Grounds for Discipline, Revocation, and Suspension
Statutory grounds
Discipline rests on enumerated grounds in the act, typically: fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining a license; unprofessional conduct; incompetence or gross negligence; conviction of certain crimes; substance impairment; violation of the act or board orders; and failure to cooperate with a board investigation. Learn the grounds as categories rather than memorizing lists, then test each fact pattern against a category.
Range of sanctions
Know the escalating menu: dismissal or no action, letter of concern or reprimand, probation with conditions, suspension (stayed or actual), restriction of practice, civil penalty, required remediation or CE, and revocation. Revocation is not always permanent - most acts permit petition for reinstatement after a defined interval, often several years. A common trap is treating revocation as automatically permanent or treating a stayed suspension as no discipline at all.
Summary and emergency action
Boards generally may act summarily - suspending or restricting a license before a hearing - when there is imminent risk to the public. Understand that summary action is followed by a prompt hearing, satisfying due process. Questions often test whether a hearing is required before an emergency suspension; the answer is usually no, provided a hearing follows quickly.
Collateral and reporting consequences
Discipline may trigger reporting to a national data bank, notification to other jurisdictions, and public posting. Multiple sanctions can run concurrently.
Worked example
A dentist is convicted of a felony unrelated to dentistry. Rule of thumb: most acts list conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude or a felony as a ground, and the board may discipline even absent patient harm; the conviction itself supplies the ground, so the answer is discipline is authorized.