Say you get your medical license revoked by the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD). Well, after a few years pass by, you may have to file an Application for Restoration of a Professional License to attempt to get it back. Soon after filing, you may have to present yourself in front of the Board of Regents. Essentially, the fate of your future medical career is in the hands of this Board, so you must do everything in your power to make a good impression. Without further introduction, please follow along to find out what talking points to make at your restoration hearing and how a proficient New York medical license restoration lawyer at Walker Medical Law can help drive these messages home, so to speak.
What issues should I address at my medical license restoration hearing?
Before heading into your medical license restoration hearing, you must practice the three R’s: remorse, rehabilitation, and reeducation. For one, you may express how deeply regretful you are for the actions you committed to cause the loss of your license in the first place. Importantly, you must not blame others for your actions or deflect and claim that you were unaware of the consequences, but rather take full accountability for them.
Secondly, you may have to show that you have participated in rehabilitation programs, especially if your medical license was revoked due to a substance abuse issue. Again, this requires you to admit that you have a problem and are willingly taking active measures to fix it. It may help if you continue to attend counseling sessions or group support meetings immediately before your hearing to prove that you are constantly working on your health and well-being.
Lastly, you may have to exhibit that you have attended and completed Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses during your time away from practicing medicine. This may establish that you are still passionate about your profession and up-to-date on the latest medical information necessary to practice adequately. It may also be beneficial to have evidence of your voluntary participation in community service. This may demonstrate that you continued to be a productive and helpful member of society when you were not working.
How can I ensure that my message gets across adequately?
The Board of Regents may be hesitant to take your words as fact after your medical misconduct incident. This is why we may advise you to bring “backup” to your hearing, so to speak. That is, you may call on witnesses to testify on your behalf. These witnesses may speak on your character and argue that you have shown remorse and taken steps toward rehabilitation and reeducation ever since your license was revoked. Overall, they may state that the Board should reinstate your license because you will serve as a valuable member of the New York State medical community once again.
If you have gotten this far, we now ask you to reach out to a talented OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyer to schedule an initial consultation. Overall, we strongly encourage you to retain legal representation from Walker Medical Law for all your upcoming legal needs.
