Chapter XVI: Act 1877: 78, c. 918, s. 7, from obtaining new certificates (6)

No person is entitled to be registered or to receive a license to practise unless he satisfy the board that he has passed the matriculation or preliminary examination; that after passing such examination he has followed his studies during a period not less than four years (one of which may be under the direction of one or more general practitioners duly licensed); that during such four years he has attended at some university, college, or incorporated school of medicine in good standing, courses of lectures amounting together to not less than twelve months on general anatomy, on practical anatomy, on surgery, on the practice of medicine, on midwifery, on chemistry, on materia medica and pharmacy, and on the institutes of medicine or physiology, and one three-months’ course of medical jurisprudence; that he has attended the general practice of a hospital in which are not less than fifty beds under the charge of not less than two physicians or surgeons, for a period of not less than one year or two periods of not less than six months each; that he has also attended two three-months’ courses or one six-months’ course of clinical medicine, and the same of clinical surgery; that he has, after an examination in the subjects of the course, obtained a degree or diploma from such university, college, or incorporated medical school, or, for want of such degree or diploma, that he has satisfactorily passed an examination in the various branches hereinbefore specified before examiners to be appointed by the provincial medical board; that he is not less than twenty-one years of age; and that he has paid the registrar twenty dollars.

The provincial medical board has power, subject to the approval of the governor in council, to make such alterations in the foregoing curriculum as may from time to time be required (_ib._, s. 9).

The last preceding section does not apply to any person in actual practice duly registered under chap. 56 of Revised Statutes, 3d series; such persons are entitled to be registered and receive a license to practise under this chapter without fee. Notwithstanding such section, any person on producing to the said board conclusive evidence that he has passed a matriculation or preliminary examination such as is required for persons beginning their medical studies in Nova Scotia; that he has, before graduating or taking a diploma, studied for at least four years in the manner provided in sec. 9 or pursued what the board deem an equivalent course of study, and has passed a final examination in the subjects of such course; or, for the want of any of such requirements, shall have fulfilled such conditions as the board may determine and shall pay a fee of twenty dollars, shall be entitled to be registered and to receive a license to practise (_ib._, s. 10).

POWERS OF BOARD.—The said board among other powers has the power to examine all degrees, diplomas, licenses, and other credentials presented or given in evidence for the purpose of entitling the owner to practise in Nova Scotia; and to oblige the owner to attest on oath, or by affidavit, that he is the person whose name is mentioned therein, and that he became possessed thereof honestly; to cause every member of the profession practising in Nova Scotia to enregister his name, age, place of residence, place of nativity, date of license or diploma, and the place where he obtained it, in the register of the board; to appoint medical examiners to hold final examinations, such examiners to be regular qualified practitioners of not less than five years’ professional standing, and three years’ residence in the province (_ib._, s. 12).

REGISTER.—The registrar is required to keep his register correct, and to erase the names of all registered persons who shall have died, left the province without any intention of returning, or ceased to practise for five years, and to make from time to time the necessary alterations in the addresses or qualifications of persons registered. A name erased is required to be restored by the order of the board upon sufficient cause duly shown (_ib._, s. 15).

NEGLECT TO REGISTER.—Persons entitled to register and neglecting or omitting to register are not entitled to any of the rights or privileges conferred so long as the neglect or omission shall continue (_ib._, s. 16).

THEORIES OF MEDICINE OR SURGERY.—No person shall be refused registration or a license on account of the adoption or the refusal to adopt the practice of any particular theory of medicine or surgery. In case of such refusal the party aggrieved has the right to appeal to the governor in council, who, on due cause shown, is required to issue an order to the board to register the name of such person and to grant him a license (_ib._, s. 17).

POWERS OF REGISTRAR.—No qualification is entered unless the registrar is satisfied by proper evidence that the person claiming is entitled to it, and any appeal from the decision of the registrar may be decided by the board, and any entry proving to the satisfaction of the board to have been fraudulently or incorrectly made may be erased from the register by order in writing of the board (_ib._, s. 18).

FORFEITURE OF RIGHTS.—A medical practitioner convicted of felony or, after due inquiry, judged by the board to have been guilty of infamous conduct in any professional respect, thereby forfeits his right to registration, and if registered his name shall, by the direction of the board, be erased from the register (_ib._, s. 19).

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.—A registered person may have a higher degree or an additional qualification obtained by him, inserted in the register in substitution for or in addition to a qualification previously registered, on the payment of such fee as the board may appoint (_ib._, s. 20).

RIGHTS OF REGISTERED PERSONS.—Every registered person is entitled according to his qualifications to practise medicine, surgery, or midwifery, or either or any of them as the case may be, and to demand and receive reasonable charges for professional aid, advice, and visits and the cost of any medicine or any medical or surgical appliances rendered or supplied by him to his patients (_ib._, s. 21).

No person is entitled to recover such charge unless he shall prove on the trial that he is registered under this chapter. This does not interfere with the sale by qualified druggists or chemists of articles properly belonging to their business (_ib._, s. 22).

DEFINITION.—The words “legally qualified medical practitioner” or “duly qualified medical practitioner,” or any other words importing a person recognized by law as a medical practitioner or a member of the medical profession, when used in any act of the legislature or legal or public document mean a person registered under this chapter (_ib._, s. 23).

UNREGISTERED PERSONS.—No person shall be appointed as a medical officer, physician, or surgeon, in any branch of the public service, or in any hospital or other charitable institution, unless he be registered under the provisions of this chapter (_ib._, s. 24).

No certificate required from any physician or surgeon or medical practitioner is valid unless the signer be registered (_ib._, s. 25).

OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.—For a person without registration or license to practise physic, surgery, or midwifery for hire, gain, or hope of reward, or wilfully or falsely pretend to be a physician, doctor of medicine, surgeon, or general practitioner, or to take or use any name or description implying or calculated to lead people to infer that he is registered, or to profess by public advertisement, card, circular, sign, or otherwise to practise physic, surgery, or midwifery, or to give advice therein or in anywise to lead people to infer that he is qualified to practise physic, surgery, or midwifery, is punishable with a forfeiture of $20 for each day that he so practises or leads people to infer that he is practising (_ib._, s. 26).

On trial of such cause the burden of proof as to the license or right of the defendant to practise physic, surgery, or midwifery is on the defendant (_ib._, s. 28).

If a person wilfully procures or attempts to procure registration by making or producing, or causing to be made or produced, a false or fraudulent representation or declaration, he, and all persons knowingly aiding or assisting therein, are each punishable with a forfeiture of not less than $100 (_ib._, s. 30).

To wilfully and falsely pretend to be or take or use any name or description implying registration, is punishable with a forfeiture not exceeding $100 (_ib._, s. 31).

Suits under this chapter are not to be begun after one year from the date of the offence or cause of action (_ib._, s. 32).

EXCEPTIONS.—This chapter does not prevent a competent female from practising midwifery in Nova Scotia, except that she must satisfy the board of her competency, and obtain a certificate from the registrar before she can lawfully practise in the city of Halifax (_ib._, s. 33).

Nothing in the chapter prevents any person from giving necessary medical or surgical aid or attendance to any one in urgent need of it, provided such aid or attendance is not given for hire or gain, nor the giving of it made a business or way of gaining a livelihood (_ib._, s. 34).

Every person residing in the province and who shall have practised therein prior to January 1st, 1850, is entitled on proof thereof to have his name registered and receive a license to practise under this chapter (_ib._, s. 36).

A person while employed in active service in Her Majesty’s naval or military service as a physician or surgeon may practise physic, surgery, or midwifery with (_sic_) registration or license (_ib._, s. 37).

Schedule B of the chapter prescribes the subjects for a matriculation or preliminary examination of those commencing the study of medicine.

FEES.—To the registrar, for registration under secs. 9 and 10, $20.

To the registrar, for a preliminary examination under sec. 7, $10.

For registering additional qualifications, such fee as the board may appoint (_ib._, s. 20).

ONTARIO.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, ETC.—There is a corporation styled “The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario” (Rev, St., 1887, c. 148, s. 2).

All persons registered according to the provincial acts 29 Victoria, c. 34, and 37 Victoria, c. 45, and amendatory acts, are members of said corporation (_ib._, s. 3); as well as all persons registered under this act (_ib._, s. 4).

COUNCIL.—There is a council of said college composed of representatives chosen from every university, college, or body in the province authorized to grant degrees in medicine and surgery, and which establish and maintain to the satisfaction of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario a medical faculty in connection therewith, with five members elected by the registered licensed practitioners in homœopathy, and twelve members elected from among and by the other registered members of the profession (_ib._, s. 6).

No teacher, professor, or lecturer of any such college or body shall hold a seat in said council except as a representative of the college or body to which he belongs (_ib._, s. 6, subd. 2, as amended Act 1893, c. 27, s. 2).

All members of the council representing the colleges of bodies aforesaid must be practitioners duly registered (_ib._, s. 6, subd. 3, as amended Act 1893, c. 27, s. 2).

All duly registered practitioners are entitled to vote at any election for members of the council (_ib._, s. 8).

Any member of the college may have his name transferred from one class of voters to any other on presenting to the registrar a certificate duly signed by the member or members of the board of examiners to examine candidates on subjects specified as peculiar to each school of medicine, testifying that the member so applying has shown a sufficient knowledge of the system of medicine he desires to connect himself with, to entitle him to be admitted to the class he desires, and being so admitted he is entitled to vote in that class only (_ib._, s. 9 [1]).

No member is entitled to return to the class from which he has been transferred without the sanction of the council (_ib._, s. 9 [2]).

The council appoints officers including a registrar (_ib._, s. 13).

The council must appoint an executive committee to take cognizance of and action upon all matters delegated to it by the council or which may require immediate attention or interference between the adjournment of the council and its next meeting, and all such acts shall be valid only till the next ensuing meeting of the council (_ib._, s. 4).

DIVISION ASSOCIATION.—In each territorial division established by the act there may be established a Division Association, of which every member of the said college residing within the said territorial division shall be a member (_ib._, s. 15).

PROFESSIONAL FEES.—The division association may submit to the council a tariff of professional fees suitable to their division, and on the said tariff receiving the approval of the council, signed by the seal of the college and the signature of the president, such tariff shall be held to be a scale of reasonable charges for the division or section of a division where the members of the association making it reside (_ib._, s. 16).

REGISTRATION.—In a register kept by the registrar the council is required to cause to be entered the name of every person duly registered and all persons who have complied with the act and the rules and regulations made by the council respecting the qualifications of practitioners of medicine, surgery, and midwifery; and those persons only whose names are inscribed in the register shall be deemed to be qualified and licensed to practise medicine, surgery, or midwifery, except as hereinafter provided (_ib._, s. 21).

The registrar is required to keep his register correct and to make the necessary alterations in the addresses or qualifications of persons registered. And he may write to any registered person at his address on the register, to inquire whether he has ceased to practise or has changed his residence, and if no answer be returned within six months, may erase the name of such person; the name shall be restored on compliance with the other provisions of the act (_ib._, s. 22, as amended Act 1891, c. 26, s. 9).

It is optional for the council to admit to registration all such persons as are duly registered in the medical register of Great Britain, or otherwise authorized to practise medicine, surgery, and midwifery in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, upon such terms as the council may deem expedient (_ib._, s. 23 [1]).

Any person actually practising medicine, surgery, or midwifery, or any of them, in Ontario prior to January 1st, 1850, and who has attended one course of lectures at any recognized medical school, on such proof as the council may require, is entitled to register (_ib._, s. 23 [2]).

Any person actually practising medicine, surgery, or midwifery according to the principles of homœopathy before January 1st, 1850, and for the six years preceding March 24th, 1874, in Ontario, may in the discretion of the representatives of the homœopathic system of medicine be registered (_ib._, s. 23 [3]).

Any person who possesses any of the qualifications described in Schedule B, dated prior to July 23d, 1870, on the payment of the fee, is entitled to register on producing to the registrar the document conferring or evidencing his qualification or qualifications, or on transmitting by post to the registrar information of his name and address and evidence of the qualification or qualifications in respect whereof he wishes to be registered and of the time or times at which the same was or were attained. No one registered under the acts mentioned in sec. 3 is liable to pay for registration (_ib._, s. 24).

Every person wishing to be registered, and not possessed before July 23d, 1870, of one of the qualifications in Schedule B, must present himself for examination as to his knowledge and skill for the efficient practice of his profession before the board of examiners mentioned in sec. 28, and upon passing the examination required and proving to the satisfaction of the board of examiners that he has complied with the rules and regulations of the council, and on payment of such fees as the council may establish, he shall be entitled to register and in virtue of his registration to practise medicine, surgery, and midwifery (_ib._, s. 25).

When it appears that there has been established a central examining board similar to that constituted by this act, or an institution duly recognized by the legislature of any of the provinces of the Dominion of Canada as the sole examining body for the purpose of granting certificates of qualification, and wherein the curriculum is equal to that established in Ontario, the holder of such certificate shall, upon due proof, be entitled to registration by the council of Ontario if the same privilege is accorded by such examining board or institution to those holding certificates of Ontario (_ib._, s. 26).

BOARD OF EXAMINERS.—The council is required at its annual meeting to elect a board of examiners whose duty it is to examine at least once in each year all candidates for registration in accordance with the by-laws, rules, and regulations of the council; such examinations are to be held at Toronto or Kingston at such times and in such manner as the council may by by-laws direct (_ib._, s. 28).

The board of examiners is composed of one member from each existing teaching body enumerated in sec. 6 and one from every other school of medicine organized in connection with any university or college empowered by law to grant medical or surgical diplomas and not less than six members chosen from the members of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario unconnected with any such teaching body (_ib._, s. 29, as amended Act 1893, c. 27, s. 5).

HOMŒPATHISTS.—Every candidate who, at the time of the examination, signifies his wish to be registered as a homœopathic practitioner shall not be required to pass an examination in materia medica or therapeutics, or the theory or practice of physic or surgery or midwifery except the operative parts thereof, before any examiners other than those approved of by the representatives in the council of the homœopathic system (_ib._, s. 30).

DUTIES OF COUNCIL.—The council is required to make orders, regulations, or by-laws for regulating the register and fees for registration and for the guidance of the board of examiners, and may prescribe the subjects and modes of examination and the time and place of holding the same, and may make all such rules and regulations for examination not contrary to the act as they deem expedient and necessary (_ib._, s. 31).

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION.—Every person registered who obtains a higher degree or other qualification is, on the payment of the fee, entitled to have it inscribed in the register in substitution for or in addition to the qualifications previously registered (_ib._, s. 32).

POWERS OF REGISTRAR.—No qualification is to be entered on the register unless the registrar be satisfied by proper evidence that the person claiming it is entitled to it. Appeal from the decision of the registrar may be decided by the council; any entry proved to the satisfaction of the council to have been fraudulently or incorrectly made may be erased from the register by order of the council in writing (_ib._, s. 33 [1]).

If the registrar be dissatisfied with the evidence adduced by a person claiming to be registered, he has power, subject to appeal to the council, to refuse registration until such evidence is furnished, duly attested by oath or affidavit before a judge of the county court of any county (_ib._, s. 33 [2]).

ERASURE AND RESTORATION OF NAME.—A practitioner is liable to have his name erased from the register where he has been convicted before or after registration of an offence which, if committed in Canada, would be a felony or misdemeanor, or where he has been guilty of any infamous or disgraceful conduct in a professional respect (_ib._, s. 34 [1]).

The council may, and on the application of any four registered medical practitioners must, cause inquiry to be made into the case of a person alleged to be liable to have his name erased under this section, and on proof of such conviction or conduct shall cause his name to be erased from the register. The name of a person shall not be erased on account of his adopting or refraining from the practice of any particular theory of medicine or surgery; nor on account of a conviction for a political offence out of Her Majesty’s dominions, nor of conviction for an offence which ought not either from its trivial nature or its circumstances to disqualify a person from practising medicine or surgery (_ib._, s. 34 [2]).

The council may order to be paid out of any funds at their disposal such costs as they may deem just to any person against whom any complaint has been made, which, when finally determined, is found to have been frivolous and vexatious (_ib._, s. 34 [3]).

When the council direct the erasure of any name or entry, it shall not be again entered except by direction of the council or any of the divisions of the high court of justice (_ib._, s. 35 [1], as amended