The Florida Senate

458.345  Registration of resident physicians, interns, and fellows; list of hospital employees; prescribing of medicinal drugs; penalty.--

(1)  Any person desiring to practice as a resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, intern, or fellow in fellowship training which leads to subspecialty board certification in this state who does not hold a valid, active license issued under this chapter shall apply to the department to be registered and shall remit a fee not to exceed $300 as set by the board. The department shall register any applicant the board certifies has met the following requirements:

(a)  Is at least 21 years of age.

(b)  Has not committed any act or offense within or without the state which would constitute the basis for refusal to certify an application for licensure pursuant to s. 458.331.

(c)  Is a graduate of a medical school or college as specified in s. 458.311(1)(f).

(2)  The board shall not certify to the department for registration any applicant who is under investigation in any state or jurisdiction for an act which would constitute the basis for imposing a disciplinary penalty specified in s. 458.331(2)(b) until such time as the investigation is completed, at which time the provisions of s. 458.331 shall apply.

(3)  Every hospital employing or utilizing the services of a resident physician, assistant resident physician, house physician, intern, or fellow in fellowship training which leads to subspecialty board certification shall designate a person who shall, on dates designated by the board, in consultation with the department, furnish the department with a list of the hospital's employees and such other information as the board may direct. The chief executive officer of each such hospital shall provide the executive director of the board with the name, title, and address of the person responsible for furnishing such reports.

(4)  Registration under this section shall automatically expire after 2 years without further action by the board or the department unless an application for renewal is approved by the board. No person registered under this section may be employed or utilized as a house physician or act as a resident physician, an assistant resident physician, an intern, or a fellow in fellowship training which leads to a subspecialty board certification in a hospital of this state for more than 2 years without a valid, active license or renewal of registration under this section. Requirements for renewal of registration shall be established by rule of the board. An application fee not to exceed $300 as set by the board shall accompany the application for renewal, except that resident physicians, assistant resident physicians, interns, and fellows in fellowship training which leads to subspecialty board certification shall be exempt from payment of any renewal fees.

(5)  Notwithstanding any provision of this section or s. 120.52 to the contrary, any person who is registered under this section is subject to the provisions of s. 458.331.

(6)  A person registered as a resident physician under this section may in the normal course of his or her employment prescribe medicinal drugs described in schedules set out in chapter 893 when:

(a)  The person prescribes such medicinal drugs through use of a Drug Enforcement Administration number issued to the hospital by which the person is employed or at which the person's services are used;

(b)  The person is identified by a discrete suffix to the identification number issued to the hospital; and

(c)  The use of the institutional identification number and individual suffixes conforms to the requirements of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

(7)  Any person willfully violating this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

History.--ss. 1, 8, ch. 79-302; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 25, 26, ch. 86-245; s. 28, ch. 88-1; s. 25, ch. 89-162; s. 12, ch. 89-374; s. 1, ch. 91-22; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 83, ch. 92-149; s. 25, ch. 97-264; s. 248, ch. 98-166.