What Is the Purpose of Medical Practice Acts?

Medical Practice Acts were adopted by individual states to protect the public from unqualified doctors and fraudulent medical procedures. They define most aspects of medicine and act as safety mechanisms between the medical profession and the general public.

Practicing Medicine Is a Privilege

• Medicine may only be practiced by qualified individuals who have satisfied specific educational and licensing requirements. After all required studies and exams have been satisfied, the acts provide for supervised medical training periods during which new doctors continue their medical education.

The Privilege To Practice Medicine Is Governed By Laws and Regulations

• Local, state and federal laws mandate that physicians can only be issued medical licenses after they have met stringent qualifications. Regulatory systems will review physicians on a continuing basis and punish those who practice medicine with invalid, revoked or suspended licenses, or those who fail to stay current in their fields of expertise, or those whose medical practices endanger the public.

State Medical Boards

• States enact medical boards whose responsibilities are to protect the public from illegal and unqualified physicians. Through their Medical Practice Acts, the state medical board members define the specific physician qualifications necessary to practice medicine in their states. They regulate and supervise the issuance, certification and re-certification of medical credentials and they evaluate physicians who graduated from foreign medical schools. They issue limited licenses for physicians in postgraduate training, and they define specifics for compulsory reporting and investigation of various medical situations. Finally, they decide on the removal of impaired physicians and develop enforcement and disciplinary procedures against unqualified licensees.

Definitions of The Practice of Medicine

• Medical Practice Acts specify all relevant medical definitions. They include specifics of how medical practices may be advertised by the types of diseases or injuries that are treated. They indicate how medical devices and techniques used in treatments will be described and they dictate how dispensed drugs are to be noted. To avoid ambiguity and confusion, Medical Practice Acts also stipulate how written medical opinions will be given and how medical designations such as Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Physician, Surgeon, M.D. and any variation or combination thereof may be used.

What Medical Practices Acts Don't Regulate

• Medical Practices Acts do not regulate many medical practitioners and processes. They do not control medical school students, individuals who provide emergency care without compensation or consideration, or commissioned medical officers of either the United States armed forces, the United States Public Health Services or the Veteran's Administration. The acts also do not apply to dentists, nurses, optometrists, podiatrists, psychologists and other medical disciplines that have been excluded by state medical boards. The acts do not pertain to those who administer to the suffering of individuals through the tenets of religion or by mental or spiritual means, and they do not apply to those who administer medical services to members of their families.