ILLINOIS. [Acts approved May 25 and May 29, 1887.] The State Board of Health shall consist of seven persons appointed for seven years by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the senate. This board shall meet at least twice a year. It shall issue certificates, signed by all its members and entitling to practise in the State, to all applicants furnishing satisfactory proof of having received diplomas or licenses from legally chartered medical institutions in good standing. If an applicant is a non-graduate he must undergo an examination, before the board, of an elementary and practical character, but strict enough to test his qualifications; if he pass it satisfactorily the board shall grant him a certificate as above. Certificates must be recorded in the office of the county clerks. [Rules of the Illinois State Board of Health.] To be held in good standing by the State board, colleges must comply with the following schedule of minimum requirements: 1. Conditions of admission to lecture courses: (1) Credible certificates of good moral standing. (2) Diplomas of graduation from a good literary and scientific college or high school, or a first-grade teacher's certificate; or, lacking this, a thorough examination in the branches of a good English education, including mathematics, English composition, and elementary physics or natural philosophy. 2. Branches of medical science to be included in the course of instruction: (1) Anatomy. (2) Physiology. (3) Chemistry. (4) Materia medica and therapeutics. (5) Theory and practice of medicine. (6) Pathology. (7) Surgery. (8) Obstetrics and gynecology. (9) Hygiene. (10) Medical jurisprudence. 3. Length of regular or graduating courses: (1) The time occupied in the regular courses or sessions from which students are graduated shail not be less than five months, or twenty weeks, each. (2) Two full courses of lectures, not within one and the same year of time, shall be required for graduation with the degree of doctor of medicine. 4. Attendance and examinations or quizzes: (1) Regular attendance during the entire lecture courses shall be required, allowance being made only for absences occasioned by the student's sickness, such absences not to exceed twenty per cent. of the course. (2) Regular examinations or quizzes to be made by each lecturer or professor daily, or at least twice each week. (3) Final examinations on all branches, to be conducted, when practicable, by competent examiners other than the professors in each branch. E. Dissections, clinics, and hospital attendance: (1) Each student shall have dissected during two courses. (2) Attendance during at least two terms of clinical and hospital instruction shall be required. 6. Time of professional studies: This shall not be less than three full years before graduation, including the time spent with a preceptor, and attendance upon lectures or at clinics and hospital. 7. Instruction: The college must show that it has a sufficient and competent corps of instructors and the necessary facilities for teaching, dissections, clinics, &c. Graduates from institutions not in good standing as above must supplement their diplomas by an examination before the board so as to conform to the minimum requirements. Non-graduate applicants for licenses must pass an examination in the following subjects: Anatomy, materia medica, theory and practice, gynecology, physiology, pathology, obstetrics, chemistry, surgery, hygiene, and medical jurisprudence. INDIANA. There is no law regulating the practice of medicine in this State. IOWA. [Act to take effect January 1, 1887.] Every person seeking to practise medicine, surgery, or obstetrics in this State must obtain a certificate signed by at least five members of the State Board of Examiners. If the applicant is a graduate of a medical school legally organized and in good standing, of which the board shall be the judge, he shall receive a certificate entitling him to practice in the State. If not a graduate from such a school, he shall submit to such an examination as the board may require. The examination shall be in anatomy, physiology, general chemistry, pathology, therapeutics, and the principles and prac tise of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics; and, if satisfactorily passed, the applicant shall receive a certificate as above. Upon each day of examination all candidates shall be given the same set or sets of questions. The physicians and secretary of the State Board of Health shall constitute the board of examiners. The different schools of medicine in the State shall be represented in the board by one or more members. Certificates must be recorded with the county ecorders. Certificates may be revoked, by a vote of at least five members of the State board, for felony or incompetency. The standing of a legally chartered medical college shall not be questioned except by a like vote. KANSAS. An act to regulate the practice of medicine in Kansas was passed in 1879, but has since been declared unconstitutional. No examinations have been held under it since 1880. KENTUCKY. [Act approved February 23, 1874.] No person may practise medicine in any of its departments in this State who has not graduated at some chartered school of meaicine or who does not possess a certificate from one of the district boards of medical examiners. These boards consist each of five physicians, regular graduates, appointed by the Governor for terms of four years, there being one for each judicial district. Each board shall hold one regular annual session, and shall examine, in the following branches, all applicants who desire to practise medicine: Chemistry, anatomy, physiology, obstetrics, surgery, and so much of practical medicine as relates to the nomenclature, history, and symptoms of disease. The examiners shall grant to applicants found to possess a fair practical knowledge of the above branches certificates signed by at least three members, entitling them to practise in the district. Certificates shall designate the time and the branches the holders are entitled to practise, and shall be issued for not more than five years nor less than one. (Doctors Pinckney, Thompson, and J. W. Holland, of the State Board of Health assert that in all but a few counties or districts this law is a dead letter.) LOUISIANA. [Act approved Juue 26, 1882.] No person shall be allowed to practise medicine or surgery in any of their departments without first making affidavit before a judge, or justice of the peace, or clerk of a district court, or notary public in the parish wherein he resides, of his having received the degree of doctor of medicine from a regularly incorporated medical institution of respectable standing, such degree to be manifested by a diploma, which must be indorsed as to the standing of the institution issuing it by the State Board of Health. The State board shall be required to certify the diploma of any medical institution of credit and respectability without regard to its system of therapeutics, and whether the same be regular, homeopathic, or eclectic. Affidavits so made shall be registered n the office of the clerk of the district court of the parish. The State Board of Health shall publish annually a list of all registered physicians and surgeons in the State. MAINE. There is no law regulating medical practice in this State. Such a law passed the Legislature in March, 1887, but was vetoed by the Governor. MARYLAND. The only existing act concerning the practice of medicine in Maryland is one providing for the punishment of any person who shall be concerned in producing an abortion. MASSACHUSETTS. No law has yet been passed in Massachusetts to regulate the practice of medicine. MICHIGAN. [Act of September 7, 1883.] Every graduate of a legally authorized medical college shall be deemed qualified to practise medicine and surgery in Michigan, provided he files with the county clerk of the county in which he intends to practise a sworn statement setting forth the name and location of the medical college from which he graduated, date of graduation, length of time he attended the same, and school of medicine to which he belongs, which statement shall be duly recorded. No physician shall be able to collect in any court pay for professional services rendered, unless duly qualified and registered as above. The faculty of the medical department of the University of Minnesota shall constitute the Board of Medical Examiners. All persons intending to practise medicine who are graduates must apply to this board, which shall issue certificates signed by all its members, and entitling to practise in the State, to all who furnish satisfactory proof of having received diplomas or licenses from legally chartered institutions in good standing. Non-graduates may receive such a certificate only on satisfactorily passing an examination before the board, of an elementary and practical character, but sufficiently strict to test their qualifications as practitioners. MISSISSIPPI. [Act approved February 28, 1882.] No person may practise medicine in this State unless he has passed an examination by a board of censors. There is a board of censors, composed of two sanitary commissioners, for each Congressional district, who hold quarterly sessions. Applicants for license are examined only in the following branches of medicine: Anatomy, chomistry, obstetrics, materia medica, physiology, pathology, surgery, and hygiene. The names of those whose examinations are satisfactory are forwarded to the State Board of Health, which board issues thereupon to such persons licenses to practise in the State. No discrimination can be made against any applicant on account of the system of practice he may advocate. A holder of a license must have it recorded in the office of the circuit clerk in the county in which he resides. No license may be issued to peripatetic quacks nor travelling charlatans. MISSOURI. [Act of July, 1883.] Every person practising medicine in Missouri must possess a certificate from the State Board of Health. The State board shall issue certificates, signed by at least five of its members, and entitling to practise throughout the State, to all applicants who shall furnish satisfactory proof of having received diplomas or licenses from legally chartered medical institutions in good standing, of whatever school or system of medicine. Applicants not graduates nor licentiates are to receive such certificates upon passing a satisfactory examination before the State board, the examination to be of an elementary and practical character, but sufficiently strict to test the qualifications of the candidates. Every person holding a certificate must have it recorded in the office of the county clerk in the county in which he resides. (The standard of recognition of medical colleges adopted by the Board of Health is the same as in Illinois. The granting of certificates to non-graduate applicants is viewed with disfavor. Medical schools showing a percentage of graduates to matriculates of 45 or over are required to offer a satisfactory explanation of such excess to the board.) NEBRASKA. [Act approved March 3, 1881, and amended February, 1883.] Every person intending to practise medicine in this State must register as a physician with the clerk of the county in which he or she intends to practice. No person shall be entitled to registration unless he or she (1) be a graduate of a legally chartered medical college or institution having authority to grant the degree of doctor of medicine, or (2) can show evidence of having passed a satisfactory examination before medical boards of other States created for the purpose of such examination. No person can recover fees for medical services unless registered. (A committee of the State Medical Society reported in 1882 that this law was virtually a failure, in so far as the protection of the people against quacks was concerned, since it provided no tribunal for determining the genuineness or value of diplomas and licenses.) NEVADA. [Act approved January 28, 1875.] No person may practise medicine or surgery in this State who has not received a medical education and a diploma from some regularly chartered medical school. The diploma of a person intending to practise must be exhibited to, and a copy of it filed with, the recorder of the county." NEW HAMPSHIRE. Every medical society organized under the laws of the State shall elect a board of censors consisting of three members, who shall have authority to examine and license persons to practise medicine, surgery, and midwifery, and no person shall practise those branches until he has received a license from some such board. Licenses shall be issued, without examination, to all persons who furnish evidence by diploma from some medical school authorized to confer degrees that they have pursued some prescribed course of study and have been duly examined. Licenses may be revoked for cause. No person may practise dentistry who is not duly authorized to practise surgery, unless such person has received a dental degree from some institution authorized to confer the same, or has obtained a license from the New Hampshire Dental Society. No license is valid until recorded in the office of the clerk of the county where the holder intends to practise. NEW JERSEY. [Act approved March 12, 1880.j Every person practising medicine or surgery in this State must be a graduate of some legally chartered medical college or university in good standing, or some medical society having power by law to grant diplomas. Such person, before commencing practice, is to deposit a copy of his or her diploma with the clerk of the county in which he or she resides. No person, unless qualified as above, may collect fees for medical or surgical services. NEW YORK. [Act passed May 29, 1880.] The degree of doctor of medicine, lawfully conferred by any incorporated medical college or university in this State, shall be a license to practise physic and surgery within the State after the person holding it has been duly registered in the clerk's office of the county where he intends practising. A person holding a diploma, conferring upon him the degree of doctor of medicine, from an incorporated medical school without the State, must exhibit it to the faculty of some such school within the State with such other evidence of his qualifications as they may require. Their indorsement of the diploma will make it a license to practise in the State after the holder has been registered as above. No one may practise under twenty-one years of age. NORTH CAROLINA. No person shall practise medicine or surgery unless duly licensed by the Board of Medical Examiners of the State of North Carolina. This board consists of seven regularly graduated physicians, elected for terms of six years by the State Medical Society from among its members, unless the General Assembly choose to elect them. They shall examine all applicants for license in the following branches of medical science: Anatomy, physiology, surgery, pathology, medical hygiene, chemistry, pharmacy, materia medica, therapenties, and the practice of medicine, and shall issue licenses, signed by at least four of their number, to such as may be found competent. Two members may issne a temporary license, good until the next regular meeting of the board. Regular meetings must be held at least once a year. Licenses may be rescinded for grossly immoral conduct. (It is the intention of the Board of Examiners to adopt a higher standard year by year. In 1886 each applicant for license was obliged to submit to examination in (1) surgery and surgical pathology and diseases of the eye and ear; (2) chemistry and pharmacy; (3) anatomy; (4) physiology and medical hygiene; (5) materia medica and therapeutics; (6) obstetrics, and diseases of women and children; (7) practice of medicine and medical pathology.') OHIO. [Revised Statutes of 1880.1 No person who has not attended two full courses of instruction of at least twelve weeks each, and graduated at a school of medicine, or who cannot produce a certificate of qualification from a State or county medical society, shall practise medicine in any of its departments within the State. OREGON. There is no law regulating medical practise in this State. The secretary of the Oregon State Medical Society said (182): "We have had a bill of some kind before the Legislature at every session for the past ten years, and will continue to do so until we succeed." PENNSYLVANIA. [Act of June 1, 1881.] Every person who practises medicine or surgery in this State shall be a graduate of a legally chartered medical school having authority to confer the degree of doctor of medicine; and such person must be registered and file a copy of his or her medical diploma in the office of the prothonotary of the county in which he or she resides. In 1886 there were 63 applicants, of whom 46 were licensed. They were obliged to answer satis factorily 66 per cent. of the questions. In the future the standard will be raised to 70 per cent. Any person proposing to practise and holding the diploma of a medical school with. out the State must submit such diploma to the inspection of the faculty of a medical school within the State, who, if they are satisfied as to the qualifications of the appli cant, shall indorse it, after which such applicant shall be entitled to register as above. RHODE ISLAND. There is no law regulating medical practice in this State, except so far as provided in section 12 of chapter 85, Public Statutes of Rhode Island, that every physician shall cause his name and residence to be recorded in the town clerk's office of the town where he resides, and that he shall, without compensation, report all still births, contagious diseases, and results of vaccination. The physician is exempt from military and jury duty. SOUTH CAROLINA. [Act approved December 17, 1881.] The Medical Board of this State shall be composed of the physicians and surgeons constituting the local boards of health in the various counties. The degree of doctor of medicine lawfully conferred by any medical college or university in this State shall be a license to practise physic and surgery after the person to whom it is granted shall have complied with the following section of this act : "Every person authorized to practise physic and surgery within this State shall, before commencing to practise, register in the office of the clerk of the county where he intends to practise his name, residence, and place of birth, together with his authority for so practising physic and surgery." A person coming to the State may be licensed to practise physic or surgery, or both, within the State in the following manner: If he has a diploma conferring upon him the degree of doctor of medicine, issued by an incorporated university, medical college, or school without the State he shall exhibit the same to the faculty of some incorporated medical college, or the Medical Board of the State, with satisfactory evidence of his good moral character, and such other evidence of his qualifications as physician as the medical college or board may require. If his diploma is approved by them they shall indorse it, and the indorsed diploma shall authorize him to practise surgery and physic within the State. No person shall practise physic or surgery unless he is twenty-one years of age. TENNESSEE. There are no laws bearing upon the practice of medicine in this State. TEXAS. The presiding judges of the district courts of the several districts shall appoint a board of medical examiners for their respective districts, to be composed of not less than three practising physicians of known ability, having certificates of qualification under the "Act to regulate the practice of medicine," passed May 16, 1873, and said board of examiners to continue in office 2 years from their appointment. It shall be the duty of said board to examine all applicants for certificates of qualification to practise medicine in the State, whether such applicants are furnished with medical diplomas or not, upon the following subjects: Anatomy, physiology, pathological anatomy and pathology, surgery, obstetrics, and chemistry; said examination to be thorough. When the board of medical examiners is satisfied as to the qualifications of the applicant it shall grant to him a certificate to that effect, which shall be recorded with the clerk of the district court of the county in which applicant resides, and shall entitle applicant to practise anywhere in this State. Dr. W. J. Burt, secretary of the State Medical Association, writes: "We have laws, but they are not efficient." VERMONT. A practitioner of medicine or surgery who offers his services to the public shall obtain a certificate from one of the medical societies of the State. Medical societies, organized under a charter from the General Assembly, shall, at each annual session elect a board of censors, consisting of 3 members, who shall hold their office till others are slected; which board may examine and license practitioners of medicine, surgery, and midwifery. Each board of censors shall issue certificates, without fee, to physicians and surgeons who furnish evidence by diploma from a medical college or university or by certificate of examination from an authorized board. The person to whom a certificate is issued shall cause the same to be recorded in the clerk's office of the county in which he resides, or, if not a resident of the State, in the county in which he obtains such certificate. This certificate shall be valid throughout the State after being duly recorded. |