Texas State Board of Medical Examiners

Update 09/15/2007. Mail losses at the Texas Medical Board seems to be very high this month. We are having to have verifications re-sent multiple times via Fedex to no avail. When we call the Texas Board to verify receipt we have been told that it did not matter that we could prove that someone from the Board signed for the package. Basically "Tough Luck - Send it again".

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 process is  one of the longest licensure processes in the 50 States. Most applicants can expect a 4 to 12 month process to occur before the license is issued. Foreign Medical Graduates will have to wait even longer. Application reviews are taking between 3 to 5  months to complete with the Texas Medical Board.

 All applications have to go through two different reviews. The first occurs once the application and all verifications are received by the Screen-CIC department. CIC clears the application to be assigned to a Licensure Specialist on the Texas Board. It typically takes 4 to 8 weeks to have all of the verifications forwarded to the Texas Board. Once all have been received then the application is then forwarded to the Licensure Specialist. The Licensure Specialist will then review the verifications to determine if they are properly completed by the third party. The Specialist typically will find one or two that are not properly completed and thus will require that the third party complete them again. At the same time the doctor is instructed to set up and take the Jurisprudence Examination. It typically takes 2 to 4 weeks for the application to be cleared by the Specialist if everything is in order. Once the Specialist clears the application then the doctor is notified that he/she will have to travel to Austin, Texas for a personal interview. After the interview, the application is then submitted to the full Medical Board for approval. The Board meets once every two months.  The process listed above entails everything being completed without any issues, mistakes, or errors.

The Jurisprudence Examination is a formal exam which does require some preparation by the Doctor. If you fail the examination 3 times then the board will clear you at the next board meeting.

Texas has a 3 attempt limit on the USMLE for each Step. They also have a 7 year limit on the passing of all three steps. It is 10 years if you are board certified. 

If you haven't taken a Board Specialty Examination  ( www.abms.com ) in the past 10 years or a written board examination, SPEX, USMLE, LMCC, then you will be required to pass the SPEX examination.

Foreign Medical Graduates are required to provide a copy of their license certificate from the country in which they graduated. If they cannot provide this then a letter must be obtained from the licensing board in the country of their graduation demonstrating their eligibility to be licensed. This is no easy matter for many of the countries in question.