Senate Bill S123

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   123

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. SAMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the  state
  board  for  medicine  and  the commissioner of education to promulgate
  rules and regulations for physician training

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The legislature finds and declares that:
  a.  The findings of a federally-funded study by Georgetown University,
in conjunction with the Rand Corporation and the University of  Pennsyl-
vania,  which  were  published  in  the New England Journal of Medicine,
indicate that physicians are far less likely to refer blacks  and  women
than white men with identical complaints of chest pain to heart special-
ists  for cardiac catheterization; and the authors of this study suggest
that the difference in referral rates stems from racial and sexual bias-
es;
  b. These findings are the latest in a growing body of medical  litera-
ture  which documents race and gender-based disparities in the provision
of health care, especially in the treatment of  cardiovascular  disease;
however,  according  to  the  surgeon  general of the United States, the
Georgetown University study represents the best attempt to date to docu-
ment the racial attitudes of physicians as a factor in the poorer health
of African Americans;
  c. It is estimated that the minority population in the  United  States
will have increased by 60% between 2005 and the year 2010;
  d. Cultural awareness and cultural competence are essential skills for
providing quality health care to a diverse patient population;
  e.  Only  a  small  percentage of medical schools nationwide currently
provide some formal training in cultural competence;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02053-01-9
              

S. 123                              2

  f. The Association of American Medical Colleges  is  working  to  help
medical schools improve the teaching of cultural competency; and
  g.  The  public  interest  in  providing  quality  health  care to all
segments of society dictates the need  for  a  formal  requirement  that
medical  professionals  be trained in the provision of culturally compe-
tent health care as a condition of licensure to practice medicine in the
state of New York.
  S 2. Section 6523 of the education law, as amended by chapter  364  of
the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
  S 6523. State board for medicine.  1. A state board for medicine shall
be  appointed  by  the board of regents on recommendation of the commis-
sioner for the purpose of assisting the board of regents and the depart-
ment on matters of professional licensing  in  accordance  with  section
sixty-five  hundred  eight of this title. The board shall be composed of
not less than twenty physicians licensed in this state for at least five
years, two of whom shall be doctors of osteopathy. The board shall  also
consist of not less than two physician's assistants licensed to practice
in  this state. The participation of physician's assistant members shall
be limited to matters relating to article one  hundred  thirty-one-B  of
this  [chapter]  TITLE.    An  executive secretary to the board shall be
appointed by the board of regents on recommendation of the  commissioner
and  shall  be either a physician licensed in this state or a non-physi-
cian, deemed qualified by the commissioner and board of regents.
  2. THE STATE BOARD FOR MEDICINE SHALL PRESCRIBE THE FOLLOWING REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR PHYSICIAN TRAINING, BY REGULATION, IN  CONSULTATION  WITH  THE
COMMISSIONER:
  A.  THE  CURRICULUM  IN  EACH  COLLEGE OF MEDICINE IN THIS STATE SHALL
INCLUDE ONE OR MORE CULTURAL COMPETENCY COURSES WHICH  ARE  DESIGNED  TO
ADDRESS  THE  PROBLEM  OF  RACE  AND GENDER-BASED DISPARITIES IN MEDICAL
TREATMENT DECISIONS AND ARE DEVELOPED IN CONSULTATION WITH  THE  ASSOCI-
ATION  OF  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  COLLEGES  OR ANOTHER NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED
ORGANIZATION WHICH REVIEWS MEDICAL SCHOOL CURRICULA.
  B. COMPLETION OF A CULTURAL COMPETENCY COURSE AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
A OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE REQUIRED AS A CONDITION  OF  RECEIVING  A
DIPLOMA FROM A COLLEGE OF MEDICINE IN THIS STATE.
  C.  A  COLLEGE OF MEDICINE WHICH INCLUDES A CULTURAL COMPETENCY COURSE
AS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH A OF THIS SUBDIVISION IN  ITS  CURRICULA  SHALL
OFFER  FOR  CONTINUING  EDUCATION  CREDIT,  CULTURAL COMPETENCY TRAINING
WHICH IS PROVIDED THROUGH ONE OR MORE COURSES, WORKSHOPS OR OTHER EDUCA-
TIONAL PROGRAMS SPONSORED BY THE COLLEGE AND WHICH MEETS CRITERIA ESTAB-
LISHED BY THE STATE BOARD FOR MEDICINE CONSISTENT WITH THOSE FOR COURSES
DEVELOPED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
  D. A PERSON WHO RECEIVED A DIPLOMA FROM A COLLEGE OF MEDICINE IN  THIS
STATE  PRIOR  TO  THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE STATE
BOARD FOR MEDICINE TO EFFECTUATE THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION  SHALL
BE  REQUIRED, AS A CONDITION OF INITIAL LICENSURE BY THE STATE BOARD FOR
MEDICINE TO DOCUMENT  COMPLETION  OF  A  MINIMUM  OF  SIXTEEN  HOURS  OF
CULTURAL COMPETENCY TRAINING WHICH IS OFFERED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH C OF
THIS SUBDIVISION TO THE SATISFACTION OF THE STATE BOARD FOR MEDICINE.
  E.  A  PHYSICIAN  LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE IN THIS STATE SHALL BE
REQUIRED, AS A CONDITION OF RELICENSURE, TO  DOCUMENT  COMPLETION  OF  A
MINIMUM  OF  SIXTEEN  HOURS  OF  CULTURAL  COMPETENCY  TRAINING WHICH IS
OFFERED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH C OF THIS SUBDIVISION TO THE  SATISFACTION
OF  THE  STATE  BOARD  FOR  MEDICINE NO LATER THAN THREE YEARS AFTER THE
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.

S. 123                              3

  F. THE STATE BOARD FOR MEDICINE MAY WAIVE THE  REQUIREMENTS  OF  PARA-
GRAPH  D OR E OF THIS SUBDIVISION IF AN APPLICANT FOR LICENSURE OR RELI-
CENSURE, AS APPLICABLE, DEMONSTRATES TO THE SATISFACTION  OF  THE  STATE
BOARD  FOR  MEDICINE  THAT  THE  APPLICANT  HAS ATTAINED THE SUBSTANTIAL
EQUIVALENT OF THIS REQUIREMENT THROUGH COMPLETION OF A SIMILAR COURSE IN
HIS  OR HER POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION WHICH MEETS CRITERIA ESTABLISHED BY
REGULATION OF THE STATE BOARD FOR MEDICINE.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
have become a law.