Residency is Cali

[mickey1t]

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I am considering doing my residency in Cali and I was told that I would need a california medical liscense before starting. Does anyone know anything about this? What have been your experiences in this process?

thanks

 

[pgg]

I am considering doing my residency in Cali and I was told that I would need a california medical liscense before starting. Does anyone know anything about this? What have been your experiences in this process?

thanks

All I can say about California is that if you think you want a license here, you should apply yesterday. The board says 6-9 months to process an application, and they mean it.

 

[mickey1t]

pgg, i saw that timeframe on the website. But i also saw its almost 1000 dollars. Do residency programs typically cover that cost. Do all applicants to Cali residencies get these liscenses before even being accepted??

 

[militarymd]

if you're willing to pay the fee, it is an excellent service.

I've used it twice....made it sooooo easy.

http://www.medlicense.com/http://www.medlicense.com/

 

[nimbus]

When I was a resident in the early 90s, you had 1 year to get your license after you start training in California. I was an intern in NYC, then moved to San Diego for residency. I did not apply for a license until after I started my CA1 year. But I was required to have an active Ca license before starting CA2 year. Bottom line, don't worry about it until after the match. Then your program will give you the necessary timeline. Think about it, almost all interns including those in California are unlicensed because they have not passed part 3. While in training, they practice under supervision under the license of the teaching hospital.

 

[pgg]

pgg, i saw that timeframe on the website. But i also saw its almost 1000 dollars. Do residency programs typically cover that cost. Do all applicants to Cali residencies get these liscenses before even being accepted??

You need a year of postgraduate training before you're even eligible for a CA medical license.

They told me one of the things that delayed my application was that my internship program botched their form, twice. Apparently it wasn't signed by the current program director, and then when they tried to fix that by writing a letter delegating the signature authority to the person who originally signed the form, the wrong person signed that letter. (Is this bringing back fond memories of Bethesda, militarymd? 🙂)

It is expensive ... $493 for the initial fee, and then $4xx or something if you're still in training. I wouldn't expect the program to pay it.

 

[foxtrot]

if you're willing to pay the fee, it is an excellent service.

I've used it twice....made it sooooo easy.

http://www.medlicense.com/http://www.medlicense.com/

Wow, what a group of genius'. I wish I would have known about this months ago.

 

[cchoukal]

You'll automatically get a license through the hospital as a consequence of training there. You will have to get a permanent license at some point, and it will be an expensive hassle (6-9 months, fingerprints, lots of paperwork). At UCSF (and I assume other UC system hospitals), they have a "licensing fair" once a year where they bring in all the required services (state clerks, fingerprint machines) so you can automate the process. From what I'm told, UCSF actually pays for your CA license (for residents; not for fellows, sadly).

 

[lord_jeebus]

I'm at UCSD and they also have a one-stop licensing fair and reimbursement for license and Step III (even if you took it somewhere else as an intern).

 

[scotchnwater]

I'm in the throes of applying for my license here in CA right now so I thought I'd share a few things I've learned thus far:

1) You do NOT need a license to start PGY-1 training in California...that would just be silly.

2) You do NOT need to complete your PGY-1 training to begin to apply - several of my classmates applied last year during our CBY.

3) You DO need to be licensed in order to start your PGY-3 year in CA....and there is a very long turnaround time on the whole process, so many people either already have their things submitted at this point, or are very close.

4) Some programs (like mine) pay for the fees, and some don't. It's certainly worth checking out during interview season, as some of these costs (like Step III, which my program also covers) can get pretty expensive on a resident's budget.