Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the board of regents is authorized, in its discretion, to confer the degree of doctor of medicine (M.D.) upon physicians who are licensed pursuant to section sixty-five hundred twenty-four or sixty-five hundred twenty-eight of this chapter. Each applicant shall pay a fee of three hundred dollars to the education department for the issuance of such degree.
N.Y. Educ. Law § 6529