within whose jurisdiction he resides, for a
review of such proceedings. Pending the application for review, the
practitioner shall not have the right to practice within the State. The
proceeding to review shall be begun by filing a petition in such court
reciting the facts and making the Board party defendant. Summons to
the Board to appear and answer the petition shall be served upon the
member of the Board residing in the congressional district in which the
county or city is located, or if there be no such member residing therein
then upon any other member of the Board wherever found, at least ten
days before the hearing. The judge of the court, without the intervention
of a jury, shall review the action of the Board upon the record made as
herein provided. The burden of proof shall be upon the practitioner to
establish his right to practice. It shall be the duty of the Commonwealth’s
attorney of the county or corporation to represent the Board in the pro-
ceeding. From any judgment of the court upon the issue reviewed there
may be an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals as in other cases.

§ 54-817.1. The Board may refuse to admit a candidate to any
examination, and may refuse to issue a certificate to any applicant who
applies for the same through reciprocity or otherwise, and shall suspend,
in the manner provided in § 54-821.2, any certificate or license held by
any person if it find that such candidate, applicant or licensee:

(1) Has been convicted in the courts of this or any other state, terri-
tory or country of a felony or of a crime involving moral turpitude. The
conviction of any offense in another state, territory or country, which if
committed in this State would be deemed a felony, shall be held to be a
felony under this section without regard to its designation in such other
state, territory or country ;

(2) Has been adjudged insane or incompetent by a court of competent
jurisdiction, either within or without this State, and such adjudication is
in effect and such person has not been declared restored to sanity or
competence.

§ 54-821.2. Upon being notified in writing by a member of the Board
that any person licensed to practice medicine or any of the other healing
arts in this State has suffered a final conviction as described in §
54-817.1(1) or has been adjudged insane or incompetent as provided in
§ 54-817.1(2), which notification shall be accompanied by a certified ab-
stract or copy of the judgment of conviction or adjudication of insanity or
incompetence, the secretary of the Board shall forthwith suspend the
certificate or license of any person so convicted or so adjudged. The secre-
tary shall notify such person or his legal guardian, trustee, committee or
other representative of the suspension, in writing, and such person shall
not have the right to practice within this State until the suspension has
been terminated by the Board as hereinafter provided.

Any person whose certificate or license has been suspended in accord-
ance with the provisions of this section may make application to the Board
for termination of such suspension and reinstatement of his certificate or
license. Such person shall be entitled to a hearing not later than the
regular meeting of the Board next following the expiration of ten days
from the receipt of such application, and shall have the right to be repre-
sented by counsel and to summon witnesses to testify in his behalf. The
cost of employing such counsel and the expense of obtaining attendance of
the witnesses shall be borne by the applicant. The Board shall have the
power to employ counsel and a stenographer and to summon witnesses,
and the cost thereof shall be paid out of the State treasury. The termina-
tion of suspension and reinstatement of the applicant’s certificate or license
shall require the affirmative vote of three-fourths of the members at the
hearing, at which not less than nine members shall be in attendance and,
in the discretion of the Board, such termination and reinstatement may be
ordered without further examination. The proceedings at the hearing shall
be recorded formally and shall be certified by the president and executive
secretary of the Board. An appeal from any action of the Board upon such
application may be had in the manner provided in § 54-320.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.