| 1 | The Committee on Appropriations recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to dental licensure; amending s. 466.006, |
| 7 | F.S.; allowing certain dental students to take the |
| 8 | examinations required to practice dentistry in this state |
| 9 | under specified conditions; providing a prerequisite to |
| 10 | licensure of such students; creating s. 466.0065, F.S.; |
| 11 | allowing certain dental students to take regional |
| 12 | licensure examinations under specified conditions; |
| 13 | restricting the applicability of examination results to |
| 14 | licensing in other jurisdictions; requiring approval by |
| 15 | the Board of Dentistry and providing prerequisites to such |
| 16 | approval; denying certain persons and entities standing to |
| 17 | assert right to administrative hearing proceedings; |
| 18 | providing an effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 466.006, Florida |
| 23 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 24 | 466.006 Examination of dentists.-- |
| 25 | (2) An applicant shall be entitled to take the |
| 26 | examinations required in this section to practice dentistry in |
| 27 | this state if the applicant: |
| 28 | (a) Is 18 years of age or older. |
| 29 | (b)1. Is a graduate of a dental school accredited by the |
| 30 | Commission on Accreditation of the American Dental Association |
| 31 | or its successor agency, if any, or any other nationally |
| 32 | recognized accrediting agency; or. |
| 33 | 2. Is a dental student in the final year of a program at |
| 34 | such an accredited school who has completed all the coursework |
| 35 | necessary to prepare the student to perform the clinical and |
| 36 | diagnostic procedures required to pass the examinations. With |
| 37 | respect to a dental student in the final year of a program at a |
| 38 | dental school, a passing score on the examinations is valid for |
| 39 | 180 days after the date the examinations were completed. A |
| 40 | dental school student who takes the licensure examinations |
| 41 | during the student's final year of an approved dental school |
| 42 | must have graduated before being certified for licensure |
| 43 | pursuant to s. 466.011. |
| 44 | (c) Has successfully completed the National Board of |
| 45 | Dental Examiners dental examination within 10 years of the date |
| 46 | of application. |
| 47 | Section 2. Section 466.0065, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 48 | to read: |
| 49 | 466.0065 Regional licensure examinations.-- |
| 50 | (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that schools of |
| 51 | dentistry be allowed to offer regional licensure examinations to |
| 52 | dental students who are in the final year of a program at an |
| 53 | approved dental school for the sole purpose of facilitating the |
| 54 | student's licensing in other jurisdictions. This section does |
| 55 | not allow a person to be licensed as a dentist in this state |
| 56 | without taking the examinations as set forth in s. 466.006, nor |
| 57 | does this section mean that regional examinations administered |
| 58 | under this section may be substituted for complying with testing |
| 59 | requirements under s. 466.006. |
| 60 | (2) Each school of dentistry in this state which is |
| 61 | accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American |
| 62 | Dental Association or its successor agency may, upon written |
| 63 | approval by the Board of Dentistry, offer regional licensure |
| 64 | examinations only to dental students in the final year of a |
| 65 | program at an approved dental school, if the board has approved |
| 66 | the hosting school's written plan to comply with the following |
| 67 | conditions: |
| 68 | (a) A member of the regional examination body's board of |
| 69 | directors or equivalent thereof must be a member of the American |
| 70 | Association of Dental Examiners. |
| 71 | (b) The student must have successfully passed parts I and |
| 72 | II of the National Board of Dental Examiners examination within |
| 73 | 2 years before taking the regional examination. |
| 74 | (c) The student must possess medical malpractice insurance |
| 75 | in amounts not less than the amounts required to take the |
| 76 | Florida licensure examinations. |
| 77 | (d) At least one of the examination monitors must be a |
| 78 | dentist licensed in this state who has completed all necessary |
| 79 | standardization exercises required by the regional examination |
| 80 | body. Recruitment of examination monitors is the responsibility |
| 81 | of the regional examination body. |
| 82 | (e) Adequate arrangements, as defined by the regional |
| 83 | examination body and as otherwise required by law, must be made, |
| 84 | when necessary, for patients who require followup care as a |
| 85 | result of procedures performed during the clinical portion of |
| 86 | the regional examination. The regional examination body must |
| 87 | inform patients in writing of their right to followup care in |
| 88 | advance of any procedures performed by a student. |
| 89 | (f) The board chair or the chair's designee must be |
| 90 | allowed to observe testing while it is in progress. |
| 91 | (g) Each student, upon being deemed eligible by the dental |
| 92 | school to apply to the regional examination body to take the |
| 93 | regional examination, must receive written disclosure in at |
| 94 | least 12-point boldface type that states: "This examination does |
| 95 | not meet the licensure requirements of chapter 466, Florida |
| 96 | Statutes, for licensure in the State of Florida. Persons wishing |
| 97 | to practice dentistry in Florida must pass the Florida licensure |
| 98 | examinations." |
| 99 | (h) The student must be enrolled as a dental student in |
| 100 | the student's final year of a program at an approved dental |
| 101 | school that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of |
| 102 | the American Dental Association or its successor agency. |
| 103 | (i) The student must have completed all coursework deemed |
| 104 | necessary by the dental school to prepare the student to perform |
| 105 | all clinical and diagnostic procedures required to pass the |
| 106 | regional examination. |
| 107 | (j) The student's academic record must not include any |
| 108 | evidence suggesting that the student poses an unreasonable risk |
| 109 | to any live patients who are required for the clinical portion |
| 110 | of the regional examination. In order to protect the health and |
| 111 | safety of the public, the dental school may request additional |
| 112 | information and documents pertaining to the candidate's mental |
| 113 | and physical health in order to fully assess the candidate's |
| 114 | fitness to engage in exercises involving a live patient. |
| 115 | (3) A student who takes the examination pursuant to this |
| 116 | section, a dental school that submits a plan pursuant to this |
| 117 | section, or a regional examination body that a dental school |
| 118 | proposes to host under this section does not have standing to |
| 119 | assert that a state agency has taken action for which a hearing |
| 120 | may be sought under ss. 120.569 and 120.57. |
| 121 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |