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 if you do not hold a current PTL in California. If you received 12/24 months credit of Board-approved postgraduate training in another state or Canada and are enrolled in a California ACGME-accredited postgraduate training program, you must obtain your P&S license within 180 days from beginning your program. If the P&S License is not issued within 180 days of beginning ACGME-accredited training in California, all clinical activities must cease until the P&S License is issued. The Board considers clinical practice beyond the 180 days unlicensed practice of medicine, and you can be subject to a citation and fine, the denial of your license application, and/or other action.
If you are not enrolled in a California ACGME-accredited postgraduate training program, then you may not engage in clinical practice in California until you obtain a Physician's and Surgeon's License. The Board considers clinical practice without a license as the unlicensed practice of medicine, and you can be subject to citation and fine, the denial of your license application, and/or other action.
If you hold a current PTL, you should apply for a P&S License through the Transition process six months prior to receiving 12/24 months of credit from a Board-approved postgraduate training program.
Note: As a requirement of the initial P&S License renewal, you must provide verification of receiving credit for 36 months of Board-approved postgraduate training.
If your training was part of the MD-integrated Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) postgraduate training program, then you must provide evidence of receiving credit for at least 24 months of postgraduate training accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) to meet the initial renewal requirement. CODA-accredited postgraduate training must be part of an oral and maxillofacial surgery postgraduate training program after receiving a medical degree from a combined dental and medical degree program.