Iowa.
Qualification.—Every person practising medicine, surgery, or obstetrics, in any of their departments, if a graduate in medicine, must present his diploma to the State board of examiners for verification as to its genuineness. If the diploma is found genuine, and is by a medical school legally organized and of good standing, which the board determines, and if the person presenting be the person to whom it was originally granted, then the board must issue a certificate signed by not less than five physicians thereof, representing one or more physicians of the schools on the board (sic), and such certificate is conclusive. If not a graduate, a person practising medicine or surgery, unless in continuous practice in this State for not less than five years, of which he must present to the board satisfactory evidence in the form of affidavits, must appear before the board for examination. All examinations are in writing; all examination papers with the reports and action of examiners are preserved as records of the board for five years. The subjects of examination are anatomy, physiology, general chemistry, pathology, therapeutics, and the principles and practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics. Each applicant, upon receiving from the secretary of the board an order for examination, receives also a confidential number, which he must place upon his examination papers so that, when the papers are passed upon, the examiners may not know by what applicant they were prepared. Upon each day of examination all candidates are given the same set or sets of questions. The examination papers are marked on a scale of 100. The applicant must attain an average determined by the board; if such examination is satisfactory to at least five physicians of the board, representing the different schools of medicine on the board, the board must issue a certificate, which entitles the lawful holder to all the rights and privileges in the act provided (Laws 1886, c. 104, s. 1).
The board receives applications through its secretary. Five physicians of the board may act as an examining board in the absence of the full board; provided that one or more members of the different schools of medicine represented in the State board of health shall also be represented in the board of examiners (ib., s. 2).
The affidavit of the applicant and holder of a diploma that he is the person therein named, and is the lawful possessor thereof, is necessary to verify the same, with such other testimony as the board may require. Diplomas and accompanying affidavits may be presented in person or by proxy. If a diploma is found genuine and in possession of the person to whom it was issued, the board, on payment of the fee to its secretary, must issue a certificate. If a diploma is found fraudulent or not lawfully in possession of the holder or owner, the person presenting it, or holding or claiming possession, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable with a fine of from $20 to $100 (ib., s. 3).
The certificate must be recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county wherein the holder resides, within sixty days after its date. Should he remove from one county to another to practise medicine, surgery, or obstetrics, his certificate must be recorded in the county to which he removes. The recorder must indorse upon the certificate the date of record (ib., s. 4).
Any one failing to pass is entitled to a second examination within twelve months without a fee; any applicant for examination, by notice in writing to the secretary of the board, is entitled to examination within three months from the time of notice, and the failure to give such opportunity entitles such applicant to practise without a certificate until the next regular meeting of the board. The board may issue certificates to persons who, upon application, present a certificate of having passed a satisfactory examination before any other State board of medical examiners, upon the payment of the fee provided in sec. 3 (ib., s. 6, as amended c. 66, Laws 1888, 22 Gen. Assembly).
The board may refuse a certificate to a person who has been convicted of felony committed in the practice of his profession, or in connection therewith; or may revoke for like cause, or for palpable evidence of incompetency, and such refusal or revocation prohibits such person from practising medicine, surgery, or obstetrics, and can only be made with the affirmative vote of at least five physicians of the State board, in which must be included one or more members of the different schools of medicine represented in the said board; the standing of a legally chartered medical college from which a diploma may be presented must not be questioned except by a like vote (ib., s. 7).
Definition, Exceptions.—Any person is deemed practising medicine, surgery, or obstetrics, or to be a physician, who publicly professes to be a physician, surgeon, or obstetrician, and assumes the duties, or who makes a practice of prescribing, or prescribing and furnishing medicine for the sick, or who publicly professes to cure or heal by any means whatsoever; but the act does not prohibit students of medicine, surgery, or obstetrics from prescribing under the supervision of preceptors or gratuitous services in case of emergency; nor does it apply to women at the time of its passage engaged in the practice of midwifery, nor does it prevent advertising, selling, or prescribing natural mineral waters flowing from wells or springs, nor does it apply to surgeons of the United States army, navy, or marine hospital service, nor to physicians defined therein who have been in practice in this State for five consecutive years, three years of which must have been in one locality, provided such physician shall furnish the State board with satisfactory evidence of such practice and shall procure a proper certificate, nor to registered pharmacists filling prescriptions, nor does it interfere with the sale of patent or proprietary medicines in the regular course of trade (ib., s. 8).
Penalty.—A person practising medicine or surgery without complying with the act, and not embraced in the exceptions, or after being prohibited as provided in sec. 7, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable with a fine of from $50 to $100, or imprisonment in the county jail from ten to thirty days (ib., s. 9).
Filing or attempting to file as one’s own the diploma of another, or the certificate of another, or a diploma or certificate with the true name erased and the claimant’s name inserted, or a forged affidavit of identification, is forgery (ib., s. 10).