(a) The department may, upon receipt of a fee of one hundred ninety dollars, issue a physician assistant license to an applicant who: (1) Holds a baccalaureate or higher degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution of higher education; (2) has graduated from an accredited physician assistant program; (3) has passed the certification examination of the national commission; (4) has satisfied the mandatory continuing medical education requirements of the national commission for current certification by such commission and has passed any examination or continued competency assessment the passage of which may be required by the national commission for maintenance of current certification by such commission; and (5) has completed not less than sixty hours of didactic instruction in pharmacology for physician assistant practice approved by the department.

(b) The department may, upon receipt of a fee of one hundred fifty dollars, issue a temporary permit to an applicant who (1) is a graduate of an accredited physician assistant program; (2) has completed not less than sixty hours of didactic instruction in pharmacology for physician assistant practice approved by the department; and (3) if applying for such permit on and after September 30, 1991, holds a baccalaureate or higher degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. Such temporary permit shall authorize the holder to practice as a physician assistant only in those settings where the supervising physician is physically present on the premises and is immediately available to the physician assistant when needed, but shall not authorize the holder to prescribe or dispense drugs. Such temporary permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed one hundred twenty calendar days after the date of graduation and shall not be renewable. Such permit shall become void and shall not be reissued in the event that the applicant fails to pass a certification examination scheduled by the national commission following the applicant's graduation from an accredited physician assistant program. Violation of the restrictions on practice set forth in this subsection may constitute a basis for denial of licensure as a physician assistant.

(c) No license or temporary permit shall be issued under this section to any applicant against whom professional disciplinary action is pending or who is the subject of an unresolved complaint.

(d) No person shall practice as a physician assistant or represent himself as a physician assistant unless he holds a license or temporary permit pursuant to this section or training permit issued pursuant to section 20-12h.

(e) Any person, except a licensed physician assistant or a physician licensed to practice medicine under this chapter, who practices or attempts to practice as a physician assistant, or any person who buys, sells or fraudulently obtains any diploma or license to practice as a physician assistant, whether recorded or not, or any person who uses the title “physician assistant” or any word or title to induce the belief that he or she is practicing as a physician assistant, without complying with the provisions of this section, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. For the purposes of this section, each instance of patient contact or consultation that is in violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense. Failure to renew a license in a timely manner shall not constitute a violation for the purposes of this section.

(P.A. 90-211, S. 4, 23; P.A. 91-112, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-296, S. 1, 10; P.A. 95-74, S. 3, 9; P.A. 04-221, S. 1; P.A. 07-252, S. 41; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 183.)

History: P.A. 91-112 amended Subsec. (b) to extend until March 1, 1992, the deadline for physician assistants licensed pursuant to Subsec. (b) to meet continuing education requirements; P.A. 93-296 added Subsec. (b)(3) re licensure of a person with eighteen-year employment history and amended Subsec. (c)(6) to extend application date from June 30, 1992, to October 1, 1993, effective June 29, 1993 (Revisor's note: In 1995 references to “such commission” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “said commission”); P.A. 95-74 deleted former Subsecs. (b) and (c) containing obsolete provisions on temporary licenses and relettered remaining Subsecs. accordingly, amending relettered Subsec. (d) to include training permits, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-221 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing former provision re period of validity of temporary permit with provision limiting duration of temporary permit to 120 days, providing that temporary permit shall not be renewable and making a conforming change; P.A. 07-252 added Subsec. (e) re penalties for unlawfully practicing or attempting to practice as a physician assistant and for fraudulent use of title “physician assistant”, effective July 1, 2007; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 amended Subsec. (a) to increase fee from $150 to $190 and Subsec. (b) to increase fee from $75 to $150.