 | April 2015 Florida Board of Medicine Meeting Review |  |
Introduction
The Board of Medicine meets six times each year to conduct disciplinary hearings, licensure hearings and to handle board business including creating and amending rules of the Board.
At this meeting, the Board recognized Kyle Jeanne Dalton, a medical student at the University of Florida. She is expected to graduate in May. She was honored because she exemplifies the professionalism, moral character, compassion and intellect essential to future leaders of the medical profession. Dr. Orr also instituted the Resident Recognition Program whereby the Board will recognize current residents in an approved ACGME program. At this meeting, the first award recipients were recognized: Soha S. Patel, M.D., a resident in OB/GYN at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Enrique Vega, M.D., Chief Resident in General Surgery at the Florida Hospital. Both residents were recognized because, among other things, they demonstrate extraordinary medical and social competence and skill expected of a young medical professional. Congratulations to all three award recipients.
Full Board Disciplinary Statistics
At the April meeting, the Board held 41 disciplinary hearings, which resulted in disciplinary action as outlined in the chart below. The Board recognizes that the overwhelming majority of Florida’s licensees will never be engaged in a disciplinary proceeding. However, in the cases that come before the Board in which there is an alleged violation of Florida’s Medical Practice Act, the members are committed to the fair and just application of the law to protect the citizens and visitors of Florida. The disciplinary hearing agenda is available on the Board’s website at www.FLBoardofMedicine.gov. All Final Orders regarding these disciplinary hearings are available online at www.FLHealthSource.gov by clicking on Verify a License and searching the licensee’s name.
Licensure Statistics
The statutory scheme of licensing medical doctors in Florida provides for various avenues of eligibility. The licensing of these physicians includes an extensive background investigation on each applicant, which includes 8-10 years of medical education, postgraduate training, and for some applicants, extensive practice experience. The process requires the evaluation of the applicant’s medical credentials, and all information, reports, and documents obtained in the application review process to determine the applicant’s eligibility for licensure. Applications that contain any conflicting information or questionable information are submitted to the Credentials Committee for review. The Credentials Committee presents application recommendations (approval or denial) to the Board at the Board’s regular bimonthly meetings. Applicants with no questionable application materials are issued a license and the licenses are ratified by the Board at the next meeting. Over the past year, the Board has worked to make licensure in Florida a more efficient process. The application has been revised and is available online at https://flboardofmedicine.gov/licensing/.
Rule Discussions
The Board discussed four rule challenges regarding the proposed changes to Rule 64B8-10.003, F.A.C. – Costs of Reproducing Medical Records. In addition, the Board started discussions about defining the term “comparable training” as used in Rule 64B8-9.009, F.A.C. – Standards for Office Surgery. This discussion will continue at the June Board Meeting. All minutes related to these rules are available on our website.
