AN ACT Relating to dental licensure through completion of a residency program; and reenacting and amending RCW 18.32.040.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1.  RCW 18.32.040 and 2005 c 454 s 2 and 2005 c 274 s 222 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

The commission shall require that every applicant for a license to practice dentistry shall:

(1) Present satisfactory evidence of graduation from a dental college, school, or dental department of an institution approved by the commission;

(2) Submit, for the files of the commission, a recent picture duly identified and attested; and

(3)(a) Pass an examination prepared or approved by and administered under the direction of the commission. The dentistry licensing examination shall consist of practical and written tests upon such subjects and of such scope as the commission determines. The commission shall set the standards for passing the examination. The secretary shall keep on file the examination papers and records of examination for at least one year. This file shall be open for inspection by the applicant or the applicant's agent unless the disclosure will compromise the examination process as determined by the commission or is exempted from disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.

(b) The commission may accept, in lieu of all or part of the written examination required in (a) of this subsection, a certificate granted by a national or regional testing organization approved by the commission.

(c) The commission shall accept, in lieu of the practical examination required in (a) of this subsection, proof that an applicant has satisfactorily completed a ((postdoctoral dental residency program)) general practice residency or advanced education in general dentistry residency program in Washington state accredited by the commission on dental accreditation of the American dental association ((and approved by the commission)), of at least one ((to three)) year's duration((, in a community health clinic that serves predominantly low-income patients or is located in a dental care health professional shortage area in this state, and that includes an outcome assessment evaluation, other than the western regional examining board's clinical examination, assessing the resident's competence to practice dentistry. The commission shall develop criteria, consistent with the standards of the commission on dental accreditation of the American dental association, for community clinics to use when sponsoring students in a residency program under this subsection, including guidelines for the proper supervision of the resident and measuring the resident's competence to practice dentistry)).

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