N.M. Admin. Code § 16.10.3.10

Current through Register Vol. 36, No. 1, January 14, 2025

Section 16.10.3.10 - SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF EXAMINATIONS

A. An applicant must score a minimum of 75 on each component part of a board-approved examination as described in Subsection C of 16.10.3.8 NMAC. The minimum score of 75 may not be achieved for any component part of an examination by averaging that component's scores with scores of other component part(s).

B. A FLEX weighted average score of 75 or higher will be considered passing if obtained by testing prior to June 1984.

C. An applicant who has taken the Canadian medical licensing examination (LMCC) must achieve the minimum passing score established for the exam as documented by LMCC certification.

D. Except as set forth in below, an applicant may attempt six times to successfully complete any part of a board-approved examination, as long as the entire examination is successfully completed within seven years from the date the first step of the examination is passed.

E. An applicant taking a combination examination set forth above in 16.10.3.8 must successfully complete the combination examination by January 1 of the year 2000. If not, the applicant must successfully complete the USMLE (steps 1, 2, and 3). Either the combination examination or the USMLE must be successfully completed in a total of six attempts maximum for each part. The applicant must successfully complete a combination examination or the USMLE within seven years from the date any part of the combination examination was first passed.

F. The board may grant exceptions to the seven-year requirement for qualified applicants who have successfully completed the combination examination within ten years from the date the first step of the examination is passed. Qualified applicants must have had no adverse action taken against them by any other licensing jurisdiction, peer review body, health care entity, governmental agency, law enforcement agency or court, and no license restrictions or pending investigations in all jurisdictions where a medical license or resident or training license is or has been held. On a case by case basis the board may consider requests for exceptions if the applicant can demonstrate by substantial evidence that the applicant has:

(1) been continuously enrolled in postgraduate medical training;

(2) been continuously practicing medicine in another country;

(3) passed each part of the required examination within 2 attempts;

(4) current board certification in a specialty recognized by the American board of medical specialties;

(5) experienced a documented significant health condition which by its severity would necessarily cause a delay to the applicant's examination sequence;

(6) provided care for an immediate family member who has experienced a documented significant health condition which by its severity would necessarily cause a delay to the applicant's examination sequence; immediate family member means a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent of the applicant;

(7) been a victim of a federal or state declared major disaster or its equivalent;

(8) been serving in a branch of the US armed forces during a war or other armed conflict or unrest; or

(9) experienced other documented circumstances of extreme hardship or extraordinary situations that were not willful and were beyond the control of the applicant, when such circumstances would by their severity necessarily cause a delay to the applicant's examination sequence.

G. Applicants who are MD/PhD candidates must successfully complete the entire examination within ten years from the date the first step of the examination is passed.

H. Applicants may repeat a previously passed step if they need to retake the exam in order to bring an entire sequence within the mandated time frame.

I. The board may allow exceptions to the time limits established by this rule for qualified applicants with bona fides disabilities, as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, in a case by case basis.

N.M. Admin. Code § 16.10.3.10

16.10.3.10 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 10.9.2, 4/18/02; A, 10/5/03; A, 10/7/05; A, 9/27/07