SubTitle20-10-1_20-10-6. Medical Educational Requirements, Title20 Professional and Occupational Licensing, Certification, Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies

Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (Last Updated: June 14,2023)

Title20 Professional and Occupational Licensing, Certification

SubTitle20-10-1_20-10-6. Medical Educational Requirements

Sec. 20-10-1. Definitions

Latest version.

As used in Sections 20-10-1 through 20-10-3, inclusive:

(a) "Accredited hospital" means a hospital accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.

(b) "Department" means the Department of Health Services.

(c) "Liaison Committee on Medical Education" means the Liaison Committee on Medical Education of the Association of American Medical Colleges and of the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association.

(d) "Month," as used in subsection (b) of section 20-10-3 of these regulations, means a minimum of 30 days. No more than one month of attendance can be credited within any 30-day calendar period.

(e) "Recognized regional accrediting body" means one of the following regional accrediting bodies: New England Association of Schools and Colleges; Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges; Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

(f) "Week," as used in subsection (b) of section 20-10-3 of these regulations, means a minimum of 30 hours of supervised clinical instruction. No more than one week of supervised clinical instruction can be credited within any 7-day calendar period.

(Effective April 20, 1990)

Sec. 20-10-2. Medical education in the United States, its territories, or Canada

Latest version.

(a) An applicant graduating from a medical school located in the United States, its territories, or Canada shall be a graduate of a school which held accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education throughout the period of his attendance.

(b) An applicant attending, but not graduating from, a medical school located in the United States, its territories, or Canada shall attend a school which held accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education throughout the period of his attendance, in order to receive advanced standing credit for coursework successfully completed at such school.

(Effective April 20, 1990)

Sec. 20-10-3. Medical education outside the United States, its territories, or Canada

Latest version.

(a) An applicant graduating from a medical school located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada shall be deemed to have satisfied educational requirements for licensure, pursuant to subsection (1) (B) of section 20-10 of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided he is a graduate of a school which was listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools: 1970, published by the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1973.

(b) An applicant graduating from a medical school located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada which was not listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools: 1970 shall be deemed to have satisfied educational requirements for licensure, pursuant to subsection (1) (B) of section 20-10 of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided he demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Department, successful completion of a program of education satisfying all requirements of this subsection. Documentation, satisfactory to the Department, of the program of education shall be the responsibility of the applicant.

(1) The applicant shall have successfully completed a minimum of 2 years of post-secondary study prior to enrollment in the medical education program.

(A) Such study shall consist of a minimum of 60 semester units, or its equivalent, of post-secondary coursework successfully completed.

(B) Such study shall include post-secondary coursework in the following areas: biology; inorganic chemistry; organic chemistry; and physics.

(C) Post-secondary education shall, if undertaken in the United States or its territories, be done in an institution of post-secondary education accredited by a recognized regional accrediting body.

(D) Post-secondary education shall, if undertaken outside the United States or its territories, be done in an institution of post-secondary education legally chartered to grant post-secondary degrees in the country in which located, and shall be demonstrated to provide the equivalent of 60 semester units granted by an institution of post-secondary education accredited by a recognized regional accrediting body in the United States.

(2) The applicant's medical education shall be earned in a school that is fully licensed and approved, by the appropriate regulatory body of the jurisdiction in which it is located, to award the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent.

(3) The applicant shall have completed, prior to his graduation, a program of medical education deemed by the Department to be equivalent to that provided by medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Equivalency shall be demonstrated by:

(A) Successful completion of a medical curriculum of not less than 32 months, or its equivalent, of full-time classroom and supervised clinical instruction;

(B) Successful completion of basic science coursework including, but not limited to the following disciplines: anatomy; biochemistry; microbiology; pathology; pharmacology; physiology; and behavioral sciences, which coursework shall be completed while physically attending the medical school and studying in residence in the jurisdiction in which the medical school is located; and

(C) Following completion of basic science coursework, successful completion of not less than 72 weeks, or its equivalent, of full-time supervised clinical coursework during which the applicant participated in hands-on direct patient care, of which not less than 36 weeks of full-time supervised clinical coursework shall be in the core clinical disciplines of medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry. The minimum length of full-time supervised clinical coursework successfully completed in each of the core clinical disciplines shall be as follows: medicine, 8 weeks; surgery, 8 weeks; obstetrics and gynecology, 6 weeks; pediatrics, 6 weeks; and psychiatry, 4 weeks. Clinical coursework in subspecialty areas shall not be credited to satisfy the minimum lengths of coursework in the specified core clinical disciplines.

(4) The applicant shall have completed all clinical coursework in a hospital or hospitals which, at the time of the applicant's coursework, satisfied at least one of the following requirements:

(A) the hospital: (i) was an accredited hospital serving as a primary teaching hospital of a medical school located in the United States, its territories, Canada, or England, which school held accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or was recognized by the Educational Committee of the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom; (ii) documented and evaluated the applicant's performance in writing as a basis for academic credit by the medical school; and (iii) has certified to the Department, based on records contemporaneous with the applicant's coursework, that both the scope and content of the applicant's coursework and the applicant's performance were equivalent to those required of students of medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or recognized by the Educational Committee of the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom; or

(B) the hospital: (i) was an accredited hospital providing a residency training program in the clinical area of the applicant's coursework, which program was accredited by either the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, or the Joint Committees on Higher Medical Training and Higher Surgical Training of the United Kingdom; (ii) documented and evaluated the applicant's performance in writing as a basis for academic credit by the medical school; and (iii) has certified to the Department that, based on records contemporaneous with the applicant's coursework, both the scope and content of the applicant's coursework and the applicant's performance were equivalent to those required of students of medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or recognized by the Educational Committee of the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom; or

(C) the hospital was the primary affiliated teaching hospital of the medical school attended by the applicant, located in the same country as the medical school attended, and staffed by full-time faculty of the medical school attended.

(5) If the applicant has undertaken supervised clinical coursework in the United States or its territories, all such coursework shall have been completed in accordance with all statutes and regulations governing the approval and conduct of such coursework in the jurisdiction in which the coursework was completed.

(6) Supervised clinical training, provided in a Fifth Pathway program by a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, shall be credited towards the requirements of supervised clinical coursework specified in subsection (b) (3) (C) of this section.

(7) If the applicant has undertaken medical studies at more than one medical school he:

(A) shall have attended a school which satisfies the requirements of this section, in order to have received advanced standing credit for any course-work successfully completed at such school; and

(B) shall have attended the medical school granting the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent for a minimum of two full-time academic years or 16 months of full-time instruction prior to graduation.

(8) If an applicant has graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent from a medical school located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada, and fails to document the successful completion of the post-secondary study requirements of subsection (b) (1) of this section, the applicant shall be deemed to have satisfied educational requirements of this subsection, provided that he demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the department, that he has:

(A) successfully completed an integrated program of pre-medical and medical education encompassing a minimum of five full-time academic years or forty months of full-time classroom and supervised clinical instruction; or

(B) successfully completed not less than 36 months of full-time progressive postgraduate medical education within a single specialty area recognized by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education in a program that is either accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education or deemed equivalent to such program by the department and the Connecticut medical examining board; or

(9) If an applicant has graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent from a medical school located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada, and fails to document the successful completion of the basic science coursework requirements of subparagraph (b) (3) (B) of this section, the applicant shall be deemed to have satisfied educational requirements of this subsection, provided that he demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the department, that he has:

(10) If an applicant has graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine or its equivalent from a medical school located outside the United States, its territories, or Canada, and fails to document the successful completion of the clinical coursework requirements of subsections (b) (3), (b) (4), or (b) (7) of this section, the applicant shall be deemed to have satisfied educational requirements of this subsection, provided that he has successfully completed not less than 36 months of full-time progressive postgraduate medical education within a single specialty area recognized by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education in a program that is either accredited by the American Council on Graduate Medical Education or deemed equivalent to such program by the Department and the Connecticut Medical Examining Board, or has been certified by a specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

(Effective March 31, 1992; Amended January 17, 1996)

Sec. 20-10-4. Definitions

Latest version.

For the purposes of sections 20-10-4 to 20-10-6, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:

(1) "Applicant" means a person seeking physician licensure pursuant to Chapter 370 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(2) "Department" means the Department of Public Health.

(3) "Senior physician executive" means a sponsoring department chair, training program director or medical staff officer in the United States.

(Adopted effective November 29, 1999)

Sec. 20-10-5. Equivalent training program

Latest version.

An applicant may be deemed to have completed an equivalent program, pursuant to subdivision (2) of section 20-10 of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided he has had no lapse greater than six consecutive months of active clinical practice during the twenty-four months immediately preceding the submission of his application to the department and satisfies one of the following criteria:

(1) Holds current certification by a specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties or has been admitted for the certification examination by such board;

(2) Holds current certification by a foreign specialty board accepted as meeting the education and training requirements for certification examination by a board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties; or

(3) Has successfully completed, at a level greater than the second post graduate year, one year of an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited residency or fellowship training program.

(Adopted effective November 29, 1999)

Sec. 20-10-6. Individual review

Latest version.

An applicant who does not satisfy the criteria of section 20-10-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies may petition the department for an individual review of his credentials. Such petition shall be supported by evidence of education and training and a letter of reference from a senior physician executive. If deemed appropriate by the department, the request will be presented for review before the Connecticut Medical Examining Board.

(Adopted effective November 29, 1999)