Board of Medicine Licensure Guide

There are two primary ways to obtain licensure as a Medical Physician and Surgeon:

• Accredited - Applicants who have graduated from a school located within the United States and Canada will apply using the obtained by "accredited application."  
• Unaccredited - Applicants who have graduated from an international medical school located outside of the United States and Canada will apply using the obtained by "unaccredited application."

A Medical Physician and Surgeon (MD): 

• Passed a licensing examination acceptable to the Board.
• Graduated from an accredited medical college or from an ECFMG certified unaccredited medical college.
• Successfully completed graduate medical training.
• Practices the art and science of:
  • Curing diseases
  • Preserving the health of man
  • Healing arts, with or without drugs. 

All graduate medical training applications are initiated by the training hospital. When an application is created by the hospital, the applicant will receive an email to log into the PALS licensing system to complete their portion of the application and submit it to the Board for processing. There are two primary ways to obtain licensure as a Graduate Medical Trainee. Applicants who have graduated from a school located within the United States and Canada will apply using the obtained by “accredited”. Applicants who have graduated from an international medical school located outside of the United States and Canada will apply using the obtained by “unaccredited.”

A Graduate Medical Trainee: 

• Perform all of the functions of a licensed medical doctor, under the appropriate supervision, including:
  • Performance of health assessments; 
  • Diagnosis and treatment of health conditions;  
  • Counsel and educate patients about health conditions; 
  • Execute medical regimens as delegated by the supervising physician 
  • Participate in interdisciplinary health care teams and committees to provide patients with the appropriate continuum of care.  

A Physician Assisant (PA-C) may:

Perform duties and responsibilities, as directed by the supervising physician, including the following:

• Ordering, prescribing, dispensing and administration of drugs and medical devices; and
• Ordering, prescribing, and executing of diagnostic and therapeutic medical regimens.

Provide any medical service as directed by the supervising physician when the service is:

• Within the physician assistant’s skill, training and experience;
• Forms a component of the supervising physician’s scope of practice,
• Is included in the written agreement; and 
• Is provided with the amount of supervision in keeping with the accepted standards of medical practice.
• Pronounce death, but not the cause of death.
• Authenticate with the physician assistant’s signature, any forms that may otherwise be authenticated by a physician’s signature as permitted by the supervising physician, State or Federal laws and facility protocols, if acceptable.
• The physician assistant shall be considered the agent of the supervising physician in the performance of all practice-related activities, including the orders of diagnostic, therapeutic and other medical services.

A Physician Assisant (PA-C) MAY NOT: 

• Provide medical services except as described in the written agreement.
• Prescribe or dispense drugs except as described in the written agreement. 
• Maintain or manage a satellite location under §  18.155 (relating to satellite locations) unless the maintenance or management is registered with the Board. 
• Independently practice or bill patients for services provided.
• Independently delegate a task specifically assigned to him by the supervising physician to another health care provider.
• List his name independently in a telephone directory or other directory for public use in a manner which indicates that he functions as an independent practitioner. 
• Perform acupuncture except as permitted by section 13(k) of the act (63 P. S. §  422.13(k)).
• Perform a medical service without the supervision of a supervising physician.