Legislation Impacting the Physician Assistant Board

Current law requires the Office of Emergency Services to establish a protocol for the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault and the collection of evidence there from. Current law requires a qualified health care professional who conducts an examination for evidence of a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault to use the standard form and to make those observations and perform those tests required to record the data required by the form. Current law defines qualified health care professional for this purpose to include a physician and surgeon, or a currently licensed nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant who is working in consultation with a physician and surgeon who conducts examinations or provides treatment in a general acute care hospital or in a physician and surgeon's office.

This bill revises the definition of a qualified health care professional as it pertains to a physician assistant and nurse or nurse practitioner by removing the requirement that the consulting physician and surgeon conduct examinations or provide treatment.

Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is composed of boards that license and regulate various professions. Existing law imposes certain requirements on those boards to expedite licensure processes, waive specified licensing fees, or issue temporary licenses, depending on the criteria that the applicant satisfies. One of those provisions requires, among other things, the applicant to be, or to have been, an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States, as specified. Another provision requires that the applicant hold an out–of–state license in that profession or vocation and be married to, or in a domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed Forces, as specified. Under a third provision's criteria, the applicant must have been admitted to the United States as a refugee, have been granted asylum, or have a special immigrant visa, as specified.

This bill specifies that the term “applicant,” for purposes of the above–described provisions, refers to an applicant for an individual license and does not refer to applicants for business or entity licenses. The bill prohibits a board from charging a fee for the issuance of a temporary license for an applicant who holds an out–of–state license in that profession or vocation and who is married to, or in a domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed Forces, as specified.