When you first decided to go to medical school and become a physician, it’s unlikely you were thinking about burdensome paperwork or the administrative tasks that would follow you throughout your entire career. It is equally likely that you weren’t thinking about the process of acquiring multiple medical licenses and verifying the credentials needed to practice medicine in the first place (in order to subsequently get paid).

Obtaining a medical license may seem overwhelming, both new doctors and veterans alike can certainly attest to this. Every physician is required to get a medical license granted by a U.S. state or jurisdiction before practicing medicine. Medical licensing boards and statutes can vary from state to state depending on each state’s resources, regulations and state laws – making the process even more complex and time consuming.

You are not alone in your frustration.

While there may be a slight trend toward uniformity of state licensing requirements for physicians, automatic reciprocity between state medical boards has for the most part been discontinued. Currently, physicians and medical professionals are required by the state licensing boards to complete individual applications for every state in which they seek to practice medicine in any form, and this includes telemedicine.

The growing demand of telemedicine is real and it’s a good thing. This new approach is becoming an increasingly important part of the American healthcare infrastructure, giving patients the added convenience of virtual physician visits, boosting their care outcomes with many other additional benefits.

If you are considering becoming a telemedicine provider, the more states you are licensed to practice in, the better. Obtaining your telemedicine license in multiple states can make you a more versatile physician with access to more competitive job opportunities with a higher salary or hourly rate potential.

Sounds great! So what’s the problem?

Each state has a licensing board with their own set of telemedicine license requirements. This can be as simple as providing documentation or as time-intensive as writing essays, taking tests, and conducting interviews in-person. Although the varying processes can be confusing, getting your telemedicine license in multiple states will pay off in the long run both professionally and for your patients.

Unlike a driver’s license, a physician’s license is only valid in the state that you have obtained a licensed in. Expanding your telemedicine practice into multiple states will require you to obtain multiple licenses. And unfortunately, every state is different. Requirements are different, application questions are different, processing times are different, continuing education requirements are different and so on.

In addition, the more licenses you acquire, the more complex the application process will become. And if you have any malpractice claims in your history – and many do – that will only further complicate the process, causing delays. And, if you failed to answer the application questions in a way that satisfies the licensing agency (and many do), that can impact your application processing time. And, if your medical school is slow in sending out transcripts, that can slow down the process even further.

There are also states that are historically very difficult to deal with, and others that are not. There are states where it’s easy to obtain a license, and there are states that are very difficult. And if you are in a hurry and need to obtain a medical license rather quickly, there are some states that you’d want to avoid altogether, until you have more time.

If all this sounds intimidating — don’t stress!

Although it’s certainly a good idea to be familiar with the ins and outs of state medical licensing in the area where you’ll be working, we understand that, particularly for physicians who choose to work locum tenens jobs as a lifestyle, keeping track of the ins and outs of state licensing requirements in each and every state you plan to travel is simply impractical.

After all, devoting hours to gathering and submitting the documents necessary for processing your state medical license applications may not be the most productive use of your time. Tracking down contact names, old traffic citations, missing documentation from defunct facilities, military release forms and other items often required by state boards may delay your practice by as much as 6 months or more. The telemedicine licensing professionals at Medical License Pro will work with you to make sure all of your documentation is ready and in the best shape for approval, easing the burden that falls on your shoulders, so can you do what you do best: Focus on the excitement of your new telemedicine position.