Texas Medical licensure horror stories

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Anyone else having nightmare experience with Texas Medical Licensure and what did you do to get your TX medical license?

My Jurisprudence exam was mis-graded, increasing my processing time. Then they misplaced my fingerprint documentation.

What happened to you, and how did you fix it?

Getting a PA license is just as bad.



The scuttlebutt is that the Texas legislature recently gave the medical board an ultimatum to get the MD licensure done within a certain number of days (I can't remember the exact number). So, the few people that actually did the PA licenses were yanked to go work on the MD licenses and the new graduate PA's are waiting 4-6 months with a completed app to ge their licenses.

My wife graduates in August and we have already planned on it being six months before she can work. I started working less than a month after graduation (2 years ago).

I'm not trying to get into a pissing contest, just bemoaning the ineffeciency of the Texas system. An MD friend of mine waited the better part of a year to get his license. He was licensed in another state. Can you imagine how pissed off he was?

That is very interesting information. That makes sense because the other day I was calling them again checking on my application, and they told me that they had recently ;'caught up' on their backlog, and that things "are moving faster."

I am not sure what system they are using, or what manpower restraints they have but I am 9 months into my process. I have an uncomplicated application, and I am from Texas, went to med school in Texas. I am really surprised at the length of time it is taking. Everyone says that the first application is the worst, then all you have to do is keep it current.

Sounds like the medical board is trying to maintain a monopoly and refuses to add more people to the board to help.

What in the world is a "jurisprudence exam"?

Man, I thought NC was complicated . . .

Originally Posted by Tired

What in the world is a "jurisprudence exam"?

Man, I thought NC was complicated . . .

As one fellow (who matched into the plastics fellowship at Duke - a PGY8 who is NOT a dumb guy) said: "The only thing worse than taking the jurisprudence exam...is taking it twice".

Originally Posted by Apollyon

As one fellow (who matched into the plastics fellowship at Duke - a PGY8 who is NOT a dumb guy) said: "The only thing worse than taking the jurisprudence exam...is taking it twice".

Is it some kind of test on medical law? I'm so confused.

Originally Posted by Tired

Is it some kind of test on medical law? I'm so confused.

Yes. Lots of states have them in one form or another but the TX one is supposedly the biatch mother of all of them and makes in-training exams seem like the first question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

OR has one but it's 22 questions and all the correct answers are in the PDF handout that comes w/ the exam, verbatim. You just copy and past the last 4 or 5 words of the question in the "Find" box and you get your answer. Took 15 minutes.

Originally Posted by Tired

Is it some kind of test on medical law? I'm so confused.

It's Texas-specific medical law, quirks and all. People think they can just sit down and blow through it, but you have to read the book at least once.

Heh.. Texas medical law.


Question 1) If ya travel down the road and you see a cow that gored a man, do you:

a) Take out your gun and shoot the cow.

b) Contact 911 and tell them a domestic fight has occured.

c) Check if it was a bull to see if the man deserves a chance to live.

d) Assess the immigration status of the gored man.

Originally Posted by Faebinder

Sounds like the medical board is trying to maintain a monopoly and refuses to add more people to the board to help.

Doesn't every medical board have a monopoly? Is there any other way?

Seriously we all have to remember that the medical boards aren't there to help us or make our lives any easier. Just the opposite in fact, they usually brag to their constituents about how had they make it on doctors. I know mine does. They have radio commercials about how hard it is to get licensed.

They want to make it hard so they can appear to be tough in the “public interest” but they also can’t create a worse physician shortage. Being government agencies they tend to be fairly ineffective and reactionary.

Case in point: a board that I am ... er... familiar with let’s say announced to the public that they were going to institute the toughest continuing education and testing program in the nation. And they did. However, they didn’t publicize that they recognize everyone’s board certification process as fulfilling the requirement. Consequently they enacted and publicized this big program that actually affects only the few remaining non-boarded docs. Smoke and mirrors.

Texas Medical Board emailed me today saying that my app was complete
1. No need to appear in Austin
2. Would I like a temporay license?
3. My name is on the list for the april 10 meeting for permanent licensure.

wow...thank God....

Originally Posted by Apollyon

It's Texas-specific medical law, quirks and all. People think they can just sit down and blow through it, but you have to read the book at least once.

Pharmacy law in Texas is just as painful. Although it's gotten a bit better. For a while there it was quite the high-wire act to practice without breaking the law in some form or fashion.

Mine went through slowly but without problems.

My friend took the jurisprudence exam and was told she failed. So she spent all of her spare time studying to take it again, on a rotation that is supposed to be light and easy. Two days before she was supposed to take it again, she got a letter that said they misgraded it and that she passed. Of course, by this point the 80 bucks she had paid for test #2 was non-refundable.

We've also had problems with the board issuing training permits. In July we had an intern and a new PGY2 who hadn't yet been issued permits, so they couldn't start rotations and we had to pull residents from non-call months to cover their call. Later this year we accepted two PGY2 transfers. One was at a program in another state that was closing, so there was no reason for there to be any red flags. She couldn't start for six months because it took the board that long to issue a training permit. The other transfer was never issued her permit.

Our program director (psychiatry) then decided to do a grand rounds on "what's up with the TMB?" and presented even more horror stories. Such as a resident who listed that he had major depression. Simple MDD without psychosis or suicide attempts substance use or medical leaves of absence, that had responded well to meds. The resident had to pay $4K for a forensic psychiatric eval and pee in a cup at random intervals to please the board. Just ridiculous.

Man, I have never been so glad in my life to be a Pennsylvanian. No exams, no "do you have a mental illness" (they do ask about d&a), just send them the paperwork and all the normal verification stuff, pay your money and there you go. And I had it within a month.

I was underemployed for 8 months because of the folks at the licensing board.

I hate them.

I finished residency is good standing, had a job lined up, and those ijiots kept me sitting on my backside. For almost a year. I had to sell my car and take a temp job. As a secretary.

I hate them.

Never trust the TSMB. Until the license is in your hand, confirm everything, always.

I wonder if you could sue them for the delay claiming damages. If I were in your position, I would consult a lawyer on it. Make them at least suffer some of the suffering they pass over.

Supposedly, this is our price for tort reform. The word is that because of tort reform, there are a lot of docs moving to Texas, and the increase in applications has caused the backlog. Whatever.

Originally Posted by timtye78

Texas Medical Board emailed me today saying that my app was complete
1. No need to appear in Austin
2. Would I like a temporay license?
3. My name is on the list for the april 10 meeting for permanent licensure.

wow...thank God....

When did you have all of your stuff submitted? I passed the jurisprudence exam and had all of my information in by the end of January and I haven't heard anything yet. I'm an American grad currently licensed in another state and I have an uncompilcated application.

thanks

Originally Posted by Hurricane

Supposedly, this is our price for tort reform. The word is that because of tort reform, there are a lot of docs moving to Texas, and the increase in applications has caused the backlog. Whatever.

That's pretty damn good for the patients/public/hospitals. Let some other more stupid state suffer lack of physicians. I think the medical board of texas is just afraid of competition and as I stated before, they want a monopoly.

Aha, found the NYT article about the TMB backlog.

Originally Posted by ajlmd

When did you have all of your stuff submitted? I passed the jurisprudence exam and had all of my information in by the end of January and I haven't heard anything yet. I'm an American grad currently licensed in another state and I have an uncompilcated application.

thanks

They emailed me on Jan 30th telling me my file was complete. Then they lost my fingerprint papers. They apologized, and about mid to late Feb they said 'now' my file was complete. So I would have to say Mid Feb my file was complete according to them.

I would advise calling them directly. There is no penalty for getting them to tell you where you stand in the process.

Texas licensure is apparently possible. Just get it going early. On their website, I found out that two years ago they had 2000 odd applicaions. It said in 2007, there were over 4000 applications for Texas Medical Licensure. Somewhere it said they had a staff of 18 handling it all. My guess is they do have a lot of apps for whatever reason, be it Tort reform, or Hurricaine Katrina. So if everything goes well for me as planned, it will have taken my application around ten months from app to issue.

If you are considering Texas, you need to apply almost a year in advance, even with an uncomplicated app. Have a backup job in case the license doesn't come through. My attending from TX told me years ago to apply for Texas WAY before you think you will need it. I have heard many stories while interviewing in Texas about people who they try to hire who show up at the end of residency (with no license) and then they sometimes completely lose their opportunity due to this. Everyone at every interview asked me quickly-
"Where are you at in your Texas license process?"

All that being said, I still won't be totally relaxed until I have a license number from TX. Although I am a lot less worried at this point. Fingers crossed...

Originally Posted by timtye78

If you are considering Texas, you need to apply almost a year in advance, even with an uncomplicated app. Fingers crossed...

Well, I just got home from taking the JP exam, and all the rest of my stuff has been submitted for about 6 weeks, including fingerprints. I hope it's early enough, seeing as it is August 21st, and I'd like to start a job in early July. I'd LOVE to be able to tell prospective employers that I have that Texas license in my hot little hand when they ask

Hurricane is correct. Attending docs moving there in increasing numbers, esp. OB and surgeons, because they are a tort reform state.

bumping an old post to give my Texas license experience...

I paid the app fee and started the process 4.5 weeks ago. I was extremely OCD about getting all my documents ASAP and I sent everything to the TMB via FedEx. It seemed like the LIST website usually posted an item as received 1 day after FedEx delivery. I had my fingerprints scanned at one of the IBT fingerprint scan centers in Texas during my interview trip, and in approximately 1 week the LIST system had the results. I crammed for the JP exam for 1 week during my Q3 Trauma rotation and passed it. The day after I passed the JP exam, I received a message in the LIST system that my application was complete. A few days later I received a message that everything was acceptable and my name was on the list for permanent licensure. So the board met this week and I now have a license. The board meets every 2 months, so obviously it was just lucky that I happened to be complete days before the board meeting.

This was much smoother than I ever could have imagined after reading this thread. So *maybe* the process is improving...

Originally Posted by jaeida8

bumping an old post to give my Texas license experience...

I paid the app fee and started the process 4.5 weeks ago. I was extremely OCD about getting all my documents ASAP and I sent everything to the TMB via FedEx. It seemed like the LIST website usually posted an item as received 1 day after FedEx delivery. I had my fingerprints scanned at one of the IBT fingerprint scan centers in Texas during my interview trip, and in approximately 1 week the LIST system had the results. I crammed for the JP exam for 1 week during my Q3 Trauma rotation and passed it. The day after I passed the JP exam, I received a message in the LIST system that my application was complete. A few days later I received a message that everything was acceptable and my name was on the list for permanent licensure. So the board met this week and I now have a license. The board meets every 2 months, so obviously it was just lucky that I happened to be complete days before the board meeting.

This was much smoother than I ever could have imagined after reading this thread. So *maybe* the process is improving...

good to hear.. i just finished the TMJ exam.. and i plan on fedex-ing everything in a couple days