I would advise working on your state license 8-12 months in advance of practicing. I remember starting my Texas app in July/August, then having to fly down to Austin on a Monday and flew back to Iowa the same day. Cost too much, took about 5-6 mos. Hospital privs cost about 300/per, also took about 3-4 mos to get. All in all, a painful process.
Luckily, joining a partner meant that I could see patients and bill "incident two (or is it 'incident to')" while my insurance creds slowly came through.