Hi All,
I spoke with Andy Martinez from Assemblymember Negrete-McLeod's office. AB 1467 is not scheduled for a floor vote yet. However, things move very swiftly in the legislature at this time of year. The legislative rules require that bills be approved by both houses of the legislature by Sept. 12 every year, so there is always a mad rush, with all of the associated "back room" deals and arm twisting, to get a bill through the legislature. Then it must be signed into law by the Governor. Andy said that at this time he is not aware of any opposition to the bill as it is currently amended. Therefore, it is possible that the bill will be approved by the Senate during a consent vote without any debate whatsoever. Then the Assembly will vote on it and send it on its way to the Governor. I know that some of you may not want to know about all of these arcane details, but as one who has visited the great legislative halls of California, I find it amazing that anything at all ever gets accomplished there. Besides, some of you will one day be taking an oath of citizenship to the USA, so you can consider this an advance civics lesson. And in case any of you are more confused than you were before you started reading this, the bottom line is that it ain't over until its finally and unequivocally over.
One thing is absolutely certain at this point, and that is the fact that the bill cannot be amended again during this legislative session. So let me recap some provisions of the bill:
1) All candidates must have passed both NBDE Parts 1 & 2 by December 31, 2003. If you haven't already passed Part 1, it is probably too late to pass Part 2 this year. For example Toothguy is taking the Part 1 test in December. The results for his sitting of that exam must be graded by the ADA before they will allow him to register for Part 2 and it takes the ADA 5 weeks to grade the exam. So even if he were mentally and emotionally ready to take Part 2 in December, he would not be able to. So if you have passed Part 1 but not Part 2, then study hard and get your registration for the exam turned into the ADA as soon as possible. I am sorry for Toothguy and others in his position but there is still the opportunity to go to a US dental school if you do well on the Part 1 exam.
2) You don't need to be a California resident to take the Bench Test. You do not even need to be a permanent resident of the United States to take the Bench Test. Any graduate of a foreign dental school who has passed both NBDE exams and properly completed the application form of the California Dental Board and paid the fees can sit for the Bench Test. However, the test is only administered at one of the dental schools in either LA or San Francisco, so you must physically come to California to sit for the exam.
3) If you have already passed both NBDE Parts 1 & 2 then you will need to apply to the California Dental Board for the RT Exam (Bench Test) before Dec. 31, 2003. Do not mail your application in just yet though, the CA Dental Board won't accept them until the bill is signed into law and they have a chance to post the new application procedures on their website. If you take the NBDE Part 2 in late December, then you will have until April of 2004 to send in your application. This will give you enough time for the ADA to grade the Part 2 exam.
Those are some of the important points of the bill as amended. I hope that clears it up for the late-comers to this thread. For Chuchuca, Kota and others who may be missing out under the provisions of this bill, do not despair. You can get still get licensed in the US, it will just be a little harder for you. For Madhup, yes this means that you may be able to get licensed in California without going to dental school for 2 years. Finally, for everyone who has passed both Parts of the NBDE and are waiting for the final approval of this law, think positive. The 2/3 majority vote requirement is part of the process of upgrading the bill to urgent status and does not present an insurmountable hurdle. Andy believes that even during this strange political recall period, the bill has strong Democratic support and simple Republican ambivalence. While Governor Davis is a personal friend of Dr. Alan Kaye, who is the President of the CA Dental Board, it seems likely that Davis would sign the bill into law. While Dr. Kay would prefer that there were no RT Exam from this day forward, he got the amendments that he and the entire Dental Board wanted, so he shouldn't be complaining to Gov. Davis.
Keep your fingers crossed and start drilling on your typodonts.
Scott
