Physicians and Surgeons

A Physician or Surgeon (M.D.) is an individual issued a license allowing them to practice medicine. A physician may diagnose, prescribe, and administer treatment to individuals suffering from injury or disease.

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Practice Information

Previously Licensed in California

If you previously held a California Physician’s and Surgeon’s (P&S) License, which expired five or more years ago or voluntarily cancelled your license, regardless of when it was cancelled, you must reapply for licensure. You must meet all of the licensing requirements pursuant to Business and Professions Code (BPC) section 2428.

Upon receipt of your application and required fees, the Board will retrieve your previous licensing record, if available, and determine if you need to submit additional documents to verify compliance with the current requirements. In the event the Board’s records do not contain all required documents, the Board may request that you submit additional documents. For more information on what is required to requalify for licensure, see BPC section 2428.

Expedited and Priority Review

The Board may give your application for a P&S License priority or expedited review if you:

Have served as an active-duty member of the United States Armed Forces and were honorably discharged;
Have received and accepted an offer of employment to work in an area of California formally designated as an underserved area or underserved population;
Are going to provide abortions within the scope of practice of your medical license;
Are a spouse of, domestic partner of, or in other legal union with, an active-duty member of the United States Armed Forces who is assigned to a duty station in California under official active-duty military orders; or
Were admitted to the United States as a refugee, granted asylum, or have a Special Immigrant Visa Status.

You must submit the required documentation with your application to receive priority review. Please review required supporting documents on the Priority Review and Expedited Application Process.

How to Apply for a Physician’s and Surgeon’s License

To allow sufficient time for processing and remediating deficiencies, the Board strongly encourages you to submit your Application for a Physician’s and Surgeon’s License six months in advance.

Apply by Mail

To apply by mail, you may submit your application and fees directly to the Board by mailing them both to: Medical Board of California, 2005 Evergreen Street, Suite 1200, Sacramento, CA 95815. Please make check or money order payable to the Medical Board of California.

You must submit:
- Completed Application for a Physician’s and Surgeon’s License (Form L1A-L1E)
- Pay required fees
- Fingerprint Cards or copy of completed Request for Live Scan Service for electronic fingerprints
- Explanation to Application Question (Form EXP), if applicable
- Timeline of Activities (Form TOA), if applicable
- Supporting documents verifying request to expedite the licensing process, if applicable

To complete the application process, you must submit the following to the Board. Contact the appropriate program or organization to proceed with items you are not responsible for submitting directly to the Board.

The certification/examination organization must submit:
- ECFMG Certification Status Report, international graduates only
- Official Examination Scores
The medical school(s) attended must submit all document(s) through the Board’s Direct Online Certification Submission (DOCS) portal, Third Party Services, or by mail:
- Certificate of Medical Education (Form MED)
- Official Transcript
- Certified Copy of Diploma
- Official English Translation, if applicable
The training program(s) must submit all form(s) through the DOCS portal, Third Party Services, or by mail:
- Certificate of Completion of ACGME/RCPSC/CFPC Postgraduate Training (Form PTA-PTB)
- Certificate of Completion of CODA Postgraduate Training (Form CODA1-CODA2), if applicable
- Research During Training Questionnaire (Form RES1-RES2), if applicable
- Current Postgraduate Training Verification (Form CTV), if applicable

Wallet Card and Wall Certificate: Once your P&S License is issued, you may generate and immediately print your own wallet license using the Board's Wallet License Generator. The Board will mail your wall certificate to your address of record within two to four weeks.