The board shall appoint a medical panel of three (3) physicians not eligible to participate in the retirement system, and no two (2) of whom shall reside in the same grant division of the state. The initial terms of the service of the first three (3) physicians appointed shall be two (2), three (3) and four (4) years respectively, as designated by the board, and thereafter each such physician shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years, except that appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term. The board may remove any member of the medical panel at its pleasure. The members of the medical panel shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the board.
T.C.A. § 8-3408