EDUCATION CODE
CHAPTER 58. COMPENSATION OF RESIDENT PHYSICIANS
§ 58.001. LEGISLATIVE FINDING AND INTENT. (a) The
legislature finds that it will improve the quality of the delivery
of medical care to the citizens of this state and, therefore, that
it will be in the public interest of this state for the resident
physicians being educated, trained, developed, and prepared for a
career in medicine by the schools of medicine in The University of
Texas System, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the
Texas A & M University Medical Program, and the University of North
Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth to be compensated by those
schools while the resident physicians are undergoing education,
training, development, and preparation. The legislature further
finds that the delivery of quality medical care to the citizens of
this state has been and will continue to be enhanced by the
expansion of family practice residency programs as provided by
Sections 61.501 through 61.505 of this code and intends that
nothing in this chapter be interpreted or implemented in a manner
that will deter the development or expansion of family practice
residency programs or will deter the legislative goal of having at
least 25 percent of the first-year residency positions devoted to
family medicine.
(b) Beginning September 1, 1981, and subject to the
provisions of Section 58.003 of this code, each resident physician
being educated, trained, developed, and prepared for a career in
medicine by an accredited school of medicine in the schools listed
in Subsection (a) of this section shall be compensated by that
school while the person is undergoing education, training,
development, and preparation at or under the direction and
supervision of the school.
Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3245, ch. 855, § 1, eff. Aug.
31, 1981. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 408, § 6, eff.
Aug. 30, 1993.
§ 58.002. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:
(1) "Resident physician" means a person who is
appointed a resident physician by one of the schools of medicine
listed in Section 58.001 of this code and who:
(A) has received a Doctor of Medicine or a Doctor
of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Baylor College of Medicine
or from one of the schools listed in Section 58.001 of this code; or
(B) is a citizen of Texas and has received a
Doctor of Medicine or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from
some other school of medicine that is accredited by the Liaison
Committee on Medical Education or by the Bureau of Professional
Education of the American Osteopathic Association.
(2) "Primary teaching hospital" means a hospital at
which one of the schools listed in Section 58.001 of this code
educates and trains both resident physicians and undergraduate
medical students.
(3) "Compensation" includes stipends; payments, if
any, for services rendered; and fringe benefits when applied to
payments to or for the benefit of resident physicians.
(b) A person may not be considered a resident physician for
a period of time longer than is ordinarily and customarily required
for a resident physician to complete a graduate medical specialty
program approved by the Accrediting Council on Graduate Medical
Education or the American Osteopathic Association for the specialty
in which the resident physician seeks certification as a diplomate
and to obtain the certification from the appropriate board or
agency approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the
American Osteopathic Association.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (b) of
this section, a person may not be considered a resident physician
under this Act for a period of time longer than four years.
(d) The total number of the first-year resident physicians
compensated under this chapter and Sections 61.097 through 61.099
of this code may not exceed the combined total number of persons in
the previous year's graduating classes of the schools listed in
Section 58.001 of this code and the Baylor College of Medicine.
Each school shall give priority consideration to applicants who
demonstrate a willingness to practice in medically underserved
areas of Texas.
(e) It is the intent of this chapter that at least 50 percent
of resident physicians shall be in the areas of family medicine,
general internal medicine, general pediatrics, geriatrics,
obstetrics/gynecology, and emergency medicine, with 25 percent of
those residents in family practice.
Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3245, ch. 855, § 1, eff. Aug.
31, 1981. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 991, § 1, eff.
Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 12, eff. June 16,
1995.
§ 58.003. AUTHORIZATION FOR LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS
OF FUNDS; CONDITIONS REGARDING THOSE FUNDS. (a) Beginning
September 1, 1981, each accredited school listed in Section 58.001
of this code is entitled to receive funds appropriated by the
legislature in an amount not to exceed $15,000 in any fiscal year
for each resident physician appointed by the school as a resident
physician for that year. Money appropriated under this chapter may
not be transferred from the resident physicians program.
(b) If a resident physician under this chapter does not
perform in that appointed capacity during an entire fiscal year,
the compensation paid to the person by the school shall be reduced
proportionately to cover only the part of the fiscal year during
which the performance is actually rendered.
(c) If any resident physician under this chapter is
compensated by an agency or institution of the federal government
or by any other agency or institution other than a primary teaching
hospital for the person's performance as a resident physician, the
compensation that would otherwise be paid to the person by the
school shall be reduced by the amount of the compensation actually
received by the person from the agency or institution. If a school
under this chapter receives from an agency or institution of the
federal government or from any other agency or institution other
than a primary teaching hospital compensation for the performance
of resident physicians' duties by any of the school's resident
physicians to or for the benefit of the agency or institution, to
the extent of the compensation actually received by the school, the
school is prohibited from spending funds appropriated under this
chapter that would otherwise be available to pay the same resident
physicians for the performance of the same resident physician
duties.
(d) If a school covered by this chapter receives from the
Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System, a sum
granted for the education, training, development, and preparation
of the school's family practice resident physicians, to the extent
of the sum actually received by the school, the school is prohibited
from spending funds appropriated under this chapter that would
otherwise be available to pay the same family practice resident
physicians for the same education, training, development, and
preparation.
(e) To the extent that The University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston receives legislative appropriations under this
chapter for the education and training of resident physicians, that
school may not receive legislative appropriations in any other
state appropriation act for the education and training of the same
resident physicians in the same fiscal year.
Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3245, ch. 855, § 1, eff. Aug.
31, 1981.
§ 58.004. CONTINGENT ARRANGEMENT IN THE EVENT OF
INSUFFICIENT FUNDS. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
chapter, if at any time a school under this chapter determines that
it does not have sufficient available funds from legislative
appropriations and other sources to support adequately the full
number of resident physicians that the school deems to be required
in order to provide the delivery of the best possible medical care
to the citizens of this state, the school may assign and place for
education and training in any hospital or hospitals with which the
school has a resident physician affiliation agreement any of its
resident physicians that cannot be supported adequately from the
funds available for that purpose. During the period for which a
resident physician is assigned and placed in a hospital or
hospitals under the terms of this section, the resident physician
shall directly or indirectly receive all or the primary portion of
his or her compensation from the hospital or hospitals just as has
been ordinarily and customarily done before the adoption of this
chapter. The exact method and manner of compensating the resident
physician shall be set forth in the resident physician affiliation
agreement entered into between the school and the hospital or
hospitals.
Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3245, ch. 855, § 1, eff. Aug.
31, 1981.
§ 58.005. APPOINTMENT OF RESIDENT PHYSICIANS UNDER
CERTAIN CONDITIONS. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
chapter, if at any time a school under this chapter determines that
it cannot provide one of its primary teaching hospitals with
resident physicians who qualify under Subdivision (1) of Subsection
(a) of Section 58.002 of this code in sufficient quantity or kind to
meet the standard that the school deems necessary in order to
provide the delivery of the best possible medical care to the
citizens of this state, until the school is able to provide the
hospital with a sufficient quantity and kind of resident physicians
who do qualify, the school may appoint, to be educated and trained
in the hospital, resident physicians who are not citizens of Texas
but otherwise qualify under Subdivision (1) of Subsection (a) of
Section 58.002 and may compensate those resident physicians as if
they did qualify under the provisions of that section.
Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3245, ch. 855, § 1, eff. Aug.
31, 1981.
§ 58.006. STATEWIDE PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAMS. (a) The
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board may contract with one or
more organizations to operate the statewide preceptorship program
in general internal medicine and the statewide preceptorship
program in general pediatrics for medical students enrolled in
Texas medical schools.
(b) An organization eligible to receive funds under this
subsection must:
(1) qualify for exemption from federal income tax
under Section 501, Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section
501); or
(2) be operated by a state accredited medical school
as defined in Section 61.501(1).
(c) Students eligible to participate in the preceptorship
programs under this section must indicate an interest in a primary
care career.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 518, § 1, eff. June 12, 1995.
§ 58.007. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (1) The Primary Care
Residency Advisory Committee is created and shall consist of 12
members as follows:
(A) seven members shall be licensed physicians,
one appointed by each of the following:
(i) the Texas Medical Association;
(ii) the Texas Osteopathic Medical
Association;
(iii) the Texas Academy of Family
Physicians;
(iv) the Texas Society of the American
College of Osteopathic Family Physicians;
(v) the Texas Society of Internal Medicine;
(vi) the Texas Pediatric Society; and
(vii) the Texas Association of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists;
(B) one member shall be appointed by the Office
of Rural Community Affairs;
(C) one member shall be appointed by the Bureau
of Community Oriented Primary Care at the Texas Department of
Health; and
(D) three members shall be members of the public,
one appointed by each of the following:
(i) the governor;
(ii) the lieutenant governor; and
(iii) the speaker of the house of
representatives.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 518, § 1, eff. June 12, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 940, § 1, eff. June 18,
1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1424, § 7, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
§ 58.008. PRIMARY CARE RESIDENCY PROGRAM
EXPANSION. (a) Only residency positions in family practice,
general internal medicine, general pediatrics, and obstetrics and
gynecology shall be eligible for these funds.
(b) The committee shall recommend to the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board an allocation of new primary care
residency positions that are to receive state support. The
committee shall take into consideration in recommending an
allocation among the four primary care specialties designated for
expansion the following factors:
(1) the current primary care specialties mix of Texas
physicians in direct practice;
(2) projections for the primary care specialties mix
of Texas physicians in direct practice;
(3) the current state-supported primary care
positions;
(4) geographic shortages for primary care physicians;
(5) federally designated and state designated
medically underserved areas;
(6) the demographics of the Texas population; and
(7) the infrastructure of existing residency
programs.
(c) Once funds are awarded to support a resident position of
a particular residency program, the board shall continue to award
funds to support that residency position for all three or four
postgraduate years of the residency training curriculum until the
resident physician appointed to that position has completed or left
the program. The position would then be eligible for reallocation
by the Primary Care Residency Advisory Committee.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 518, § 1, eff. June 12, 1995.
§ 58.009. FACULTY ENHANCEMENT FUND FOR GENERALIST
PHYSICIANS. (a) Only accredited medical schools identified in
Section 61.501(1) shall be eligible to receive funds under this
section.
(b) Only full-time, clinical faculty positions in family
practice, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics whose
faculty rank is no greater than assistant professor shall be
eligible for funds under this section.
(c) The committee shall recommend to the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board an allocation of generalist faculty
positions that are to receive state support through the Faculty
Enhancement Fund for Generalist Physicians. The committee shall
take into consideration in recommending an allocation the following
factors:
(1) the faculty-student ratio in the generalist
specialty at the applicant school;
(2) the length of time a budgeted generalist faculty
position has gone unfilled;
(3) whether the position is a new generalist faculty
position; and
(4) other factors as determined by the committee.
(d) Once funds are awarded to support a generalist faculty
position at a particular medical school, the board shall continue
to award funds to support that generalist faculty position for a
period not to exceed one additional academic year. After that time,
the medical school shall provide an amount equal to the annualized
faculty enhancement award in its operating budget to maintain the
level of compensation for the position after the grant period has
ended.
(e) The board may spend not more than 10 percent of the
amounts appropriated for this program in fiscal year 1998, and not
more than five percent of the amounts appropriated for this program
in succeeding years, for administering the faculty enhancement
program for generalist physicians.
(f) The board may solicit, receive, and spend grants, gifts,
and donations from public and private sources to comply with this
section.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 940, § 2, eff. June 18, 1997.
§ 58.010. STATEWIDE PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAMS IN PUBLIC
HEALTH SETTINGS. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board may contract with one or more organizations to operate a
statewide preceptorship program in a public health setting for
medical students enrolled in Texas medical schools.
(b) An organization eligible to receive funds under this
subsection must:
(1) qualify for exemption from federal income tax
under Section 501, Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section
501); or
(2) be operated by a state accredited medical school
as defined in Section 61.501(1).
(c) Students eligible to participate in the preceptorship
programs under this section must indicate an interest in a career
providing primary care.
(d) The board may create and appoint an advisory committee
to assist the board in the operation of the program.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 787, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Renumbered from § 58.009 by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, §
19.01(13), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
