060.00.08 Ark. Code R. § 005 - Regulation 3 - Licensure Requirements for Graduates of Foreign medical Schools

Unrestricted license may now be applied for by graduates of foreign medical schools provided they can comply with the following requirements and meet the approval of the Board of Medical Examiners:

1. Be twenty-one years of age.

2. Be of good moral character.

3. Demonstrate in personal interview the ability to read, write, and speak English fluently; and also demonstrate adequate training and ability sufficient to permit the practice of medicine in accordance with accepted medical practice in the State of Arkansas.

4. Present documented evidence that he or she served three years as an intern or resident in an accredited post-graduate medical education program in the United States; or, completed one year as an intern or resident in an accredited post-graduate medical program in the United States and be currently enrolled in an accredited post-graduate medical program in Arkansas.

5. Provide indisputable identification.

6. Present a Standard ECFMG Certificate.

7. ACA § 17-95-403(b)(3) iii(a) provides that an Applicant for licensure must submit to the Board that he is a graduate of "a foreign medical school whose entrance requirements and course of instruction have been approved by the Board." The Arkansas State Medical Board will, by June 15^th of each year provide to the public a list of medical schools which will be considered as "disapproved," that is medical schools that the Board deems is unacceptable and, thus, students graduating from those schools will not be considered for licensure by the Arkansas State Medical Board. Inclusion on the list of "disapproved medical schools" will be made by a majority vote of the Board. Criteria for inclusion on the list of "disapproved medical schools" will be based on but not limited to the following:

a. Information compiled by the staff of the Arkansas State Medical Board concerning the foreign medical school, its curriculum and facilities.

b. Information compiled by other medical boards of the various states based on site visits to the foreign medical school.

c. Information from at least two (2) sister State Medical Licensure Boards that reflects that a Foreign Medical School has not been approved or recognized as a medical school needed for licensure of physicians or for other requirements of that Board.

d. Those foreign medical schools whose curriculum and primary requirements are Internet based and/or distance learning, shall further be considered as disapproved.

8. If an applicant, however, is a graduate of a medical school that has been designated by the Arkansas State Medical Board as a "disapproved medical school," and the applicant has been enrolled in a UAMS residency program prior to 1 August 2008, he will be granted a license to practice medicine in the State of Arkansas, only after he or she has successfully completed a three a three year residency program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and met all other requirements of the Board, to include:

1) Successful completion of step one of the USMLE exam within three attempts

2) successful completion of step two of the USMLE exam within seven years from the date of graduation from medical school and

3) successful completion of step three of the USMLE exam within nine years from completing medical school. Any applicant who has not been enrolled in a UAMS residency program prior to 1 August 2008 will not be granted a license if he is a graduate of a "disapproved medical school."

Notes

060.00.08 Ark. Code R. § 005

7/17/2008