Georgia Physician Guide

At a Glance

Item	Cost
Initial License	$500
Renewal Fee	$300
Renewal Cycle	Biennial
Annualized Cost	$150.00
Controlled Substance Registration	No

Strict: MD must be in-state or within 50 miles. Principle place in practice. GA narrowing in on telehealth.

NPs require physician supervision in Georgia.

PAs require physician supervision in Georgia.

Can supervise 4 PAs; collaborate with 8 NPs.

Requirement	Details
Total CME	Contact board
Category 1 Minimum	See board
Cycle	Biennial
Opioid/Pain Mgmt	3 hrs/cycle
Human Trafficking	Not required
Implicit Bias	Not required
Suicide Prevention	Not required
DEA MATE Act	8 hrs one-time (federal)
Jurisprudence Exam	Required (embedded in application)

Two-stage application: Stage 1 completed by applicant in online gateway; Stage 2 documents submitted directly by third parties via the NextRequest portal (gcmb.nextrequest.com) - you cannot submit these yourself.
Notarized Affidavit of Applicant with a color passport photo (not just any photo - color, passport format).
NPDB Self-Query is mandatory if you have ever held any prior license anywhere.
CV/Resume with every employment gap explicitly explained - unexplained gaps are a red flag.
Malpractice Questionnaire required with complete case details for any prior incident.
3 physician reference forms submitted by the references directly from institutional email addresses (personal email not accepted).
Official license verifications from every state you have ever been licensed in - all of them, not just current.
ECFMG certification required for foreign graduates.
Applications lapse and may be closed if not completed within 360 days.

The GCMB website does not publicly list a standalone Georgia jurisprudence exam as a separate requirement for full physician licensure (unlike some states). No specific jurisprudence exam page or requirement was found. This is notably absent compared to many other state boards - worth confirming directly by phone at (404) 656-3913 before assuming it is not required.

Initial application: $500
Renewal (biennial): $230
Late renewal: $455 (double the standard fee)
Credit/debit card processing fee: 3.15% on every transaction, non-refundable - no checks or money orders accepted, so you cannot avoid this surcharge.
Reinstatement (lapsed/revoked): $500
Reinstatement (inactive): $300
Upgrading telemedicine or administrative license to full: $200 each
FBI fingerprint/background check: separate fee paid to the fingerprint vendor (amount not published on the site, typically $40-75 depending on vendor).
NPDB Self-Query: $4 (NPDB charges this directly, not GCMB).

FBI-compliant fingerprint/biometric background check is required for all applicants.
GCMB updated its fingerprint guidance in May 2026 - use only the current instructions.
Must register in the new licensing gateway before starting the fingerprint process.
The system is entirely electronic; do not mail anything.

40 AMA Category 1 (or equivalent) CME hours biennially - standard on the surface.
CME documentation does NOT accompany the renewal submission, but must be retained for 5 years - the board audits a percentage of renewals randomly, and you will need to produce records on demand.
License renews biennially by the last day of your birth month (not a calendar year cycle - easy to miscalculate if you are used to other states).

3 hours on controlled substance prescribing - required if you hold a DEA certificate. This is a one-time requirement, not recurring per cycle.
2 hours on professional boundaries and physician sexual misconduct - one-time, but a new renewal question now specifically asks whether you have completed this.
Pain management physicians not board-certified in pain: 20 additional CME hours in pain management/palliative medicine per renewal cycle.

Applications expire if not completed within 360 days - the clock starts at Stage 1 submission.
Institutional and Administrative license applications require Board meeting approval, which occurs on the first Thursday of each month only. Missing a meeting cycle adds roughly 4 weeks.
PDMP registration required within 30 days of initial licensure if you hold a DEA registration.
Cannot practice after license expiration date - no grace period.

The 50-mile supervision rule is specific to the Institutional License (not the full license). Institutional licenses require a named supervising physician at the institution who is responsible for oversight.
The GCMB website does not publish a specific “within 50 miles” geographic rule on the public-facing pages. This may be embedded in the institutional license agreement documents or board rules. Confirm directly with GCMB for the exact geographic supervision standard before relying on an institutional arrangement.
Telemedicine license holders: DEA considers Georgia telemedicine licenses restricted, which can affect prescribing authority. If you need DEA authorization, a full license is strongly recommended over a telemedicine-only license.

Portal is completely new - old gateway credentials no longer work. Everyone must re-register at gateway.medicalboard.georgia.gov before starting any application.
Entirely paperless - do not mail forms or checks. Anything mailed will not be processed.
Non-U.S. citizens must re-verify lawful presence at every renewal cycle, not just at initial licensure.
Kentucky is the only state where applicants can forward the license verification themselves; all other states must send directly to GCMB.
Administrative license holders who have been out of clinical practice for more than 30 months are not required to demonstrate recent clinical activity to maintain that license - but upgrading to full licensure will trigger scrutiny of the gap.
US medical school graduates need at least 1 year of ACGME-accredited training; international medical graduates need at least 3 years - this is a hard cutoff, not a case-by-case evaluation.
The board’s contact method for application questions is via the NextRequest portal sorted by applicant last name’s first letter - not a direct email or phone call for application status.

Researched from state board websites and regulatory sources. Verify with the board directly before applying.

Data compiled from state medical board websites, FSMB, and regulatory filings. Last updated June 2026.

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