THE AMENDMENT A House amendment to HB 1895 states: "Applicants shall successfully complete the United States Medical Licensing Examination within seven (7) years from the date of whichever step of the exam was completed first; provided, however, the board shall grant an extension to an applicant who is licensed in good standing in at least three (3) other jurisdictions and who has otherwise met the requirements under this section." The amendment expires in 2013.
Despite protest from the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, a physician who does not meet Tennessee's stringent licensure standards soon will start practicing at a clinic in Jackson, Tenn.
At the end of May, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a bill that created an exception to state standards for the physician recruited from Florida by Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The law would allow the pediatric neonatologist to practice at a pediatric intensive care unit in a medically needy community clinic staffed by Vanderbilt, despite not meeting the requirements to be licensed in the state.
Recruiting such highly specialized physicians to a small community such as Jackson is a major challenge, and the neonatologist warranted an exception, Vanderbilt spokesman John Howser said.
"This physician is highly trained, highly specialized," he said. "Certainly the Legislature realized the need (to) do something for a smaller community within Tennessee by being able to grant this physician license to practice in that area, and we really appreciate that."
The medical center has not named the physician.
The state Board of Medical Examiners maintained that such an exception would undermine the state's high standards of licensure.
In an April letter to legislators, Dr. Mitchell Mutter, a Chattanooga physician and chairman of the Board of Medical Examiners, said the "board cannot agree to this lowering of our standards. Therefore, we respectfully request that the amended bill be withdrawn or defeated."
Nevertheless, the General Assembly passed the bill May 18, and the governor signed it May 27.
"Gov. Bredesen's action to sign the bill was based on the merits of the legislation and consideration of the action taken by the General Assembly," Bredesen press secretary Lydia Lenker said in an e-mail.
Dr. Mutter did not respond to calls for comment on this story.
The Board of Medical Examiners has no comment on the passage of the bill outside Dr. Mutter's letter, said Shelley Walker, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Health.
"The board will of course comply with the new law, as it does with all state laws," she said in an e-mail.
The Tennessee Medical Association was "neutral" on the issue, as it has been in similar situations, spokesman Gary Zelizer said.
"The board's concern is that if you make one exception, where do you stop?" he said. "But I don't think historically that the General Assembly has overdone that. It's not like anybody and everybody can get licensed in the state of Tennessee. That just doesn't happen."
To be licensed in Tennessee, physicians must complete all medical board examinations within seven years of completing the first step of the exam process. Many other states allow more time, Mr. Howser said.
The special exemption was crafted to apply only to a physician who is licensed in three other jurisdictions and meets all other requirements for licensure in the state.
That physician is licensed in Georgia, Illinois and Michigan. He took longer than seven years to complete all of the board examinations required for his specialty, and without the exemption, he would have to spend months retaking board exams to practice in Tennessee, Vanderbilt officials said.
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