Assembly Bill A10958

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10958
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 14, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. GRAY -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to permitting  waiver  of
   dental residency requirements for licensure in underserved areas under
   supervised practice
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Legislative findings and  intent.  The  legislature  hereby
 finds  that many rural and underserved communities across the state face
 significant shortages of licensed  dental  professionals,  resulting  in
 reduced  access  to essential oral health services. Current law requires
 completion of a one-year clinically based dental residency program in  a
 hospital or facility accredited for teaching purposes. While intended to
 ensure competence, this requirement may unintentionally limit the timely
 placement of qualified dental graduates in underserved regions.
   It  is  the  intent of this legislation to provide a narrowly tailored
 waiver option to address workforce  shortages  by  permitting  qualified
 dental graduates to practice under structured supervision in underserved
 areas,  thereby expanding access to oral health services while maintain-
 ing standards of safety and competency.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 6604 of the education law, as amended by
 chapter 613 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   (3) Experience: have experience  satisfactory  to  the  board  and  in
 accordance with the commissioner's regulations, provided that such expe-
 rience shall consist of satisfactory completion of a postdoctoral gener-
 al  practice  or  specialty  dental  residency  program, of at least one
 year's duration, in a hospital or dental facility accredited for  teach-
 ing  purposes by a national accrediting body approved by the department,
 provided, further that any such residency program shall include a formal
 outcome assessment evaluation of the resident's competence  to  practice
 dentistry  acceptable  to  the  department.  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE
 DEPARTMENT MAY WAIVE SUCH RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT  FOR  AN  APPLICANT  WHO
 AGREES  TO  PRACTICE  FULL-TIME  IN AN UNDERSERVED AREA OF THE STATE, AS
 DESIGNATED BY THE COMMISSIONER IN CONSULTATION WITH  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14303-01-5
 A. 10958                            2
 
 HEALTH,  UNDER  THE  DIRECT OR GENERAL SUPERVISION OF A DENTIST LICENSED
 AND ACTIVELY PRACTICING IN THIS STATE FOR NOT  LESS  THAN  THREE  YEARS.
 SUCH  SUPERVISION SHALL OCCUR WITHIN A RADIUS OF SEVENTY-FIVE MILES FROM
 THE  SUPERVISING  DENTIST'S  PRIMARY  PRACTICE  LOCATION.  THE PERIOD OF
 SUPERVISED PRACTICE SHALL NOT BE LESS THAN TWELVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS AND
 SHALL BE SUBJECT TO REPORTING AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS ESTABLISHED BY
 THE COMMISSIONER  TO  ENSURE  COMPETENCY  EQUIVALENT  TO  THAT  OBTAINED
 THROUGH  RESIDENCY  TRAINING.  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL PROMULGATE REGU-
 LATIONS ESTABLISHING: (I) CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION OF UNDERSERVED  AREAS
 ELIGIBLE  FOR WAIVER OF SUCH RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT, IN CONSULTATION WITH
 THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; (II) QUALIFICATIONS OF  SUPERVISING  DENTISTS,
 INCLUDING MINIMUM LICENSURE PERIOD, DISCIPLINARY HISTORY, AND SUPERVISO-
 RY  CAPACITY;  (III)  REPORTING  AND  EVALUATION  PROCEDURES  TO MONITOR
 PERFORMANCE OF DENTISTS PRACTICING UNDER SUCH WAIVER;  AND  (IV)  CONDI-
 TIONS  UNDER WHICH SUCH WAIVER SHALL CONVERT TO PERMANENT FULFILLMENT OF
 THE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT, UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE  SUPERVISED
 PRACTICE PERIOD;
   § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
 sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
 impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
 the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
   § 4. This act shall  take  effect  immediately.  The  commissioner  of
 education  is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations neces-
 sary for the implementation of this act.