Iowa is the first state to offer physicians an “emeritus” medical license without continuing education requirements, The Gazette reported July 13.
Iowa ranks 44th in the nation for its doctor-to-patient ratio and is projected to be short more than 1,600 physicians by 2030, according to the Cicero Institute, a public policy organization cited in the report. About one-fifth of the state’s physicians are already past retirement age, per Association of American Medical Colleges data cited in the report.
A bill signed into law last month, Senate File 469, allows physicians 60 and older to apply for an emeritus license that lets them keep practicing while teaching and supervising medical residents. The license lasts three years, can be renewed once, and costs $250 to apply for, compared with $500 for a standard license. Unlike a standard license, which requires 40 hours of continuing medical education every two years, the emeritus license carries no such requirement.
Lillian Erdahl, president of the Iowa Medical Society, which developed the measure as part of its Operation I.O.W.A. plan to address the physician shortage, said the group repeatedly heard from older physicians that reapplying for a standard license every two years was pushing them toward full retirement.
“We’re hoping that this will make it easier for physicians to continue in teaching roles rather than stepping completely away from medicine as they near retirement age,” Ms. Erdahl said, according to the report.
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