Alaska

At a Glance

Category	Details
IMLC Member	Yes
FCVS	Accepted
NP Independent Practice	Yes
PA Independent Practice	Yes (authorizes physician assistants to work without operating under a specific collaborative agreement, but does not allow for independent licensure)
Physician-Owned PC Allowed	No
Max NPs per Physician	No Limit
Max PAs per Physician	No Limit

Licensure

Item	Cost
Initial License	$750
Renewal Fee	$350
Renewal Cycle	Biennial
Annualized Cost	$175
Controlled Substance Registration	No

Endorsement & Reciprocity

• Available: Yes
• Years licensed required: 2
• Recent practice required: 24 months
• Verification scope: Fee/FCVS/endorsement details sourced from secondary-extracted quotes off the Board FAQ page and FSMB instructions PDF (PDF text could not be directly parsed by fetch tool); recommend a manual re-check of the live FAQ page for exact current wording.
• PA independent-practice law (SB 89 / Chapter 21 SLA 26) not yet in effect as of research date (effective date Sept 16, 2026).

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APC Supervision

In-state requirement for supervising physicians: None (Telehealth-friendly).

Nurse Practitioners

NPs can practice independently in Alaska.

• Maximum NPs per physician: No Limit (FPA)

Physician Assistants

PAs can practice independently in Alaska.

• Maximum PAs per physician: No Limit

Additional Notes

Decisions made at practice level.

CME & Training Requirements

Requirement	Details
Total CME	50 hours
Category 1 Minimum	50 hours
Cycle	Biennial
Opioid / SUD	2 hrs/cycle
Jurisprudence Exam	Required

Fingerprint Requirements

Detail	Info
Required	Yes
FBI Check	Unknown
Method	Contact board
Out-of-State Options	Contact board

Malpractice Insurance

Malpractice insurance: Not yet verified — whether this state mandates professional liability coverage as a condition of licensure is being researched.

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Giving Up a License

• Status after lapse: A license not renewed becomes lapsed; practicing with a lapsed, expired, retired, or inactive license/permit is unprofessional conduct (disciplinable). Regulations set two reinstatement tiers: lapsed 60 days-1 year, and lapsed 1-5 years.
• Lapse consequences: No explicit late-fee/penalty amount found in statute/regs text reviewed; the practice act treats practicing on a lapsed license as unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary sanction.
• Voluntary surrender: Available — Statute frames voluntary surrender in a discipline-adjacent context: a surrendered license may not be returned unless the board finds the licensee competent to resume practice, and may not be returned at all if the surrender resulted in dropped/suspended civil or criminal charges. Separately, AS 08.64.276 provides a non-disciplinary 'retired status' conversion for a licensee in good standing (see good_standing_exit).
• Reinstatement: A physician license lapsed 60 days-1 year is reinstated via renewal application, fee, CME proof, and FSMB clearance. A license lapsed 1-5 years requires a reinstatement application, DEA-registration attestation, licensure verification from every jurisdiction ever held, and a 5-year hospital-privileges/discipline disclosure; board may refuse reinstatement for the same reasons it may impose discipline.
• Exit in good standing: Available — AS 08.64.276 retired status license: valid for life, does not require renewal, holder may not practice; exempt from CME requirement (AS 08.64.312).

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Quirks & Gotchas

Fees

• Initial application fee: $400 (non-refundable) + $350 permanent license fee = $750 total
• No fingerprint fee applies to physicians (fingerprint requirement does not apply to MDs/DOs per the state’s fingerprint page)
• Locum tenens and courtesy licenses have separate application forms and likely separate fees

Application Requirements

• Complete application must be submitted by the applicant personally — using agents or third parties to complete the online application is prohibited
• Required supporting documents: medical school verification, postgraduate training verification, a signed release form, and ECFMG certificate (international grads only)
• All “yes” answers to background questions require written explanations
• All malpractice settlements or judgments must be disclosed and reported within 30 days of settlement (ongoing obligation post-licensure too)
• Social Security Number required** (exemptions can be requested)
• Name changes require legal documentation submitted within 30 days

Jurisprudence Exam

• No standalone Alaska jurisprudence exam was found on the board’s pages. Alaska does not appear to require a separate jurisprudence exam — licensure is based on USMLE/NBME/FLEX/NBOME passage. Worth confirming directly with the board, but this is a notable absence compared to many states.

Fingerprints & Background Check

• Physicians are NOT on Alaska’s fingerprint-required professions list.** The state’s fingerprint page explicitly lists 8 professions; MDs/DOs are not among them.
• Disclosure of disciplinary actions, criminal history, and malpractice history is handled via application attestation, not a formal background check submission.

CME & Mandatory Training

• 25 Category I CME hours per year** (averaged over the renewal cycle), accredited by AMA, AOA, or CPMR
• A portion of the total (hours in the table above) must be opioid/pain management education — this is a statutory mandate
• Audits are conducted randomly after renewal (not before), so you must self-certify and retain documentation
• Retired status licensees are exempt from CME
• Opioid education: required annually, embedded in the overall CME total (hours in the table above)
• The board’s FAQ references “statutory education mandates regarding pain management and opioid use” — this is the primary mandated topic
• No Alaska-specific suicide prevention, human trafficking, or implicit bias mandate was found on the board’s pages (unlike many other states)
• PDMP registration is mandatory** for any physician with a DEA registration who prescribes Schedule II or III controlled substances

Timeline

• Temporary/training permit: ~6–8 weeks from receipt of a complete application
• Full permanent license: 12–14 weeks or longer from receipt of a complete application
• Any “yes” answers to background questions or malpractice history extends processing time significantly
• Documents older than 12 months are considered stale and must be resubmitted — this can reset your clock mid-process
• Applications are abandoned and closed if no correspondence is received for 12 months

Other Gotchas

• Must have graduated from a school on the Medical Board of California’s 2006 Approved Medical Schools list (a specific and somewhat dated reference)
• Requires minimum 3 years of ACGME- or RCPSC-accredited postgraduate training
• ECFMG certification required
• Cannot have any disciplined licenses in any other jurisdiction
• Out-of-state physicians may only provide telehealth to Alaska patients for: (1) established patient follow-up care, or (2) life-threatening conditions with a documented referral from an Alaska-licensed physician — no general telemedicine without Alaska licensure
• Telemedicine businesses must register on the state telemedicine business registry before serving Alaska patients
• Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC)**: Alaska participates, but the board has a specific policy statement on it — verify compact eligibility before relying on it
• Lapsed/inactive license: Practicing with a lapsed or inactive license is explicitly stated as illegal** (obvious, but the board flags it prominently)
• Correspondence goes to email on file**: All official notices are sent by email, not mail — missing renewal notices because of a stale email address is your problem
• Address/contact changes: Must be reported within 30 days** of change
• Licensing examiners are assigned alphabetically by last name (A–F, G–N, O–Z) — useful if you need to follow up directly
• Substance abuse history for applicants is a specific board guideline area, suggesting heightened scrutiny for any history
• The board has active policy statements on gender dysphoria treatment in minors and late-term abortion — politically sensitive clinical areas may draw additional board attention Researched from state board websites and regulatory sources. Verify with the board directly before applying.

Resources

• Alaska State Medical Board
• FSMB State Licensure Directory
• Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

Sources

Data compiled from state medical board websites, FSMB, and regulatory filings.

Have a correction or update? Let us know.