Licensing Question

[cheezer]

Hi, I'm still 1-2 years from applying but I've been combing this forum and there's one question I haven't had answered.

As someone pointed out to me previously, California (where I live) has a medical board and an osteopathic medical board each giving docs their license. Are these licenses given out based on the degree or the licensing exams someones taken?

i.e. a DO has passed three steps of the USMLE (as well as COMLEX) and wanted to be licensed under the same board as an MD in California.

Yes I'm a premed, I know DO=MD and I'd be a physician but it's just this last issue that bothers me. Why a state would have seperate boards to license their docs seems a bit stupid.

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[builttorock]

Osteopaths get licensed by Osteopathic Boards; allopaths by Allopathic Boards. It goes by degree, not licensing exam. Licensing exam determines type of residency. Osteopaths can take both the COMLEX and USMLE in order to go into an allopathic or an osteopathic residency. Whereas allopaths take the USMLE and are limited to allopathic residencies.

I wasn't sure if using the word "limited" was appropriate, but hey.

 

[group_theory]

Hi, I'm still 1-2 years from applying but I've been combing this forum and there's one question I haven't had answered.

As someone pointed out to me previously, California (where I live) has a medical board and an osteopathic medical board each giving docs their license. Are these licenses given out based on the degree or the licensing exams someones taken?

i.e. a DO has passed three steps of the USMLE (as well as COMLEX) and wanted to be licensed under the same board as an MD in California.

Yes I'm a premed, I know DO=MD and I'd be a physician but it's just this last issue that bothers me. Why a state would have seperate boards to license their docs seems a bit stupid.

States with seperate board of medicine/osteopathic medicine do so mainly for historical reasons

For California, if you try to apply for licensure to the medical board as a DO, they will happily tell you that they have no jurisdiction over osteopathic physicians and will refer you to the osteopathic board, even if you have taken all 3 steps of the USMLE and completed an ACGME (MD) residency.

California is one of the states where the osteopathic board will not accept USMLE for licensure and absolutely require COMLEX (or NBOME or FLEX)

 

[cheezer]

thanks again