Licenses & Boards

State-specific

• • You need to apply separately in each state where you will practice, including telemedicine

  • Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (imlcc.org): 32 participating states (including MI). What this means is that any one of these states can act as the primary state of licensure and source of verification when applying for a license in any of the other states in the compact

If you get your permanent license in MI, it will VOID your educational license (this is not the case for out-of-state permanent licenses). This can create issues with prescribing controlled substances for the rest of residency, as you will not have your DEA yet

Anticipate a minimum of 60-day processing time

Requirements 

• • Varies by state; make sure to look this up

  • In general, you need direct primary-source verification of your 1) Education, 2) Graduate training, 3) Exam scores, 4) References, and 5) current/past licenses

  • You will also likely need your birth certificate, passport, and a passport-quality photo

State-specific

Some states combine the applications for the permanent medical license and the controlled substance license, but they are separate licenses

You need BOTH a controlled substance license (state) AND a DEA license (federal) to prescribe controlled substances. During residency, you have been using your program's institutional DEA license

Federal license

You need BOTH a controlled substance license (state) AND a DEA license (federal) to prescribe controlled substances

You need a permanent license to apply for a DEA license

• • There is a 120-day grace period after receiving your permanent license during which you can prescribe controlled substances without a DEA license. This gives you the ability to prescribe controlled substances during the 6-8 week processing time

Takes around 6-8 weeks to process these applications. Apply as soon as you get your permanent license!!

This is the organization through which you obtain and maintain your family medicine board certification

What do I need for board certification?

• • 1) Medical License

  • 2) CME (see below)

  • 3) Board Exam (see below)

  • 4) Certification Fees

  • 5) Certification Activities (see below)

How much CME do I need to maintain my board certification?

• • 150 points every 3 years

  • Division I points

    • • 75 points MINIMUM must come from this category

      • Includes activities such as grand rounds presentations, residency, fellowship, AAFP/AMA courses, ABFM certification activities

  • Divison II points

    • • 75 points MAXIMUM allowed to come from this category

      • Includes teaching students/residents, completing non-accredited fellowships, reviewing manuscripts (e.g. journal editor), publishing a review or research article

What are my options for the Board Exam?

• • Everyone needs to take the board exam for initial certification

  • Thereafter, you have 3 options:

  • 1) Retake the boards every 7 years

  • 2) Retake the boards every 10 years AND 50 KSA + PI points every 3 years

  • 3) CKSA option: Answer 25 CKSA questions per quarter AND complete at least 1 PI activity per 3 years

    • • This option is nice because you never have to take the board exam again

What are Certification Activities and how much do I need?

• • 50 points every 3 years

  • Certification activities fall into 2 categories: KSA and PI

  • KSA (Knowledge Self-Assessment)

    • • 10 points minimum (of the 50 total points)

      • These activities are located on ABFM's website

      • The KSA activities are online educational modules for further learning

      • The CKSA (Continuous Knowledge Self-Assessment) questions are 25 quarterly questions. If you do this for one year (i.e. 100 questions), you can get 10 KSA points

  • PI (Performance Improvement)

    • • 20 points minimum (of the 50 total points)

      • It is required to "meaningfully particiate" in one PI activity per 3-year cycle

      • These are QI projects

      • See the ABFM page for more information