Chap. 68.—An ACT to amend and reenact Section 1621 of the Code of Virginia,
prescribing what persons, professions, occupations and practices are exempt
from the provisions of the statutes of Virginia regulating the practice of the
healing arts; and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a new section num-
bered 1621-a, regulating the employment and practice of unlicensed practitioners
in certain hospitals, and imposing penalties for violations. {S 105]

Approved March 3, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That section sixteen hundred twenty-one of the Code of Vir-
ginia be amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be
further amended by adding thereto a new section numbered six-
teen hundred twenty-one-a as follows:

Section 1621l-a. Exceptions and exemptions.—(a) Nothing in
this chapter shall be construed to prevent the furnishing of first aid
or medical assistance in case of a genuine emergency in the absence
of a qualified practitioner, nor to prevent any legally qualified
practitioner from any other State or country who does not maintain
an office in this State for professional work from meeting in con-
sultation legally registered practitioners in this State.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect or in-
terfere with the performance of the duties of any commissioned or
contract medical officer in active service in the Army, Navy, Coast
Guard, Marine Corps, Public Health Service or Marine Hospital
Service of the United States while so commissioned and serving,
provided, however, that no such officer shall engage in private
practice without a certificate from the board, which certificate may
be issued by the board without examination on presentation of
satisfactory credentials and the payment of a fee of fifty dollars.

(c) Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit or require
the licensing of the practice of the religious tenets of any church in
the ministration to the sick and suffering by mental or spiritual
means without the use of any drug or material remedy, whether
gratuitously or for compensation.

(d) Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent or forbid the
domestic administration of family remedies, or the manufacture or
sale of proprietary medicines in this State by licensed druggists,
or the advertising or sale of commercial appliances or remedies, nor
to prevent or forbid the fitting by non-itinerant persons or manufac-
turers of artificial eyes, limbs or other apparatus or appliances, pro-
vided that these specified activities are conducted in comformity
with the law of Virginia authorizing and regulating such activities.

(e) Nothing herein shall be construed to apply to or interfere
with nurses, registered midwives, masseurs who publicly represent
themselves as such, dentists or pharmacists, within the scope of their
usual professional activities, nor to any other person in the lawful
conduct of their particular professions or businesses under State law,
while actually engaged in such profession or business; nor shall sec-
tion sixteen hundred eight to sixteen hundred twenty-three, both
inclusive, of this chapter apply to registered optometrists autho-
rized to practice under the laws of this State while engaged in such
practice.

Section 1621l-a. Unlicensed practitioners in hospitals, limita-
tions on practice; penalties—Unlicensed practitioners may be em-
ployed as internes or residents in a legally established and licensed
hospital, provided their practice is confined strictly to persons who
are bona fide patients within the hospital or who receive treatment
and advice in an organized out-patient department of the hospital
to which ambulant patients regularly come for professional services
rendered under supervision of licensed members of the hospital
staff. Such unlicensed practitioners shall be at all times responsible
and accountable to a licensed member of the staff. No unlicensed
practitioner may be employed by any hospital unless he has com-
pleted successfully the preliminary academic education required for
admission to examinations given by the board in his particular field
of practice, or holds a valid license issued in a State maintaining
standards acceptable for reciprocity with the State of Virginia.
No graduate of a sub-standard medical school may be employed
as an interne or resident in any hospital or in any capacity involving
professional duties, except that the board may, in its discretion,
under unusual, temporary, or emergency conditions, permit the
employment of graduates of such schools under such restrictions
and conditions as the board may prescribe in each particular case.
The board may determine the extent and scope of the duties and
professional services which may be rendered by unlicensed internes
and residents whenever such duties and services are not fixed by
existing law.

On and after January one, nineteen hundred forty-nine, no person
shall serve as an unlicensed interne or resident in any hospital in
this State after a period of three years has elapsed from the date
on which his services as an unlicensed interne or resident first com-
menced in the State of Virginia. The board may prescribe such
rules and regulations not in conflict with existing law and require
such reports from hospitals in the State as may be necessary to
carry out the provisions of this section.

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this sec-
tion, or any provisions of this chapter for which no specific penalty
is provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof shall be punished accordingly.