The terms approved school, approved college, approved postgraduate school, or approved training course means, except as otherwise provided by law:

(a) A school, college, postgraduate school, or training course which has been accredited or approved by a professional body or bodies recognized by the Surgeon General for such purpose, or which, in the absence of such a body, meets generally accepted professional standards as determined by the Surgeon General, or

(b) In the case of a candidate who is applying for appointment as a medical officer, any non-approved medical school provided that the candidate has passed examinations given by a professional body or bodies recognized by the Surgeon General for such purpose.

(a) Application form. Every candidate for examination for appointment as an officer shall submit a written application on such form as may be prescribed by the Surgeon General.

(b) Documentary evidence. The application shall be accompanied by such documentary evidence as may be required by the Surgeon General.

Willfully false statements shall be cause for rejection of the application or, as provided in subpart N of this part, for dismissal.

Every candidate for appointment as an officer shall undergo such physical examination as the Surgeon General may direct, and no candidate who is not found to be physically qualified shall be appointed as an officer.

(a) Requirements; all candidates. Except as provided in § 21.54, and as otherwise provided in this section, every candidate for examination for appointment in the grade of junior assistant:

(1) Shall be a citizen of the United States;

(2) Shall be at least 18 years of age; and

(3) Shall have been granted an academic or professional degree from an approved school, college, or postgraduate school, and, unless the required professional training has been otherwise obtained from an approved school, college, or postgraduate school, shall have majored in the profession in which the examination is being held.

(b) [Reserved]

(c) Special requirement; therapists. Every candidate for examination for appointment as a therapist shall have received a certificate from an approved school of physical therapy or an approved school of occupational therapy.

(a) Requirements; all candidates. Except as otherwise provided in this section every candidate for examination for appointment in the grade of assistant:

(1) Shall meet the requirements for eligibility for examination for appointment in the grade of junior assistant;

(2) Shall be at least 21 years of age; and

(3) Shall have had at least 7 years of educational and professional training or experience subsequent to high school, except that a candidate who applies for examination for appointment in the Reserve Corps to serve as a medical or dental intern may be examined for such appointment upon the completion of 6 years of such education, training, or experience.

(b) Additional requirements; dietitians. Every candidate for examination for appointment as a dietitian shall have successfully completed an approved training course for dietetic interns.

Every candidate for examination for appointment in the grade of senior assistant shall meet the requirements for eligibility for examination for appointment in the grade of assistant and shall have completed at least 10 years of educational and professional training or experience subsequent to high school.

No candidate for appointment to the Regular Corps, except in the nurse category, shall be appointed (a) after age 31 to the permanent junior assistant grade, (b) after age 34 to the permanent assistant grade, or (c) after age 37 to the permanent senior assistant grade: Provided, That the Surgeon General may waive these age limitations, subject to other provisions of law, in the case of any officer of the Reserve Corps who is recommended for appointment to the Regular Corps by the Chief of the Bureau to which he is assigned and who has been on continuous active duty for at least two years immediately preceding the date of such recommendation. The age limitations for candidates who have had prior active service in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service shall be increased by the period of such service.

Every candidate for examination for appointment in grades above that of senior assistant shall meet the requirements for eligibility for examination for appointment in the grade of senior assistant. Candidates for examination for appointment in the full, senior, or director grade shall have completed at least 7, 14, or 15 additional years, respectively, of postgraduate professional training for experience. When officers of the Service are unavailable for the performance of duties requiring highly specialized training and experience in special fields related to public health, the Surgeon General may specify that a candidate for appointment to the Regular Corps with such highly specialized training and experience shall be examined for appointment in the full or senior grade upon completion of at least 5 or 12 additional years, respectively, of postgraduate professional training or experience, except that the total number of such appointments during a fiscal year shall not exceed three.

The level of academic attainment, the number of calendar years and the quality of educational and professional training and experience shall be considered in determining the number of years of such training and experience with which each candidate for appointment may be credited.

The Surgeon General is authorized, subject to the other provisions of this subpart to adopt additional standards by which the education, training, and experience required under this subpart, and evidence thereof, shall be of such specific kind and quality, pertinent to the particular profession concerned, as in his judgment are necessary to limit the examination to qualified candidates.

The Surgeon General shall from time to time appoint boards and subboards of officers to consider the qualifications of candidates for appointment as officers, and shall refer to such boards the applications of those candidates who are eligible for examination for appointment. Such boards and subboards shall consist of three or more officers, the majority of whom, so far as practicable, shall be of the same profession as the candidate. The Surgeon General shall prescribe the duties of boards and subboards in relation to the examination process not otherwise prescribed in this subpart.

Officers shall be appointed only to general service and shall be subject to change of station.

If a candidate for appointment in the Regular Corps or an officer of the Reserve Corps on inactive service has passed a physical examination within a period of one year from the date on which it is contemplated that he will be appointed or called to active duty, he shall, prior to being appointed or called to active duty, certify that to the best of his knowledge and belief he is free from all disease or injury not noted in his record at the time of his examination and that he is willing to serve in any climate. If a candidate for appointment in the Regular Corps, or an officer of the Reserve Corps on inactive service, has not passed a physical examination within a period of one year from the date on which it is contemplated that he will be appointed or called to active duty, he may, prior to being appointed or called to active duty, be required to undergo such physical examination as the Surgeon General may direct to determine his physical qualification for appointment or call to active duty in accordance with standards prescribed for original appointment, or he may be appointed or called to active duty after executing the certificate described in this section, but shall be physically examined to determine his physical qualification for continued active service in accordance with standards prescribed for original appointment within a period of 15 days after reporting for duty at his first station.

From time to time the Surgeon General may order examinations to be held in such professions or specialties within professions and for such grades as he deems necessary for the purpose of providing merit rolls of eligible candidates for appointment in the Regular Corps and shall, if a professional examination is to be required, prescribe the subjects relating to each profession or specialty within such profession in which candidates will be examined.

The examination for appointment to the junior assistant, assistant, or senior assistant grade in the Regular Corps shall consist of (a) a written professional examination relating to the fundamentals of the candidate's profession or specialty within his profession and their relationship to the activities of the Service, and (b) an examination as to the candidate's general fitness, which shall include an oral interview, and a review and evaluation of the candidate's academic and professional education and professional training and experience, and may include other written tests to determine the candidate's fitness for appointment as an officer. If an applicant for appointment to any of these grades is an officer of the Reserve Corps who has been on active duty for not less than one year immediately preceding his application, the Surgeon General may direct that the officer be examined as provided in § 21.43.

The examination for appointment to the full, senior, or director grade in the Regular Corps shall consist of a review and evaluation of the candidate's academic and professional education and professional training and experience. The Surgeon General may, however, direct that the examination of a candidate for appointment to any such grade shall also include an oral interview, a written or oral professional examination, or both.

In the discretion of the Surgeon General a candidate for appointment to any grade up to and including the senior assistant grade in the Regular Corps may be required to perform successfully a clinical or other practical demonstration which, if required, shall constitute a part of the professional examination.

The examination of every candidate for appointment to any grade in the Regular Corps shall be rated by a board appointed pursuant to § 21.30 in accordance with such relative values for each part of the examination as are prescribed by the Surgeon General. No candidate who receives a final rating below 80 shall be appointed in the Regular Corps.

Each board appointed pursuant to § 21.30 to consider the qualifications of candidates for appointment as officers shall assign a numerical rating to each candidate for appointment in the Regular Corps who passes the examination, and shall submit a report to the Surgeon General of the ratings and the relative standing of all such candidates for each grade in each profession or specialty within a profession. The Surgeon General shall submit each such report with his recommendations to the Secretary, and, if approved by the Secretary, the report shall constitute a merit roll from which the Secretary shall, in accordance with relative standing, recommend available persons to the President for nomination as commissioned officers of the Regular Corps. A board may consider any newly discovered evidence relating to the physical, professional, or personal qualifications of any candidate examined for appointment. Upon recommendation of such board after review of such evidence, the Surgeon General, with the approval of the Secretary, may correct the rating of a candidate or may qualify or disqualify a candidate. The placing of a candidate's name on a merit roll shall give no assurance of an appointment. A merit roll shall expire when a new merit roll in the same profession or specialty within a profession and grade has been established, but no merit roll shall continue in effect longer than two years after its approval by the Secretary. Every candidate who has not been nominated by the President for appointment prior to the expiration of a merit roll on which his name appears, shall, unless he requests the opportunity to be reexamined, be rated with the next group of candidates of the same profession or specialty within a profession for appointment in the same grade and shall be given the same rating he had on the expired merit roll. If two candidates who were examined at the same time receive the same numerical rating the elder candidate shall assume relative standing on the merit roll over the younger candidate. If a candidate whose name is being transferred from an expired to a new merit roll has the same numerical rating as a candidate whose name is being placed on the new merit roll for the first time, the former shall assume relative standing on the merit roll over the latter. The name of a candidate may be removed from a merit roll in the event that he refuses an appointment when offered. No candidate's eligibility for appointment shall exceed two years unless he again becomes eligible as the result of another examination.

A potential candidate for appointment in any grade in the Regular Corps may be examined within a period of nine months prior to the date upon which it is anticipated that he will qualify for appointment under this subpart. Upon successful completion of the examination, his name will be entered on a merit roll. In the event that his name, in order of relative standing among all candidates, precedes that of fully qualified candidates, his name, for purpose of appointment, shall be passed over in favor of fully qualified candidates until such time as he becomes fully qualified, but in no event shall he otherwise lose his relative standing on the merit roll, except as provided in § 21.46. If the candidate fails to qualify for appointment at the time that it was anticipated that he would qualify, his name shall be removed from the merit roll.

The Surgeon General may recommend for original appointment in the Reserve Corps candidates who have specialized training or experience in administration and management relating to the functions of the Service. All such candidates shall be subject to the same eligibility requirements for original appointment as are applicable to other candidates, except that such a candidate may substitute experience in administration or management for the requirement of professional training or experience.

If, in time of war or national emergency proclaimed by the President, the Secretary determines that there is need for commissioned personnel to meet the needs of the Service, other than persons eligible for examination for original appointment under the eligibility requirements prescribed in this subpart, he may prescribe standards of eligibility for examination for the original appointment of officers in the Reserve Corps without regard to such eligibility requirements. Such standards shall, however, authorize the examination only of candidates with specialized experience in administration or management or candidates with training or experience in fields relating to public health. The permanent grade of an officer who becomes eligible for examination for appointment pursuant to such standards and who becomes eligible for appointment after passage of an examination shall be limited to the junior assistant or the assistant grade, except that, if upon examination a candidate is found to be exceptionally qualified for the performance of highly specialized duties with the Service pursuant to § 21.55, he may be recommended for appointment to any grade up to and including the director grade.

The examination of candidates for original appointment as officers to any grade in the Reserve Corps shall consist of a review and evaluation of their academic and other education and their training and experience. In the discretion of the Surgeon General the examination of any such candidate may include an oral interview, a written examination, or both.

A potential candidate for appointment in the Regular Corps who is pursuing a course of instruction which, upon completion, would qualify him under § 21.25 or § 21.26 for examination for appointment in the junior assistant or assistant grade may be examined for and appointed in the Reserve Corps in the junior assistant grade but shall not be called to extended active duty until the successful completion of such course of instruction, except that: (a) He may be called to active duty for purposes of training for periods not to exceed 120 days during any fiscal year, and (b) those students who have completed at least 3 years of collegiate or professional study leading to the qualifying degree for appointment may be called to active duty for the purpose of completing the requirements of § 21.25(a)(3). An appointment made under this subpart shall be terminated upon the officer's failure to continue a full-time course of study or failure to meet the requirements of § 21.25(a)(3) within 18 months after entering on active duty.

Any candidate eligible for examination for appointment in the grade of assistant pursuant to § 21.26 who, upon examination for such purpose, is found exceptionally qualified for the performance of duties requiring highly specialized training or experience may be recommended for appointment in the Reserve Corps in any grade up to and including the director grade without regard to the additional years of postgraduate training or experience prescribed for grades above the assistant grade.

An officer of the Reserve Corps, after being examined and found qualified for reappointment, may be recommended for reappointment to the same grade in the event that his commission expires before he becomes eligible for reappointment to a higher grade, or may be recommended for reappointment to a higher grade to be effective on or after the date on which he meets the qualifications prescribed in this subpart for original appointment to such higher grade.

The examination of an officer of the Reserve Corps on active duty who is being considered for reappointment in such corps shall consist of a review and evaluation of his record with the Service. The examination of an officer of the Reserve Corps on inactive duty who is being considered for reappointment in such corps shall consist of (a) a review and evaluation of his record with the Service while on active duty, if any, and (b) the record of his training or experience during the period of his inactive duty preceding such examination. In the discretion of the Surgeon General the examination for reappointment of an officer, whether on active or inactive duty, may include an oral interview.

Every officer of the Reserve Corps being considered for reappointment shall undergo such physical examination as the Surgeon General may direct. An officer on active duty may be recommended for reappointment unless he is found to have a physical disability which is determined to render him physically unfit to perform the duties of his office under section 402 of the Career Compensation Act of 1949, as amended. An officer may be recommended for promotion only if he meets the physical qualifications for original appointment. If an officer is not available to be physically examined because of circumstances which make it impracticable for the Service to require such examination, he may, in the discretion of the Surgeon General, be reappointed without such examination, but shall be examined as soon thereafter as practicable and his physical qualification or disqualification for continued or future active service shall be determined on the same basis as if the physical examination had been given prior to reappointment.