STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HERIBERTO J. CALLEJAS, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 93-1462

)

DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL ) REGULATION, BOARD OF MEDICINE, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was heard by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing Officer designated by the Division of Administrative Hearings, on May 25, 1993, in Miami, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Heriberto J. Callejas, M.D.

13850 Southwest 62nd Street, #205

Miami, Florida 33186

For Respondent: Kevin J. Odonnell

Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

The issue is whether Dr. Callejas is entitled to licensure as a physician's assistant in the State of Florida.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Dr. Callejas applied for licensure as a physician's assistant; his application was considered by the Board of Medicine, Physician Assistant Committee, in November 1991. Based upon a committee report, the Board of Medicine adopted the recommendation to deny him licensure at its meeting in December 1991. The Board's order embodying that decision was entered on February 5, 1993. The essential portions of that order informed Dr. Callejas that the Board believed he had

Failed to meet the minimum requirements for certification as required by Sections 458.347(7)(b)1.b. and 458.311(1)(f)3.a.,

Florida Statutes. Specifically, you did not complete your medical education. You did not

complete the social service requirement or take the final examination; therefore, you did not receive the Titulo.

After he received this order, Dr. Callejas wrote to the Executive Director of the Board of Medicine to request a hearing. With that letter he enclosed sealed certificates, with translations, demonstrating that he had been examined by members of the medical faculty of the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara on July 25, 1992, and that he had passed the examination as a medical surgeon. The Act of Examination is recorded in book 1, page 70 of the University. He also submitted a certificate from the Secretary of Health of the United States of Mexico demonstrating that he had completed his social service satisfactorily during the period between March 1, 1981, to February 1, 1982. Counsel for the Board accepted the authenticity of the sealed certificates at final hearing, and agreed that the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara is a medical school listed with the World Health Organization.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Dr. Heriberto J. Callejas has successfully completed his medical education at the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara, having completed his studies and successfully passed the "Act of Examination" on July 25, 1992, as a medical surgeon. The statement to the contrary in the Board's order of February 5, 1993, is in error.

   
   

2. Dr. Callejas has completed his social service internship during the period March 1, 1981, to February 1, 1982, and has received the appropriate certificate from the Secretary of Health of the Government of Mexico. The statement to the contrary in the Board's order of February 5, 1993, is in error.

   
   

3. The Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara has forwarded the necessary papers to the Government of Mexico for the issuance of the Titulo to Dr. Callejas, but it has not yet been issued. He has not yet received the Titulo, however. The statement to this effect in the Board's February 5, 1993, order is correct.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

4. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over this matter. Sections 120.57(1) and 120.60, Florida Statutes.

   
   

5. The final order of the Board of Medicine recites that Dr. Callejas failed to meet the requirements of Sections 458.347(7)(b)1.b. and 458.311(1)(f)3.a., Florida Statutes, which state:

   
   

   458.347(7)(b)1. Notwithstanding the provi sions of subparagraph (a)2. and subparagraph (a)3.a, the Department shall examine each applicant who the Board certifies:

   * * *

   b. Is an unlicensed physician who graduated from a foreign medical school listed with the World Health Organization who has not previously taken and failed the examination

   of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and who has been

   certified by the Board as having met the requirements for licensure as a medical doctor by examination as set forth in s. 458.311(1), (3), (4) and (5), with the exception that the applicant is not required to have completed an approved residency of at least one year and the applicant is not required to have passed the licensing examination specified under s.

   458.311 or hold a valid, active certificate issued by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates.

   
   

6. The Board does not dispute that Dr. Callejas completed studies at a foreign medical school listed with the World Health Organization, and that he successfully completed medical studies at the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara. Counsel for the Board acknowledged the authenticity of the documents which Dr. Callejas sent to the Board before the final hearing. The Board has not argued that Dr. Callejas failed the examination of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. The question, according to the final order, is whether he meets the requirements for licensure as a medical doctor in Section 458.311(1), especially Section 458.311(1)(f)3.a., which states:

[The applicant] is a graduate of a foreign medical school which has not been certified pursuant to s. 458.314.

Dr. Callejas has not yet received the Titulo from the Mexican Government. He therefore has not yet become a graduate of a foreign (Mexican) medical school, although he has completed all the educational requirements for the issuance of the Titulo. Until it is issued, he cannot meet the requirement of Section 458.311(1)(f)3.a., which are incorporated in Section 458.347(7)(b)1.b., Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

It is RECOMMENDED that the application of Heriberto J. Callejas for certification as a physician assistant be denied for failure to meet the requirements of Section 458.311(1)(f)3.a., Florida Statutes (1993).

DONE AND ENTERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 8th day of July 1993.

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR.

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 8th day of July 1993.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Heriberto J. Callejas, M.D.

13850 Southwest 62nd Street, #205

Miami, Florida 33186

Kevin J. Odonnell Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050

Dorothy Faircloth, Executive Director Board of Medicine

Department of Professional Regulation

Suite 60

1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0792

Jack McRay General Counsel

Department of Professional Regulation

Suite 60

1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0792

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions to this recommended order. All agencies allow each party at least 10 days in which to submit written exceptions. Some agencies allow a larger period within which to submit written exceptions. You should contact the agency that will issue the final order in this case concerning agency rules on the deadline for filing exceptions to this recommended order. Any exceptions to this recommended order should be filed with the agency that will issue the final order in this case.

Docket for Case No: 93-001462

Orders for Case No: 93-001462