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AB-2920 Dentistry: dental schools.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 02/15/2024 09:00 PM
AB2920:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2920

Introduced by Assembly Member Reyes

February 15, 2024

An act to amend Sections 1628, 1634.1, and 1636.4 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2920, as introduced, Reyes. Dentistry: dental schools.
Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, establishes the Dental Board of California for the licensure and regulation of dentists and dental assistants. Existing law requires the board to issue licenses and permits to practice dentistry and dental assisting in this state to applicants who successfully pass certain examinations, as specified. Existing law imposes certain eligibility requirements on applicants to take an examination before the board, including furnishing evidence of having graduated from a dental college approved by the board or by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
This bill would additionally authorize a national accrediting body approved by the board to approve dental colleges for purposes of the above-described examination eligibility requirement.
Existing law authorizes the board to grant a license to practice dentistry to an applicant who submits to the board specified information, including evidence of having graduated from a dental school approved by a national accrediting body approved by the board or from a dental school approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
This bill would additionally authorize the board to approve dental colleges for purposes of the above-described license eligibility requirement.
Existing law, subject to certain exceptions, requires a school seeking approval as a foreign dental school to have successfully completed the international consultative and accreditation process with the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association or a comparable accrediting body approved by the board and makes graduates of a foreign dental school whose programs were approved at the time of graduation eligible for licensure.
Prior law, until January 1, 2024, had instead required, for approval or renewal of approval, a foreign dental school to make application to the board, and to meet other specified requirements, including the payment of specified fees, as prescribed. That prior law imposed duties and powers on the board related to the evaluation of those applications and the periodic survey and evaluation of all approved foreign dental schools to ensure continued compliance with the requirements for approval.
This bill would, with certain exceptions, reenact those provisions.
This bill would require a graduate of a board-approved foreign dental school who is licensed pursuant to a specified provision described above to practice full-time for 2 years in one or more types of clinics or health centers owned or operated by certain nonprofit or government entities, as specified. The bill would authorize the board to request verification of compliance with this requirement and to revoke a license if it finds that the licensee has not complied with the requirement. The bill would require the board to provide information about areas of the state that are experiencing a shortage of dentists in the application packet for licensure to practice dentistry.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 1628 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

1628.
 Any person over 18 years of age is eligible to take an examination before the board upon making application therefor and meeting all of the following requirements:
(a) Paying the fee for applicants for examination provided by this chapter.
(b) Furnishing satisfactory evidence of having graduated from a dental college approved by the board board, by a national accrediting body approved by the board, or by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association and presenting satisfactory evidence of having completed at dental school or schools the full number of academic years of undergraduate courses required for graduation. For purposes of this article, “dental college approved by the board” or “approved dental school” include a foreign dental school accredited by a body that has a reciprocal accreditation agreement with any commission or accreditation organization whose findings are accepted by the board.
(c) Furnishing the satisfactory evidence of financial responsibility or liability insurance for injuries sustained or claimed to be sustained by a dental patient in the course of the examination as a result of the applicant’s actions.
(d) If the applicant has been issued a degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery by a foreign dental school, the applicant shall furnish all of the following documentary evidence to the board:
(1) That the applicant has completed, in a dental school or schools approved by the board pursuant to Section 1636.4, a resident course of professional instruction in dentistry for the full number of academic years of undergraduate courses required for graduation.
(2) Subsequent thereto, the applicant has been issued by the dental school a dental diploma or a dental degree, as evidence of the successful completion of the course of dental instruction required for graduation.
(e) Any applicant who has been issued a dental diploma from a foreign dental school that has not, at the time of the applicant’s graduation from the school, been approved by the board pursuant to Section 1636.4 shall not be eligible for examination until the applicant has successfully completed a minimum of two academic years of education at a dental college approved by the board pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 1024) of Chapter 2 of Division 10 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations and has been issued a degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery or its equivalent. This subdivision shall not apply to applicants who have successfully completed the requirements of Section 1636 as it read before it was repealed on January 1, 2004, on or before December 31, 2003, or who have successfully completed the requirements of Section 1628.2 on or before December 31, 2008. An applicant who has successfully completed the requirements of Section 1636 as it read before it was repealed on January 1, 2004, on or before December 31, 2003, or who has successfully completed the requirements of Section 1628.2 on or before December 31, 2008, shall be eligible to take the examination required by Section 1632, subject to the limitations set forth in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1633.
(f) Subdivisions (d) and (e) do not apply to a person who has been issued a degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery by a foreign dental school accredited by a body that has a reciprocal accreditation agreement with any commission or accreditation organization whose findings are accepted by the board.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1634.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

1634.1.
 Notwithstanding Section 1634, the board may grant a license to practice dentistry to an applicant who submits all of the following to the board:
(a) A completed application form and all fees required by the board.
(b) Satisfactory evidence of having graduated from a dental school approved by the board, by a national accrediting body approved by the board board, or by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
(c) Satisfactory evidence of having completed a clinically based advanced education program in general dentistry or an advanced education program in general practice residency that is, at minimum, one year in duration and is accredited by either the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association or a national accrediting body approved by the board. The advanced education program shall include a certification of clinical residency program completion approved by the board, to be completed upon the resident’s successful completion of the program in order to evaluate the resident’s competence to practice dentistry in the state. The certification shall be within two years prior to the date of the resident’s application for a license under this section. Completion of the program shall be within two years prior to the date of their application for a license under this section.
(d) Satisfactory evidence of having successfully completed the written examination of the National Board Dental Examination of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.
(e) Satisfactory evidence of having successfully completed an examination in California law and ethics.
(f) Proof that the applicant has not failed the examination for licensure to practice dentistry under this chapter within five years prior to the date of the resident’s application for a license under this chapter.

SEC. 3.

 Section 1636.4 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

1636.4.
 (a) The Legislature recognizes the need to ensure that graduates of foreign dental schools who have received an education that is equivalent to that of accredited institutions in the United States and that adequately prepares the students for the practice of dentistry shall be subject to the same licensure requirements as graduates of approved dental schools or colleges. It is the purpose of this section to provide for the evaluation of foreign dental schools and the approval of those foreign dental schools that provide an education that is equivalent to that of similar accredited institutions in the United States and that adequately prepare their students for the practice of dentistry.

(b)Beginning January 1, 2024, a school seeking approval as a foreign dental school shall be required to have successfully completed the international consultative and accreditation process with the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association or a comparable accrediting body approved by the board. Graduates of a foreign dental school whose programs were approved at the time of graduation shall be eligible for licensure pursuant to Section 1628.

(c)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2024.

(b) The board shall be responsible for the approval of foreign dental schools based upon standards established pursuant to subdivision (d). The board may contract with outside consultants or a national professional organization to survey and evaluate foreign dental schools. The consultant or organization shall report to the board regarding its findings in the survey and evaluation.
(c) (1) The board shall establish a technical advisory group to review and comment upon the survey and evaluation of a foreign dental school contracted for pursuant to subdivision (b) before any final action by the board regarding certification of the foreign dental school. The technical advisory group shall be selected by the board and shall consist of four dentists, two of whom shall be selected from a list of five recognized United States dental educators recommended by the foreign school seeking approval. None of the members of the technical advisory group shall be affiliated with the school seeking certification.
(2) If the board does not contract for the evaluation pursuant to subdivision (b), no technical advisory group shall be established and the evaluation team for the schoolsite shall provide its report directly to the board.
(d) Any foreign dental school that wishes to be approved pursuant to this section shall make application to the board for this approval, which shall be based upon a finding that the educational program of the foreign dental school is equivalent to that of similar accredited institutions in the United States and adequately prepares its students for the practice of dentistry. Curriculum, faculty qualifications, student attendance, plant and facilities, and other relevant factors shall be reviewed and evaluated. The board, with the cooperation of the technical advisory group, shall identify by rule the standards and review procedures and methodology to be used in the approval process consistent with this subdivision. The board shall not grant approval if deficiencies found are of such magnitude as to prevent the students in the school from receiving an educational base suitable for the practice of dentistry.
(e) Periodic surveys and evaluations of all approved schools shall be made to ensure continued compliance with this section. Approval shall include provisional and full approval. The provisional form of approval shall be for a period determined by the board, not to exceed three years, and shall be granted to an institution, in accordance with rules established by the board, to provide reasonable time for the school seeking permanent approval to overcome deficiencies found by the board. Prior to the expiration of a provisional approval and before the full approval is granted, the school shall be required to submit evidence that deficiencies noted at the time of initial application have been remedied. A school granted full approval shall provide evidence of continued compliance with this section. In the event that the board denies approval or reapproval, the board shall give the school a specific listing of the deficiencies that caused the denial and the requirements for remedying the deficiencies, and shall permit the school, upon request, to demonstrate by satisfactory evidence, within 90 days, that it has remedied the deficiencies listed by the board.
(f) A school shall pay a registration fee established by rule of the board, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), at the time of application for approval and shall pay all reasonable costs and expenses the board incurs for the conduct of the approval survey.
(g) The board shall renew approval upon receipt of a renewal application, accompanied by a fee not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). Each fully approved foreign dental school shall submit a renewal application every seven years. Foreign dental schools that have been approved by the board shall submit a renewal application. Any approval that is not renewed shall automatically expire.
(h) (1) A graduate of a foreign dental school that has been approved by the board pursuant to this section who is licensed to practice dentistry pursuant to Section 1634.1 shall practice dentistry full-time for two years in one or more of the following:
(A) A primary care clinic licensed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1204 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) A primary care clinic exempt from licensure pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1206 of the Health and Safety Code.
(C) A clinic owned and operated by a public hospital or health system.
(D) A clinic owned and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a county government to fill the county’s role pursuant to Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(E) A federally qualified health center, as defined in Section 1396d(l)(2)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(2) The board may periodically request verification of compliance with paragraph (1) and may revoke a license if it finds that the licensee has not complied with paragraph (1).
(3) The board shall provide information about areas of the state that are experiencing a shortage of dentists in the application packet for licensure to practice dentistry pursuant to Section 1634.1.
(4) Full-time employment status shall be defined by the board for the purposes of this subdivision, and the board may establish exemptions to this employment requirement on a case-by-case basis.