North Carolina Medical Board
North Carolina ranks as one of the more difficult State Medical
Boards. The North Carolina Board Members can be quite arbitrary in their
decisions. Recently we had a physician contact our office to see if we could
help with his North Carolina application. He explained that he was a Radiologist
who was applying to 15 different Medical Boards. A few years ago the Florida
Medical Board issued an administrative fine of $1,000.00 to him when applied for
a license to practice medicine. The fine is quite typical of Florida's process
if a mistake is made on the application. At the time the fine was issued they
told him it was not disciplinary in nature. When he applied to the 15 Medical
Boards he forgot to disclose this in part because of what he was told by the
Florida Medical Board. Of the 15 Boards, which all knew about this after the
Florida License Verification was received, only North Carolina refused to issue
the license. The Board Members of the North Carolina Medical Board, met behind
closed doors and arbitrarily denied him the license. His attorney and the
director of the Board could not believe their decision. As with many
Southern Medical Boards, the decision process over whether to issue a license or
not many times can be based on the personality of the individual board members
and not on the facts of the Physician's credentials.
North Carolina also has a SPEX Examination requirement for
Physicians who have not taken a Board Examination or been Certified/Re-Certified
by a Speciality Board within the past 10 years. They do allow the Physician to
opt out of the SPEX Examination if they have the AMA Physician Recognition
Award.
Here are the basic requirements for Domestic and Foreign
Physicians applying to North Carolina:
| All Applicants: |
| 1 -Medical School Transcripts (Can be
sent with the Application) |
| 2 -All State Physician Licenses |
| 3 - Internship/Residency/Fellowship Verification Forms |
| 4 - All National and State Board Examinations |
| 5 - Medical School Dean's Form (w/photo) |
| 6 - Two Physician Reference Forms |
| 7 - One ten year reference letter |
| 8 - AMA Physician Profile |
| 9 - FSMB Disciplinary Background Check |
| 10 - Finger Print Cards (FBI Background Check) |
|
| International Applicants: |
| 8 -ECFMG CVS Report (Foreign Medical School
Graduates) |
| 9 - Fifth Pathway Form (If Fifth Pathway) |
|