In its 2013 Annual Business Meeting of the House of Delegates, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) made a proposal which would eventually transform into what we now know as the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC). As of this year, over half of US states have joined the compact, and in just 3 years alone between April 2017 and May 2021, a total of 20,061 new Compact licenses have been issued. Thanks to the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), it has never been easier for locum tenens physicians to expedite the process of obtaining new licensure and practice in multiple states.

Click here to take the IMLC quiz.

What is the IMLC? 

 

The application process begins by confirming your eligibility, first confirming that you meet various general eligibility requirements, including that you have passed each component of the USMLE, or equivalent, do not have any criminal history, and more.

Past the requirements pertaining to your education and background, in the easiest way to qualify, you’d have your State of Primary License (SPL) as your state of primary residence for federal income tax purposes. Alternatively the applicant can qualify if they have either a full, unrestricted license from a state that is already a member of the IMLC, or a full, unrestricted license from a state that is not yet a member of the IMLC which can serve as the State of Primary License (SPL).

Past the requirements pertaining to your education and background, in the easiest way to qualify, the applicant has either a full, unrestricted license from a state that is already a member of the IMLC, or a full, unrestricted license from a state that is not yet a member of the IMLC which can serve as your State of Primary License (SPL) for federal income tax purposes.

However, the SPL doesn’t necessarily have to be your state of residence. You can also qualify if any other secondary factors apply, including but not limited to if your employer is located in the SPL, or if 25% or more of your practice of medicine occurs in the SPL.

After taking our quiz to see if you meet any other requirements to qualify for the IMLC not discussed here, the next steps are to submit an application on the official IMLC website, and obtain a Letter of Qualification (LOQ) from your SPL. Currently, 27 states plus the territory of Guam can be declared as a physician’s SPL. The following qualifying states can issue Letters of Qualification to physicians who meet the eligibility requirements:

Alabama	Arizona	Colorado
Georgia	Idaho	Illinois
Iowa	Kansas	Kentucky
Louisiana	Maine	Maryland
Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
Montana	Nebraska	Nevada
New Hampshire	North Dakota	South Dakota
Tennessee	Utah	Washington
West Virginia	Wisconsin	Wyoming

 

Once the LOQ is issued, physicians can apply to any current Compact Member State and obtain multiple additional licenses at once. As it stands today, there are 29 member states and 1 territory that have passed each component of legislation for participation in the IMLC:

Alabama	Arizona	Colorado
Georgia	Guam	Idaho
Illinois	Iowa	Kansas
Kentucky	Louisiana	Maine
Maryland	Michigan	Minnesota
Mississippi	Montana	Nebraska
Nevada	New Hampshire	North Dakota
Oklahoma	South Dakota	Tennessee
Utah	Washington	West Virginia
Wisconsin	Wyoming

There are 4 additional Compact States where the IMLC has passed, but implementation has not yet been successfully completed. These states are currently unable to issue licenses via the standard Interstate Medical Licensure Compact method, but that will change in the near future. These are Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, with the addition of the District of Columbia (DC).

When you’re ready, Barton Associates’ licensing and credentialing teams are here and prepared to assist with every step of the quick and painless process of getting you licensed in multiple IMLC states simultaneously.

Take our quiz to determine whether you qualify for the IMLC method of licensure:

Navigate to our quiz here to determine your eligibility today!