The world of medical licensure is similar to a jungle—it can big and hard to navigate without some help. Here Barton Associates, our licensing department has the experience needed to guide you through the each state’s licensing board jungle with ease. One obstacle many of our locum tenens physicians face is the board certification requirement. Each state licensing board has different standards when it comes to the types of board certification they recognize and/or require to obtain licensure. Typically, the rule of thumb is that in order to proceed with a license application that requires board certification, a physician must be board certified with the American Board of Medical Specialties and/or one of its sub-specialty boards. A physician that is not board certified has two options:
- The physician can become board certified and complete the requirements needed.
- The physician can take the SPEX exam if they have not taken their medical exam within the last 10 years. The SPEX exam is an exam that tests the physician’s general knowledge of medicine. The SPEX exam is time consuming and may require months of study, which can delay the processing time for an application for licensure.
Our licensing department maintains a database of all the American Board of Medical Specialties that states consider board certified.
If your certification is not on the list, feel free to contact one our Barton licensing specialists. We can assist you in figuring out if you are considered board certified and if the state where you are applying recognizes your board certification. Stay safe out in that jungle, and stay tuned for more to come in Part 2 where we will discuss Federation Credentials Verification Service (FCVS).
