State requirements for medical licensure ? for med students,residents,attendings

[MsFutureDr]

I was just reviewing the medical licensure requirements by state on the FSMB website http://www.fsmb.org/usmle_eliinitial.html
I need clarification on how to interpret the information posted on their website. My understanding was after graduating, for those graduate physicians who choose not to specialize, the minimum post graduate training required to practice in the U.S. is 3 years of Family medicine training and you must be board certified in Family medicine . However, i'm looking at the state requirements and none require you to be board certified to practice. For example, the first state on the list, Alabama, requires minimum 1 year post-graduate training to practice in that state? If i'm correct, so for those who are board certified family practioners, is this really a certification to help make the physician more marketable? increase pool of job opportunities across the nation? Hospitals like to promote the fact that their physicians are board certified. Also, if a new graduate physician chooses to complete 1 year of internal medicine training in Alabama, they can practice in that state. However if he/she wants to practice in any U.S. state it's ideal to be a board certified physician? Since some states require 2 and 3 years of post-graduate medical training? I'm confused between what the states require as a minimum post-graduate training to obtain a medical license and what i read on the AMCAS website (a minimum 3 years post-graduate medical training to practice).

I hope that was not confusing. If someone can clarify this for me, i would appreciate it.
Thanks

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[DrMidlife]

The only jobs you can get without board certification are the ones that are hard to fill. Those jobs are hard to fill because they generally suck. Now, if you're passionate about Prison Medicine, go for it, but even then, board certification is going to be needed in the average prison.

This forum is full of premeds and med students and the occasional resident. You'll do better to ask in the physician forums.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DrMom]

Each state sets its own requirements for licensure, so the FSMB site you were looking at is the best source.

Board certification and state licensure are not tied together. There are many states where a physician can be fully licensed without completing residency. That is how many residents moonlight. You can apply for a licence in any state you wish as long as you meet their minimum requirements and go through their application process.

Can you quit residency and work? Yes, but your options are limited and many healthcare organizations don't contract with physicians who are not board certified or eligible to take their board certification exams. Nobody should plan on going through medical school but not completing a residency--it's not a good financial plan and you're not trained well enough to competently take care of anything more than urgent care (and will likely still miss important things in that setting).


And please do not repost this in another forum. This is a premed question and is appropriately placed here.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I was just reviewing the medical licensure requirements by state on the FSMB website http://www.fsmb.org/usmle_eliinitial.html
I need clarification on how to interpret the information posted on their website. My understanding was after graduating, for those graduate physicians who choose not to specialize, the minimum post graduate training required to practice in the U.S. is 3 years of Family medicine training and you must be board certified in Family medicine . However, i'm looking at the state requirements and none require you to be board certified to practice. For example, the first state on the list, Alabama, requires minimum 1 year post-graduate training to practice in that state? If i'm correct, so for those who are board certified family practioners, is this really a certification to help make the physician more marketable? increase pool of job opportunities across the nation? Hospitals like to promote the fact that their physicians are board certified. Also, if a new graduate physician chooses to complete 1 year of internal medicine training in Alabama, they can practice in that state. However if he/she wants to practice in any U.S. state it's ideal to be a board certified physician? Since some states require 2 and 3 years of post-graduate medical training? I'm confused between what the states require as a minimum post-graduate training to obtain a medical license and what i read on the AMCAS website (a minimum 3 years post-graduate medical training to practice).

I hope that was not confusing. If someone can clarify this for me, i would appreciate it.
Thanks

A huge YES to this statement. As Dr. Mom said getting a license and getting a JOB are 2 separate entities. I have yet to see an advertised position that states they will take a physician who isn't BE/BC. Board eligible meaning you have completed residency and are able to sit for the board exam. BC meaning you are board certified. The job pool is huge for FP these days but I tell you the more lucrative areas where its nice to work and nice to live I guarantee the person who did not finish residency will not get a job there. Even with locums most places require BE/BC to even be considered. Do not go through medical school thinking that one year of residency will be sufficient to get a job that will pay your bills. There are no shortcuts and you will be rewarded for time put in.

 

[QofQuimica]

Besides what CB and DrMom already pointed out, even for resident moonlighters, it's getting harder and harder to moonlight before your last year of residency. Some states (including mine) already prohibit PGY2s from moonlighting.

The writing is definitely on the wall here. When my dad got out of med school in the 1960s, he and one of his classmates finished their intern year and opened an office. There was no board certification, and residency was optional. Not now. Definitely not worth starting medical school in the first place if you aren't able and willing to see your training through the long haul (med school + residency).