Continuing medical education: physicians and surgeons.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires the board to adopt and administer standards for the continuing education of physicians and surgeons. Existing law provides that these standards may be met by educational activities that serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance that a physician and surgeon uses to provide care, or to improve the quality of care to patients, which may include educational activities that are designed to improve the physician-patient relationship. This bill would specify that these educational activities may also include activities that are designed to improve the quality of physician-patient communication. Existing law requires continuing education courses to contain curriculum that includes cultural and linguistic competency in the practice of medicine. Under existing law, associations that accredit continuing medical education courses are required to develop standards. Existing law authorizes the associations to update the standards, as needed, in conjunction with an advisory group that has expertise in cultural and linguistic competency issues. This bill would require the advisory group to be informed of federal and state threshold language requirements, as specified, and would require the authorized updates to be for the purpose of meeting the needs of California's changing demographics and properly addressing language disparities, as they emerge.