The states higher education agency has the legal authority to grant or deny permission to a foreign medical school to operate in Texas, according to an opinion by Attorney General Greg Abbott.

The opinion, issued late Tuesday, comes as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is struggling with the question of whether to allow a Caribbean-based medical school to send students to Texas for clinical training. In a rare split vote following a testy debate, the board voted 6-2 in April to seek an opinion from Abbott.

The American University of the Caribbean on the island of St. Maarten has been seeking permission to send third- and fourth-year students to Texas for clerkships, also known as clinical rotations. Leaders of the states nine medical schools and the Texas Medical Association, which represents physicians and medical students, have expressed concern that allowing the St. Maarten school to operate in Texas would inevitably constrain the supply of clerkships and lead to similar initiatives involving other foreign schools.

Abbott concluded that state law permits the coordinating board to grant a certificate of authority allowing a foreign medical school to operate in Texas, assuming the school meets the boards criteria. On the other hand, Abbott said, nothing in the state education code explicitly prevents the board from denying a certificate on the basis of the applicants foreign location or for any other reason the board deems appropriate.

Attorney general opinions carry the force of law unless altered or overturned by the Legislature or a court.

Dominic Chavez, a spokesman for the coordinating board, said the opinion seems to confirm what Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes believed to be the case. The matter is likely to be placed on the boards agenda for its Jan. 24 meeting, Chavez said.

There could be any number of decisions the board could make relative to it, Chavez said. Its hard to predict what the board would do.

Under the St. Maarten schools plan, students would cycle through various specialties, helping and observing medical personnel as they evaluate and treat patients. The St. Maarten school is owned by DeVry Inc., a publicly traded education company based in Illinois.

We look forward to the boards ultimate decision regarding the American University of the Caribbean Medical Schools request to enable Texas resident students the opportunity to complete third- and fourth-year clinical clerkships back in their home state of Texas, said Ernie Gibble, a spokesman for DeVry.

Paredes and his staff had recommended granting approval with eight conditions intended to protect the interests of Texas medical schools. It would have been the first time the state granted a certificate of authority to a foreign medical school.

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State can let students from foreign medical schools train in Texas, Abbott rules