Chap. 1148.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 1744, 1745, 1746, 1747,
1749, 1750, and 1752 of chapter 77 of the code, regulating the practice of
medicine and surgery in Virginia.

Approved March 7, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
seventeen hundred and forty-four, seventeen hundred and forty-five,
seventeen hundred and forty-six, seventeen hundred and forty-seven,
seventeen hundred and forty-nine, seventeen hundred and fifty, and
seventeen hundred and fifty-two, of chapter seventy-seven of the code,
-egulating the practice of medicine and surgery in Virginia, be amended
ind re-enacted so as to read as follows:

$1744. Board of medical examiners; number and terms of mem-
yers.—There shall be for this state a board of medical examiners, con-
isting of one member from each congressional district in this ‘state,
ind three for the state at large, and in addition, two homocopathic
yhysicians from the state at large, whose term of office shall be four
‘ears, or until their successors are appointed and qualified. The term
»f office of the board first appointed after this act takes effect shall
commence on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and two; but the
board in office under the law in force at the time of the passage of
this act shall constitute a board of medical examiners under this act
until a new board shall be appointed and qualified.

§ 1745. How appointed; when office deemed vacant.—The said board
shall consist of men learned in medicine and surgery, and shall be
appointed by the governor on or before the first day of April, nineteen
hundred and two, and every fourth year thereafter, from a list of names
to be recommended by the medical society of Virginia. He shall also
appoint two homoepathic physicians who may be nominated to him by
the Hahnemann medical society of the Old Dominion, in the manner
hereinafter provided. Vacancies occurring in such boards for unexpired
terms shall be filled in the same manner. Such recommendations shall
be by the votes of a majority present at some meeting of the said socie-
ties, and the same shall be certified to the governor by the president
and secretary of such society: provided, however, in case the governor
shall consider any of the persons so recommended unsuitable, he may
decline to appoint such person or persons, and communicate the fact
to the president of the society presenting the nomination, and such
society shall, within ninety days thereafter, make other recommenda-
tions in the same manner as hereinbefore prescribed, which shall stand
on the same footing in all respects as those first made: provided, fur-
ther, 1f such society fail to make such recommendations prior to the
time of appointment, or within the ninety davs, the governor shall
appoint such board either in whole or in part, without regard to such
recommendations. If any of such examiners shall cease to reside in
the district for which he was appointed, his office shall be deemed
vacant.

§ 1746. Qualification of members; officers of board; its meetings;
quorum.—The members of said board shall qualify by taking the
usual oath of office before the county or corporation court of the county
or corporation in which thev respectively reside, or before the judge
of such court in vacation. The officers of said board shall be a presi-
dent, vice-president, and secretary (who shall also act as treasurer);
said officers to be members of and selected by the board. Regular
meetings of the board shall be held at such time and places as the
board may prescribe, and special meetings may be held upon the call
of the president and any five members; but there shall not be less than
one regular meeting each year. Five members of the board shall consti-
tute a quorum. The board mav prescribe rules, regulations, and by-
laws for its own proceedings and government, and for the examination
by its members of candidates for the practice of medicine and surgery.

§ 1747. Examination of applicants for the practice of medicine and
surgery; re-examination; fees of hoard.—It shall be the duty of the
said board, at any of its said meetings, to examine all persons making
application to them, who shall desire to commence the practice of
medicine or surgery in this state: provided on or after first day of July,
nineteen hundred, said applicant shall produce before said board a
diploma, or other satisfactory evidence of his graduation in some
medical college, chartered by the state or territory in which the same
is situated: provided, that any undergraduate taking a graded course

in any regularly chartered medical college shall be entitled to an exam-
ination on such branch or branches as he or she may present a certificate
from the said college of having passed a satisfactory examination, and
having once passed a satisfactory examination on each of such branches
before the state board of medical examiners, no further examination
shall be required on such branch or branches, but an applicant failing
to pass a satisfactory examination on any of such branches shall not
be permitted to be examined on such branch or branches until he or
she presents a diploma of graduation as doctor of medicine from some
regularly chartered college of medicine. And when an applicant shall
have passed an examination satisfactory as to proficiency before the
board in session, the president thereof shall grant to such applicant
a certificate to that effect. A fee of ten dollars shall be paid to said
board, through such officers or members as it may designate, by each
applicant before such examination is had. And in case any applicant
shall fail to pass a satisfactory examination he shall not be permitted
to stand any further examination within the next six months thereafter,
nor shall he have again to pay the fee prescribed as aforesaid: provided,
however, no applicant shall be rejected upon his examination on account
of his adherence to any particular school of medicine or system of
practice, nor on account of his views as to the method of treatment and
care of diseases: and, provided further, that, when in the opinion of
the president of the board, any applicant has been prevented by good
cause from appearing before the board, he shall have authority, in his
discretion, to grant a special permit to such applicant to practice medi-
cine or surgery until he shall have an opportunity to appear before
the board in session for examination; which said special permit shall
be revocable at the discretion of the president, and in no case shall it
entitle the holder thereof to practice after the next regular meeting of
said board. The said board shall have, in their discretion, authority
to accept in leu of examination of an applicant a diploma or other
satisfactory evidence of the graduation of the applicant in some medical
college chartered by the state or territory in which the same is situated,
and a certificate from the examining board of any other state or ter-
ritory of the United States or the District of Columbia, showing that
such applicant has passed a satisfactory examination as to his pro-
ficiency, and obtained license from said board to practice medicine and
surgery in said state, territory, or district: provided, that any person
who was examined by the state examining board 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 privi-
lege of taking the examination before the state board, notw ithstanding
the provisions of this act.

§ 1749. Applicant to have certificate of board recorded; fee of
clerk.—Before any person who obtains a certificate as aforesaid may
lawfully practice medicine or surgery in this state, he shall cause the
said certificate to be recorded in the clerk’s oflice of the county or corpo-
ration in which he resides in this state, or if he resides in the city of
Richmond, in the clerk’s oflice of the chancery court of said city; but
if he does not reside in the state of Virginia, he shall eause the said
certificate to be recorded in the clerk’s oflice of the county or corpora-
tion in which he offers to practice in this state, or in the clerk’s office
of the chancery court of the city of Richmond, if he offers to practice
in said city. The certificate shall be recorded by the clerk in a book to
be kept for that purpose, and it shall be indexed in the name of the
person to whom the certificate is granted. The clerk’s fee for record-
ing shall be the same as for recording a deed.

K 1790. Who prohibited from practicing medicine or surgery without
certificate; penalty for practicing illegally; what courts have jurisdic-
tion to inflict—No person who shall have commenced the practice of
medicine or surgery in this state since the first day of January, eighteen
hundred and eighty -five, or who shall hereafter commence the practice
of the same, shall practice as a physician or surgeon for compensation
without having first obtained a certificate from the state board of medi-
cal examiners and caused the same to be recorded as aforesaid, or a
special permit from the president of said board. Any person shall be
regarded as practicing medicine or surgery for compensation within the
meaning Of this act who shall profess publicly to be a physician or
surgeon and shall offer for practice as such, or who shall prescribe for
the sick or those needing medical aid, and shall receive therefor monev
or other compensation, “directly or indirectly. 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
hundred dollars for cach offense; and it shall not be lawful for him to
recover by action, suit, motion, or warrant in any of the courts of
state, anv compensation for services which may be claimed to have
been rendered by him as such physician or surgeon. The county and
corporation courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction to trv
offenses for violations of the provisions of this section committed within
their respective counties and corporation.

$1752. Who exempted from examination.—Nothing in this chapter
shall be taken as including or affecting in any way any dentist or mid-
wife, nor any commissioned officer or contract surgeon of the United
States army, navy, or marine hospital service in the performance of
his duties as such, nor to any physician or surgeon residing in any other
state or territory ‘of the United States, or in ‘the District. of Columbia,
called into consultation in a special case with a physician or surgeon
residing in this state, nor shall this chapter be construed as affecting
or changing in any way the laws in reference to the license tax required
to be paid by physicians, surgeons, and dentists.

All acts and parts of acts in contlict with this act are hereby

repealed,

3. This act shall be in force from its passaze.