84 P. 33 | Idaho | 1906
— The plaintiff, J. J. Raaf, applied to the State Board of Medical Examiners on October 1, 1904, for a license to practice medicine and surgery under the laws of this state, and on the fourth and fifth days of October, took the examination as provided by law. On the twenty-sixth day of October he was notified by the board that he had failed f;o pass the examination for the reason that he had only an
The defendant board answered denying the allegations of the complaint. On the trial of the case the plaintiff in the lower court introduced a number of exhibits containing the questions and answers of four of the applicants (including himself) who were examined at the same time and used the same list of questions as the plaintiff, showing the questions propounded to the applicants and the answers given thereto by each applicant and the markings or gradings given thereon by the board on the various subjects, and also showing what purported to be authoritative text-book answers to the several questions. The court also had before it the full list of questions and answers, together with the gradings or markings allowed and made by the board for the entire class of twenty-one applicants. After the hearing and examination of these various questions and answers and comparison with the purported text-book answers, the trial court made and rendered his decision wherein he found that the markings and gradings as given the applicant by the board made a general average of fifty-six and three-tenths per cent of correct answers. The court appears to have re-examined all the answers given by the plaintiff and re-marked and graded him on all the various branches, and from such re-rating, marking and grading, the court concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to a rating of sixty-nine per cent. The court, however, makes the following further finding: “But the court further finds that on the subject of pathology the questions were of such a nature as to demand the knowledge of specialists, and were therefore not of the character contemplated by the statute. The court therefore rejects this branch in ascertaining plaintiff’s average. On discarding this branch, plaintiff’s standing is seventy-three and forty-eight one-hundredths per cent, which is less than the percentage required by statute.” The court thereupon concludes as a matter of law “that plaintiff did not pass said examination and is not entitled to practice medicine in the state of Idaho.” After the findings and
The errors assigned by the appellant in this court are all directed to the action of. the trial court in finding that appellant was entitled to certain ratings or gradings in the various branches in which he was examined. It is the appellant’s contention that the grades allowed are too low and below that to which he was rightfully entitled. The respondent, the medical board, contends, upon the very threshold of this case, that the trial court had no jurisdiction to review and reexamine the answers given by the applicant and to re-grade and re-rate him thereon. The board contends that the matter of examining an applicant with a view to granting him a license to practice medicine and surgery within this state has been by the legislature referred to a board composed of persons learned in the profession, and for that reason specially fitted and qualified to examine and ascertain the qualifications and fitness of applicants to practice that profession in this state. The board contends that its determination as to the moral standing, qualifications and fitness of an applicant to entitle him to a license is final and not subject to reconsideration and re-examination or review by the courts.
It becomes necessary for us to first determine the question of jurisdiction, and if we should conclude that the position taken by counsel for the respondent is correct, the inquiry in this ease would be concluded. The act of March 3, 1899, known as the state medical law, provides for a board of six members, each of whom shall be graduates of reputable medical colleges or universities in good standing, and learned and skilled in the theory and practice of medicine and surgery. Section 3 of the act authorizes each member of the board to administer oaths, and provides that “the board shall have authority to take testimony whenever the same is necessary in any manner relating to its official acts or duties.” Section 6 authorizes and directs the board to examine all applicants
In answer to the contention made by the board that the inquiry is limited to the authority of the board to act in the particular manner it has acted, appellant urges that the medical board exercises purely ministerial functions and is not vested with any discretionary or judicial power, and that the writ of review will only lie to review the excessive jurisdiction assumed by a board or tribunal which exercises judicial functions. A careful examination of the powers and authority granted the board will at once disclose the fact that it is called
In People v. Dental Examiners, 110 Ill. 180, the court said: “Whether a college be reputable or not, is not a legal question, but a question of fact. So, also, are the requirements in regard to the annual delivery of full courses of lectures and instruction. These questions of fact are, by the act, submitted to the decision of the board — not in so many words, but by the plainest and most necessary implication. Their action is to be predicated upon the existence of the requisite facts, and no other tribunal is authorized to investigate them, and of necessity, therefore, they must do so. The act of ascertaining and determining what are the facts is in its nature judicial. It involves investigation, judgment and discretion.”