Licensure Applications, Renewals & Credentialing

Physicians and other licensed health care professionals seeking licensure in the state of Texas may have issues requiring legal assistance.  Some common issues include: a criminal history, prior disciplinary action in another state or in a residency program, substance abuse, peer review or malpractice.  Applicants who do not qualify for a full license may face denial of that license or may qualify for a limited license or permit.  If a denial is recommended, there is an appeal process.

Our Firm counsels clients regarding their eligibility, the licensure application process, and the required documentation required for submitting their applications.  Depending on your answers to the application questions, you may be required to download supplemental forms and submit those as well.  Some forms must be sent to a third party, such as your medical school or liability carrier.  Applicants must also take and pass the Jurisprudence Exam and submit their fingerprints for state and national criminal history background checks.

The Texas Medical Board has a two-step application process that involves screening and licensing.  During screening, the applicant’s documents are collected and the applicant will be updated as to which documents have been received and are missing through the Licensure Inquiry System of Texas (LIST).  Only after all the documents have been received is the application considered “complete” and then the application may be moved into licensing.

During licensing, a Board licensure analyst will review and verify all the information contained in the application and the supporting documentation.  Additional information will be requested by a licensure analyst if the previously submitted documentation is not complete or if the Board has questions.

Although the TMB is legislatively mandated to process all physician licensure applications in an average of 51 days, individual application processing time varies based on the complexity of the application. The processing time clock doesn’t begin until the applicant has submitted all initial documents and has moved to the Licensing phase.  Factors that increase the processing time include answering “yes” to any of the Professionalism questions on the application.