Bill > S3207

Introduced Session

This bill revises the requirements for certain medical schools located outside of the United States to operate clinical clerkship programs in New Jersey by amending P.L.2003, c.133. Under current law, unless a medical school is already considered an alternatively accredited medical school, a medical school located outside of the United States can only apply for the authorization to operate a clinical clerkship program in the State if the medical school: (1) is in a country that applies certain accreditation standards, which have been determined by the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFME) within the United States Department of Education to be comparable to the accreditation standards applied to medical schools located within the United States; and (2) that continues to meet the accreditation standards of that country. Any medical school that satisfies this criteria and is approved by the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council of New Jersey to operate a clinical clerkship program in this State is deemed to be an "alternatively accredited medical school." This bill amends these requirements and permits certain medical schools located outside of the United States that are accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) as having accreditation standards comparable to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), to apply for the authorization to operate a clinical clerkship program in the State. The bill revises the requirements for an alternatively accredited medical school to increase the number of students participating in clinical clerkships or to increase the number of programs operated by the school. The bill establishes the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council of New Jersey and Advisory Committee on Alternatively Accredited Medical School Clinical Clerkships within the Department of Health. Under current law, these entities were established under the Commission of Higher Education. The bill requires the council to promulgate and maintain a Code of Ethics. The bill revises the reporting requirements provided under current law to require the council to annually submit a report to the Governor and the Senate and General Assembly Health Committees of the New Jersey Legislature on the council's activities, which report will include information on: (1) the number of institutions that applied, and received approval, to operate a clinical clerkship program in a hospital in the State, by the hospital's status as a nonprofit, for-profit, or public hospital and by the jurisdiction in which the institution is located; and (2) the number of students who applied for, and were accepted to, clinical clerkships in this State, by institution, race, ethnicity, gender and age. It is the sponsor's intent that this bill will broaden the pool of medical schools that might be eligible to operate a clinical clerkship program in the State, by accepting and considering the applications of medical schools that have been accredited by standards that have been recognized by either the NCFME or the WFME. It is the sponsor's belief that this bill might increase the number of clinical clerkship opportunities in the State and the number of medical school students who complete their medical school training in New Jersey, which would increase the likelihood that a student will continue to pursue residency and employment opportunities in New Jersey and thereby increase the supply of physicians in the State.

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Nellie Pou (D)*, 

Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Hearing (10:00:00 6/20/2024 Committee Room 4, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.) (on 06/20/2024)

Official Document