{"id":40614,"date":"2026-03-26T14:28:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=40614"},"modified":"2026-03-26T14:28:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:28:57","slug":"licensure-advanced-for-internationally-trained-physicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=40614","title":{"rendered":"Licensure advanced for internationally trained physicians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers gave first-round approval March 24 to a bill that seeks to create an alternative licensure pathway for internationally trained physicians to practice medicine in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Merv Riepe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB1212, as introduced by Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe, would allow the state Department of Health and Human Services, with the approval of the Board of Medicine and Surgery, to issue a maximum three-year provisional license to an internationally trained physician who enters into an agreement for full-time employment with a participating Nebraska health care entity.<\/p>\n

The agreement would require a participating health care entity to conduct an initial formative needs assessment, develop an individualized learning and supervision plan and evaluate the physician\u2019s familiarity with the standards appropriate for medical practice.<\/p>\n

Riepe said more than 20 states, including Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts and Texas, have adopted similar licensure pathways for internationally trained physicians who demonstrate the necessary training and skills required for full licensure.<\/p>\n

Many internationally trained physicians serve as primary care providers in rural and underserved communities across the country, he said, but those same physicians currently would be required to start over and complete a medical residency program to provide care in Nebraska, regardless of their experience practicing safely and independently abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cLB1212 [recognizes] emerging best practices while tailoring details \u2014 like time-limited licenses, explicit reporting and Nebraska-specific shortage designations \u2014 to our [existing] regulatory framework,\u201d Riepe said.<\/p>\n

After successfully practicing under a provisional license, an internationally trained physician could apply for a transitional license for another three years. A holder of a transitional license could practice only in a designated health profession shortage area.<\/p>\n

An internationally trained physician could apply for an unrestricted license to practice medicine in Nebraska after practicing for at least six years under provisional and transitional licensure and with satisfactory assessment and evaluation.<\/p>\n

The bill would take effect Aug. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

A Health and Human Services Committee amendment, adopted 35-0, would replace the bill with a modified version to specify that an individual must meet the following criteria to be considered an internationally trained physician:
\n\u2022 have a medical degree or its equivalent from a legally chartered medical school outside the U.S.;
\n\u2022 be a U.S. citizen or legally authorized to work by the U.S. federal government;
\n\u2022 have completed a graduate medical education training program that is substantially similar to a U.S. graduate medical education or residency program;
\n\u2022 be licensed or otherwise authorized to practice medicine in another country;
\n\u2022 have practiced medicine for at least three of the last five years; and
\n\u2022 be in good standing with no pending discipline related to any previous medical licensing or regulatory institution during the most recent three years of practice.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha supported the bill and the committee amendment. He said the proposal would create not only a licensure pathway for individuals who grew up and attended medical school outside the U.S., but also those born in the U.S. who chose to pursue their education abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really important piece of legislation that will open the door for folks who are wanting to practice medicine, specifically \u2026 in areas of our state where we need more and more physicians to have a pathway,\u201d Fredrickson said.<\/p>\n

Senators voted 38-0 to advance LB1212 to select file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers gave first-round approval March 24 to a bill that seeks to create an alternative licensure pathway for internationally trained physicians to practice medicine in Nebraska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[153],"class_list":["post-40614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-human-services","tag-sen-merv-riepe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LB1212Riepe3-24-26a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40614"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40616,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40614\/revisions\/40616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}