A California medical resident was applying for his Physician and Surgeon's Certificate. Question No. 55 on the Medical Board's application form asked for disclosure of all criminal offenses, including felonies, misdemeanors and infractions, except for charges "dismissed under section 1000.3 of the California Penal Code or equivalent non-California laws". The resident did not know if this meant he had to disclose three offenses committed when he was an adult but treated as a minor relative to alcohol and False I.D. matters that occurred while he was in college in another state. The offenses were adjudicated in a "Deferred Entry of Judgment" process whereby the offenses were dismissed and expunged after one year if no further violations had occurred.
After consulting our office, the resident was assured that the offenses he was concerned about did not need to be reported. However, out of an abundance of caution and in order to avoid scrutiny for possible failure to disclose an offense as a dishonest act, the resident chose to disclose the offenses with an explanation which we helped him prepare. We explained that these criminal records were being disclosed as a matter of transparency by the applicant, but that the Medical Board could not consider the information relative to his license application. The Medical Board thereafter issued a free and clear Physician and Surgeon's Certificate to the resident.