MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Senator(s) Bryan
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 73-25-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MODIFY THE LIMITED INSTITUTIONAL LICENSURE PROCESS BY AUTHORIZING THE MISSISSIPPI STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL LICENSURE (BOARD) TO ISSUE A LIMITED INSTITUTIONAL LICENSE FOR THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE IN STATE INSTITUTIONS TO CERTAIN GRADUATES OF FOREIGN MEDICAL COLLEGES UPON REVIEW OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S APPLICATION AND UPON THE SATISFACTION OF ALL REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH BY THE BOARD; TO INCREASE FROM FIVE YEARS TO EIGHT YEARS THE PERIOD OF TIME THAT A LIMITED INSTITUTIONAL LICENSE MAY BE HELD; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO ISSUE A LIMITED LICENSE TO CERTAIN INTERNATIONALLY TRAINED PHYSICIANS WITH OFFERS OF EMPLOYMENT IN MISSISSIPPI; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO ISSUE A LIMITED LICENSE TO CERTAIN UNITED STATES MEDICAL SCHOOL GRADUATES WHO INITIALLY FAIL TO MATCH WITH A POSTGRADUATE RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAM; TO SET FORTH REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPLICANTS FOR INTERNATIONALLY TRAINED PHYSICIAN (ITP) AND MEDICAL GRADUATE (MG) LIMITED LICENSES, AND TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF SUCH LIMITED LICENSES HOLDERS; TO PROVIDE THE PERIODS OF TIME FOR WHICH SUCH LIMITED LICENSES MAY BE HELD; TO REQUIRE ITP LIMITED LICENSEES TO PRACTICE ONLY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OR MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS WITH A CURRENT SHORTAGE OF PHYSICIANS; TO REQUIRE MG LIMITED LICENSEES TO ENTER INTO A SUPERVISORY PRACTICE AGREEMENT WITH A SUPERVISING PHYSICIAN AND TO REQUIRE MG LICENSEES TO PRACTICE ONLY IN COUNTIES WITH A POPULATION OF LESS THAN 100,000; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 73-25-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
73-25-23. (1) The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure (board) is authorized and empowered to grant a limited license as described in this section. The board may establish reasonable and uniform license fees and may make such rules and regulations as it considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(2) Limited
institutional license. The * * * board * * * is * * * authorized and empowered to grant a
limited institutional license for the practice of medicine in state
institutions to graduates of foreign medical colleges approved by the National
Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduates or its successor, subject to
the conditions as set out * * * herein in this subsection (2).
Any graduate of a foreign
medical college approved by the organizations specified in the foregoing
paragraph who is employed or is being considered for employment to practice
medicine in one or more Mississippi state-supported institution(s) located in
the same county shall make application for license to the * * * board * * *. The application shall
be made on a form prescribed by the board * * * as required by laws of
the State of Mississippi. The application shall also state the institution or
institutions in which the applicant has assurance of employment. The * * * board * * * is * * * authorized to establish minimum
standards of qualifications including moral, experience and proficiency for
such applicants. * * * Upon review of the application, and upon the
satisfaction of all requirements set forth by the board, the board may issue a
limited institutional license to practice medicine.
* * *
Such license shall be for
one (1) year and shall be in such form as the * * * board * * * shall prescribe, and
shall be issued for practice in a particular institution and shall not be
endorsable to another state. The license must be renewed annually, after such review
as the * * *
board * * * considers necessary. A graduate of a foreign medical
school so licensed may hold such limited institutional license no longer than * * * eight (8) years. * * * In
addition, the * * *
board * * *, in its discretion, may waive the * * * eight-year limitation
on limited institutional licenses for any graduate of a foreign medical school
who holds such license.
It is the intent of this subsection
(2) to enable Mississippi institutions to utilize the services of
qualified graduates of foreign medical colleges during the period necessary for
them to secure citizenship papers, and to meet other requirements for a regular
license, including Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduates
certification. The * * * board * * * is * * * authorized, in its discretion, to
refuse to renew, or to revoke such limited license if the holder of such
license * * * fails to apply for a
regular license.
* * *
The * * * board * * * is * * * authorized and directed to grant a full
license for the practice of medicine to a graduate of a foreign medical school
who has previously been granted an institutional license in one or more
Mississippi state-supported institutions for a twenty-nine-year period
of time and who on July 1, 2001, was serving as director of a Mississippi state-supported
hospital and who has passed the clinical competency part of the Flex
Examination for the State of Mississippi.
(3) Limited license for an internationally trained physician. (a) The board may issue a limited license to certain internationally trained physicians with offers of employment in Mississippi. The limited license may only be issued to an applicant who:
(i) Has been granted a degree of doctor of medicine (MD) or osteopathic medicine (DO) or substantially similar degree by a program of medical education that meets the eligibility requirements for the applicant to apply for certification by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) or successor entity;
(ii) Has been licensed in good standing to practice medicine in another country and is not the subject of any past or pending disciplinary action before the licensing body;
(iii) Demonstrates English language proficiency based on standards established by the board;
(iv) Is authorized under federal law to work in the United States;
(v) Has been offered employment in this state as a physician by a person who provides health care services in the normal course of business in a facility-based or group-practice setting, including a health system, hospital, hospital-based facility, freestanding emergency facility or urgent care clinic;
(vi) Meets any other requirement the board prescribes by rule; and
(vii) Has completed a residency or substantially similar postgraduate medical training required by the applicant's country of licensure and has practiced medicine as a licensed physician in that country or another country in which the applicant is licensed as a physician for at least five (5) years after the completion of the required postgraduate medical training.
(b) A limited license issued to an internationally trained physician under paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) shall expire one (1) year after its issuance.
(c) The holder of a limited license issued under paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) may practice only at the University of Mississippi Medical Center or its affiliated practice sites or in a facility-based or group-practice setting with an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or an ACGME-affiliated setting.
(d) On application, the board may renew a limited license to practice medicine under paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) up to three (3) times if the applicant:
(i) Has passed the first and second steps of the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE); and
(ii) Holds a valid certificate issued by the ECFMG or successor entity.
(e) The holder of a limited license renewed under paragraph (d) of this subsection (3) may practice only in a rural community or medically underserved area or health professional shortage area, as determined by the board, that has a current shortage of physicians.
(f) The board, on application, may issue a full, unrestricted license under this chapter to the holder of an internationally trained physician limited license under this subsection (3) if:
(i) At the time an unrestricted license will be issued, the internationally trained physician will have practiced under the internationally trained physician limited license for at least two (2) years;
(ii) The internationally trained physician has completed all three (3) steps of the USMLE; and
(iii) The board has received a letter from a physician who is responsible for the evaluation of the internationally trained physician that indicates the internationally trained physician has demonstrated competence in his or her chosen specialty in the practice of medicine.
(g) The board, on application, may issue a full, unrestricted license under this chapter to an internationally trained physician who has completed a substantially similar process in another state if such physician holds an unrestricted license from that state, has not been subject to disciplinary action, and meets any other requirement(s) the board prescribes by rule.
(h) The board may not issue an unrestricted license under this subsection (3) to an applicant who:
(i) Is subject to board investigation or discipline for conduct that occurred while holding the limited license; or
(ii) Has been convicted of, has pled nolo contendere to, is on deferred adjudication for, is on community supervision or deferred disposition for, or is under active investigation for the commission of:
1. A felony;
2. A misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; or
3. Any crime directly related to the practice of medicine.
(4) Limited license for a medical graduate. (a) The board may issue a limited license to a United States medical school graduate (medical graduate) who initially fails to match with a postgraduate residency training program. The board shall promulgate regulations pursuant to this subsection (4) to establish the qualifications for such limited license. Limited licenses issued to qualified applicants shall be valid for no more than two (2) years.
(b) To qualify for a limited license, an applicant must:
(i) Be a resident of this state and be a United States citizen or legal permanent resident;
(ii) Be a graduate of an accredited, board-recognized United States medical school;
(iii) Have successfully been cleared for licensure through an investigation that shall consist of a determination as to good character and verification that the prospective licensee is not guilty of or in violation of any statutory or regulatory ground for denial of licensure;
(iv) Have passed the first and second steps of the USMLE;
(v) Have graduated in the two (2) years preceding the date that the applicant initially applies for a limited license;
(vi) Not have enrolled in an accredited and board-recognized postgraduate residency training program; and
(vii) Meet any other requirements prescribed by the board.
(c) (i) A medical graduate shall enter into a supervisory practice agreement with a supervising physician, and no medical graduate licensee may practice or attempt to practice medicine without first entering into a supervisory practice agreement.
(ii) A medical graduate is subject to supervision by a physician who:
1. Holds a full and unrestricted license;
2. Is not subject to any current disciplinary action or investigation by the board or any other legal or regulatory authority related to the practice of medicine;
3. Is certified by a medical specialty board recognized by the board and actively practices medicine physically in the state; and
4. Practices medicine in the specialty certified by the specialty board noted in item 3 of this subparagraph (ii).
(iii) A physician who serves as a medical graduate supervisor shall comply with all rules promulgated by the board related to oversight of the medical graduate licensee, and the board shall establish rules that set forth the maximum number of medical graduate licensees that a supervising physician may supervise.
(d) (i) A medical graduate licensee may practice only in a county with a population of less than one hundred thousand (100,000) and provide medical services only in the specialty in which the medical graduate's supervising physician is certified as described in paragraph (b) of this subsection (4).
(ii) Before a medical graduate licensee provides treatment, consultation or other medical service, the licensee must disclose to the patient that the licensee is a medical graduate and has not completed any formal, specialized postgraduate or resident training.
(e) A supervising physician who enters into a supervisory agreement with a medical graduate retains legal responsibility for the medical graduate's patient care activities, including the provision of care and treatment to a patient in a health care facility.
(f) A medical graduate licensee shall, while practicing, display at all times a personal identification document identifying the licensee as a medical graduate licensee.
(g) (i) A medical graduate licensee is considered a general practitioner for purposes of regulations of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
(ii) The board may deny an application, suspend or revoke a license, or take whatever action it deems necessary under the circumstances for actions described in Sections 73-25-29 and 73-25-83.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.