State Medical Board News

Who accepts the Puerto Rico Medical Exam?

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:03:00 +0000

Recently both Washington State and Indiana changed their rules to exclude the Puerto Rico Medical Examination. This took affect May 2008 and April 2008 respectively. Now there is only one State which still accepts the Puerto Rico Medical Examination. That State is Missouri. This was confirmed on 07/15/08 during a conversation with the Missouri Medical Board's manager.

International Physicians - USA Licensing without the ECFMG

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:14:00 +0000

There are only 2 States which will allow an International Physician to license in the USA without an ECFMG Certificate. They are as follows:

California Medical Board
West Virginia Medical Board

All Physicians must have taken an approved examination in order to license. (i.e. USMLE, NBME, FLEX, LMCC, NBOME)

Nevada Medical Board - Licensing by Endorsement

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:20:00 +0000

The Nevada Medical Board is one of the few State Medical Boards which allows Physicians who are only licensed in Puerto Rico to license by Endorsement. The licensure process is contingent upon two issues. One that they are a graduate of a Domestic Medical School. Two that they are Board Certified. If the physician is not a Domestic Graduate, then an ECFMG Certificate will be required.

The Endorsement Process is typically utilized by Physician who have not passed a licensure examination within the past 10 years.

West Virginia Medical Board

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:13:00 +0000

The West Virginia Medical Board moved on 09/16/07 to no longer accept the Puerto Rico Medical Board Examination. Any physician applying to the West Virginia Medical Board will now have to have one of the following examinations:

-USMLE
-FLEX
-NBME
-NBOME
-LMCC
-State Board Examination in one of the 50 States

The reasons put forth were that the Puerto Rico Medical Board examination is given in both English and Spanish (on the same document). We believe that the real reason for this move is the fact that the Puerto Rico Medical Board is under investigation due to fraudulent examination score reporting to 3rd parties.

California Medical Board

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:56:00 +0000

The California Medical Board has a reputation of being a difficult board to apply to. The application process can in some cases take 6 to 12 months. Fortunately, our experience has been that Physicians seeking a license to practice medicine in the State of California typically run between 3 to 4 months. Licensure times can be reduced if the Physician takes a trip to California to have the Live Scan process completed instead of the Fingerprint Cards. Livescan takes 2 to 3 days to run whereas the Fingerprint Cards take 2 to 3 months (if they are not rejected).

All bets are off if the Physician has negatives in their educational, training, or practice history. Then licensure times typically run 6 to 12 months.

Puerto Rico Medical Board - Under Investigation!

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:44:00 +0000

The Puerto Rico Medical Board is currently under investigation by either the FSMB or the Federal Government. A Grand Jury has been interviewing Staff Members of the Puerto Rico Medical Board concerning fraudulent examination score reports. Over the past 2 years, Examination Score reports have been forged and sent out to State Medical Boards, Hospitals, and other Institutions on behalf of Physicians who did not achieve a passing score on the Puerto Rico State Medical Examination. Evidently, the person or persons committing this crime, used the same exam score for all exam reports and only changed the name of the physician on the report. It is not clear as to the findings of the investigation.

The practical issues which this has caused concern the licensure of Physicians coming from Puerto Rico applying to other Medical Boards. The Puerto Rico Medical Board is months behind on the processing of its' mail. All verification requests and examination requests are being delayed. The more serious matter involves the move by West Virginia to reject the Puerto Rico Medical Examination. As with any case of Fraud, it is the innocent who pay the price. Hopefully, Washington State will not move to take reciprocal action.

Texas Medical Board - New Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:18:00 +0000

The Texas Medical Board recently updated their application process. This change will go into effect 10/01/07. The changes include the addition of Fingerprint Cards and an Increase in the licensure fee. Physicians who are going to accept Medicare/Medicaid patients will be given priority over those who are not. Physician who are seeking the Texas Medical License will expect to see licensure times between 3 to 9 months.

Applying to the Florida Medical Board

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:39:00 +0000

The purpose of this article is to address concerns which a physician should be aware of before applying for a Florida Medical License. The Medical Board of Florida has relaxed their process in the past 18 months to the point that it is now possible to have a Florida Medical License in 40 to 60 days. The Florida Medical Board made two changes. The first concerned the verification process. Previously, the Florida Board of Medicine sent all requests out directly to the 3rd parties being verified. This created a inefficient nightmare in which the physician or licensure company tried to act as a third party mediator between two parties. In 2006, Florida changed its' rules to allow the Physician or licensure company to send out all required verification requests. This shaved months off the licensure time. The second change took place in May 2007. Florida now allows applications to be reviewed by a Board Manager and issued internally if no negatives are present. Previously, the application had to be submitted to the full board, which met once a month. This second change now enables applications to be issued within days after they are deemed complete. Our last 5 licenses in Florida have been issued between 45 to 60 days after they were submitted to the Florida Medical Board.

What has not changed is the strict Errors and Omissions policy which the Board Enforces. Any negative information concerning the Physician's back ground which is omitted or misrepresented will result in a Mandatory Board Appearance, additional fines and penalties of $2,000 to $50,000, and possible disciplinary action against the Physician. It is imperative that the Physician answer all questions honestly and accurately on the application. Failure to do such will result in a prolonged licensure process at a minimum.

The Florida Medical License process has become very similar to that of the Medical Board of California's. Physicians which have a clean history will have a pleasant, expedited process. Those which have negatives will experience a process more comparable to that of the Texas Medical Board's.

What can a physician do to insure that his/her answers are accurate? They can order the NPDB-HIPDB (2 copies) before the process begins. Why? The NPDB-HIPDB Report provides a detailed history of all Malpractice Suits which resulted in a monetary settlement or judgment. The NPDB-HIDPB reaches back to the Mid-1980's and will have any such suit in the Physician's history from that time period to the present. The NPDB-HIDPB will also have any disciplinary issues which involve any hospital. Some times our clients do not report issue concerning their employment or privileges. If they would of reviewed the NPDB-HIPDB, they would of prevented this omission or been forced to report it.

Florida is going to receive verifications from the NPDB-HIPDB, all Hospitals where privileges are currently held, all Internships/Residency/Fellowships, all Colleges, all Medical Schools, the FSMB, the AMA, all State Medical Boards where past and present licenses are held, the FBI, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. So if any negative issues exists with any of the above, it will be reported to Florida.

We process over 300 applications a year for Physicians seeking a license in Florida.

Oklahoma Osteopathic Medical Board - Director Search

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:36:00 +0000

The Oklahoma Osteopathic Medical Board is currently seeking physicians who are interested in applying for the position of Medical Director of the Oklahoma Osteopathic Medical Board. All who are interested should review the ad on the index page of MedLicense.com.

Oklahoma Osteopathic Medical Board - Director Search

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:26:00 +0000

The Oklahoma Osteopathic Medical Board is currently seeking applicants for the position of Medical Director. All who are interested should see the ad posted on the index page of MedLicense.com.

Florida Medical License - Becoming one of the top 10 Fastest States

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:36:00 +0000

With the recent changes in review policy which the Florida Board of Medicine implemented, the licensing process which our physicians are experiencing with the Florida Medical Board continues to run between 45 days to 3 months. We recently licensed our second physician in less than 46 days. Florida has a reputation of being a very difficult medical board to apply to but our experience has been for the most part to the contrary. If a physician does not have any negative issues, then the process will be quicker than the national average.

Texas Medical Board - June 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:55:00 +0000

The Texas Medical Board recently updated their licensure requirements for Physicians. Instead of the 10 year employment verification requirement, physicians now only have to verify 5 years. State License Verifications are now a thing of the past. Evidently the Texas Medical Board is just pulling the disciplinary report from the FSMB to satisfy this requirement. Unfortunately the SPEX Examination is still a barrier which continues to exist for more experienced Physicians. The SPEX is an object lesson in lunacy. We had two physicians apply to Texas. One was the Program Director of a Residency Program in New York. The other was a Resident of the Program Director's Residency Program. Texas licensed the Resident in 4 months. The Program Director who taught the Resident took 10 months. He was forced to take the SPEX examination by the Texas Medical Board. He was board certified in Radiology. The American Board of Radiology does not re-certify its' members. They are grandfathered in. As such Texas wanted to make sure that he was "competent". They accepted the Student but doubted the Student's Teacher. I cannot see the reasoning in that but since when has common sense applied to the Texas Medical Board?

Physician Document Management

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:30:00 +0000

After Hurricane Katrina, MedLicense.com was inundated with licensing request from Physicians fleeing the aftermath of the massive storm. Unfortunately, most lost everything in the flooding. This included their medical school diploma, training certificates, board certification certificates, malpractice documents, birth certificates, passports, state license certificates, and all other pertinent documents required during the credentialing process with Governmental Agencies, Hospitals, and Insurance Companies. This presented unique problems with the licensing process for these Hurricane Katrina victims. The Medical Boards were forced to afford these physicians waivers of their mandated document requirements.

Because of this, MedLicense.com began to offer Document Storage Services. Basically, our clients forward to us a notarized copy of all important documents related to the credentialing process. These include Certificates, Diplomas, ID Documents, Court Papers, Board Actions, Criminal Papers, Divorce Decrees, Name Change Documents, Immigration Papers, and etc. MedLicense.com scans each document for permanent storage. All such documents are stored on a CD, a Storage Device, and off site through a secure 3rd party Storage Firm. The hard copies are kept under lock and key in a Dry Room. In the event that a physician credentials with a agency, government, or hospital, MedLicense.com emails the physician packet to the facility and mails a hard copy.

The service is invaluable to those physician who have gone through a disaster, crisis, divorce, or instance which inhibits their ability to access their important documents.

New Jersey Medical Board

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:47:00 +0000

The Residency Rush is over for the New Jersey Medical Board. The majority of physician applying through the June 2007 bubble have now mostly been processed. This will provide for a more expedited process for physicians seeking a New Jersey Medical License. Over the past 2 months, the biggest issue with the New Jersey Medical Board has been having the Board assign a reviewer to the Doctor's file. Now this should occur more rapidly.

North Carolina Medical Board - New Online Submission Application

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:14:00 +0000

The North Carolina Medical Board recently switched to a new online submission system. Unlike other online applications, (i.e. CLAF - Ohio/Kentucky, FCVS, Texas, and etc.), this one is a winner. The information entered into their system is saved for future access. With the File ID # and Date of Birth, the Physician can re-access the application. Once submitted, the NC Medical Board automatically tracks the progress of the application and verification process. The Physician can log on at any time to receive updates. No communication with the NC Board should be needed with most applicants due to this feature. I like the system and the way NC has set it up.

Rhode Island Medical Board

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:37:00 +0000

The Rhode Island Medical Board is one of the few Boards which mandate the use of FCVS. The difference between Rhode Island and other Boards is that Rhode Island will issue the full license without receiving the FCVS packet. FCVS typically takes 4 to 9 months to complete a physician's packet. Rhode Island recognizes this fact and as such allows the Physicians to practice medicine without the completed packet. Once the reference forms/employment verifications, State License Verifications, and other verifications are received, the application is submitted to the full Board and then the license is issued. The New Hampshire Medical Board has a similar policy with the exception that a temporary license is issued once a minimum amount of credentialing has occurred instead of a full unrestricted license.

Indiana Medical Board and Puerto Rico Medical Examination

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:03:00 +0000

I recently had a conversation with the Indiana Medical Board concerning an item found on their Application Instructions for the full, unrestricted physician medical license. The Indiana Medical Board states in their instructions that the Puerto Rico Medical Board Examination is acceptable on a case by case basis. In other words if the Indiana Medical Board believes that the Physician's credentials warrant it, then a license will be issued even if the Physician only took the Puerto Rico Medical Board Examination and not the USMLE, FLEX, NBME, NBOME, LMCC, or SPEX.

I spoke with a Board Manager and was informed that "this was on a case by case basis". She informed me that there was no guarantee of licensure and the physicians credentials, including Board Certification, number of ACGME PGY's, and practice history, would all come into consideration to determine the issuance or rejection of the license.

Mantuve una conversación recientemente con el Consejo de médicos de Indiana con respecto a un artículo encontró en sus Instrucciones de la Aplicación para el médico repleto y sin restricción la licencia médica. El Consejo de médicos de Indiana indica en sus instrucciones que el Examen de Consejo de médicos de Puerto Rico es aceptable en un caso por la base del caso. En otras palabras si el Consejo de médicos de Indiana cree que la autorización credencial de Médico, entonces una licencia será publicada incluso si el Médico sólo tomara el Examen del Consejo de médicos de Puerto Rico y no el USMLE, DOBLA, NBME, NBOME, LMCC, ni SPEX.

Hablé con un Director de la Tabla y fui informado eso "esto estuvo en un caso por la base del caso". Ella me informó que no había garantía de licensure y los médicos credencial, inclusive la Certificación de la Tabla, el número de PGY de ACGME, y de la historia de la práctica, todo vendría en la consideración a determinar la emisión o el rechazo de la licencia.

Medical Board of Puerto Rico

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:05:00 +0000

** In October 2006, the Attorney General of Michigan issued new rules concerning Physician licensed in the State of Puerto Rico. The Michigan Medical Board has decided to refuse reciprocity with the Puerto Rico Medical Board and any physicians who are licensed only with Puerto Rico. What is the impact of this for Puerto Rico Licensed Physicians? For Physician who are graduates of Non-USA / Non-Puerto Rico Medical Schools, they will have to hold a valid ECFMG Certificate. Without this the Michigan Board will not approve the application. For Physicians are who graduates of a Puerto Rico Medical School and only hold a Puerto Rico Medical License, they can apply via examination if they have taken the USMLE, FLEX, NBME, or SPEX examination. The October 2006 ruling is retroactive for all pending applications.

As of October 2006 there are 3 State Medical Boards which will accept applications from Physicians who are licensed in Puerto Rico and have taken the Puerto Rico State License Examination. These are the Washington Medical Board (State), the Indiana Medical Board, and the West Virginia Board of Medicine (WV-if the examinaton was given in English) . Physicians who graduated from a Medical School outside of Puerto Rico, the USA, and Canada will also have to have at least 3 years of Internship/Residency/Fellowship in an ACGME or RCPSC approved program in Puerto Rico, the USA, or Canada. Continued

Al agosto 2005 hay 3 Consejos de médicos del Estado que aceptará las aplicaciones de Médicos que son licenciados en Puerto Rico y han tomado el Examen de la Licencia del Estado de Puerto Rico. Estos son el Consejo de médicos de Washington (el Estado), y la Tabla Occidental de Virginia de la Medicina, El Consejo de médicos de Indiana. Los médicos que se graduaron de una Facultad de medicina fuera de Puerto Rico, fuera de los EEUU, y fuera de Canadá tendrá que tener también por lo menos 3 años del Puestos de interno/la Residencia/la Confraternidad en un ACGME o RCPSC aprobó el programa en Puerto Rico, en los EEUU, o en Canadá. Continuado

Texas Medical Board news

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:04:00 +0000

The process with the Texas Medical Board differs from other Medical Boards. Texas has an online application. As such, clients' of MedLicense.com, must submit their application directly to the Texas Medical Board through the TSBME Website themselves. After the application has been submitted by the Physician to the Texas Medical Board, the Physician will then provide a copy of the printed out submission so that MedLicense.com can requests all of the required verifications on the Physician's behalf. MedLicense.com and other third party licensing companies are not allowed to submit the application for the Physician.

The Texas Medical Board has a reputation for being one of the most difficult Medical Boards to obtain licensure. This reputation is not unfounded. Requirements such as 10 years history verification, Jurisprudence Examination, SPEX, the Double Review Process, 3 Attempt and 7 Year limit on the USMLE, the Form L Process, and the problematic loss of verifications which have been delivered to the Texas Medical Board have allowed the Texas Medical Board to be ranked as the worst Medical Board to apply to by MedLicense.com and most of the medical community. Licensing times average between 4 to 12 months. Compare this to a State like Indiana, 35 to 90 days, and you can see why.

Recently the Texas Medical Board adopted new rules which should lessen the pain for experienced Physicians. Unfortunately the licensure process is skewed to penalize physicians who are overly experienced and have been practicing medicine for more than 10 years. The rule change in question concerns the verification of Work History. Previous to the change, the Texas Medical Board required that all Physician have the past 10 years of Work History verified through the Form L process to the Texas Medical Board. Now the Texas Medical Board has changed this rule to only require 5 years of Work History be verified by the employers and hospitals. For Physicians who have multiple Hospital Privileges or who have practiced Locum Tenens, this can shave months off of the normal licensing times typically experienced with the Texas Medical Board.

To read more about the Texas Medical Board please visit our Free Article Section. You can find the link to the Texas Medical Board by visiting the following link: Licensing with the Texas Medical Board

Florida Medical Board News

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:03:00 +0000

Amazingly, MedLicense.com licensed a Physician with the Florida Medical Board in 43 Days. License # ME 99495 was issued on 07/13/2007. The application was submitted to the Florida Medical Board on 06/01/2007. The verifications (11 total) were requested on 06/03/2007. The last verification was confirmed as being received 06/18/2007. We cannot guarantee that the Florida Medical License licensure times with Florida such as this, but we can guarantee that the same process which achieved these results for our client will be provided to you and your application.

As of May 2007, the Florida Medical Board no longer requires Physicians who have a clean personal and practice history to have their applications presented before the Full Board Meeting. On the surface this might not seem like a big issue but it actually is. The Florida Medical Board will now allow the license to be issued internally once the file clears the 2nd Review (Management Review). Previous to May 2007, the Florida Medical Board required that the doctor's file be completed 2 to 3 weeks before the monthly Board Meeting in order to have the file presented at the Board Meeting. Once the Board approved the application, the Physician had to wait 2 weeks for the license number. Now with the recent changes, the license will be available 4 to 8 weeks sooner than with the old system.

Now Florida has changed their internal process so as to allow the Physician or Licensing Company to handle the Privilege Hospital Verification and Internship/Residency/Fellowship Verification. This is going to shave weeks to months off the licensing time for the average physician. The Florida Medical License typically takes 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 months for the licensing process to work itself out. The reasons in the past have been two fold. The first was the FBI / FDLE Background checks. The Fingerprint Cards take 4 to 12 weeks to clear. This part of the process has not changed. The second reason why was the verification process connected with the Privilege Hospitals and Training Hospitals. Because of the recent change, we expect the licensure time will become more abbreviated when compared to the process before the change.

For more about the Florida Medical Board please visit: Florida Medical Board

South Carolina Medical Board- Mandatory FCVS Requirement

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:26:00 +0000

The South Carolina Medical Board recently instituted a new FCVS Policy. All physicians are now required to set up a FCVS Packet before a full license will be issued. This was placed into effect in 05/2007.

North Carolina Medical Board's new FCVS Requirement

noreply@blogger.com (Medical Mania) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:16:00 +0000

As of June 2007, the North Carolina Medical Board now requires that all physicians applying for a full unrestricted license, whom in the past have set up a FCVS packet, now utilize the FCVS service to verify their core credentials. This requirement is limited strictly to Physicians who had previously set up a FCVS Packet. Those doctors who have not done so will not be required to utilize the FCVS service with their North Carolina Medical Application.

North Carolina now offers an online application. Unlike the Ohio Medical Board and the Texas Medical Board, the online application with North Carolina is optional.

All status reports are now obtained through the North Carolina Medical Board's website.