<p>How hard is it to get Licensed to practice in several different states? Say if my practice is in Maryland but all my family is in Texas, could i get licensed in both states easily or would there be a long, drawn-out process to go through?</p>
<p>It can vary from state to state, depending on the workload of the state licensing board. When you apply for your license, you submit copies of your med school diploma, residency certificates, board certification, etc. EVERY ONE of these pieces of documentation gets independently verified by the licensing board. Filling out the application, sending in the documents and paying the fee are the easy part. It's the verification time at the board that can take months to complete. In California, it can take 6 to 9 months.
My advice is to get licensed ONLY in the states where you really want to practice. If you want to do this so you can care for your family -- don't. It seems noble, but ultimately becomes a bad idea. You have the broadest knowledge at med school graduation, but lose that as you become more specialized in your own field.</p>
<p>Agree. BTW, you must pretty much always keep (and pay to renew) your first license, as the others may be granted on some degree of reciprocity. Unfortunately, it's never enough reciprocity to make the process easy.</p>
<p>All state licensing boards will verify current and past medical licenses you hold or held in other states. For this reason, it can be more convenient to apply simultaneously for all the state medical licenses you will require, rather than applying in succession. In addition to licenses actually issued, some states also require information about license applications in the questions about "application for medical licensure ever been denied." If you start a license application and do not complete it, be sure you can document that you, and not the licensing board, terminated the application.</p>
<p>Some states have more demanding licensure requirements for less recently trained physicians.</p>