New York Physician Guide

At a Glance

Item	Cost
Initial License	$735
Renewal Fee	$600
Renewal Cycle	Triennial
Annualized Cost	$200.00
Controlled Substance Registration	No

MD must be licensed/practicing in NY.

NPs can practice independently after 3,600h of supervised practice in New York.

PAs require physician supervision in New York.

Hospitals may have separate bylaws.

Multiple supplemental forms required** beyond Form 1 (the main application):
Form 2: Education certification — must be sent directly by your medical school, not by you.
Forms 2CC-A & 2CC-B: Required if any clinical clerkship was done outside the school’s country of study. The clerkship director and hospital director each submit separately.
Form 2PGT: Postgraduate training certification — must be mailed directly by the hospital, and must be signed less than one month before your program completion date. Miss that window and you wait.
Form 3A: If you were licensed or practiced internationally within the last 5 years, the foreign jurisdiction must send verification directly. You cannot submit it yourself.
Form 5CS: If applying for a limited permit, your employer must submit this supervision certification — you cannot control or expedite it.
If you withdraw and reapply, you are treated as a brand new applicant and pay full fees again. Non-refundable.

Initial licensure: $735** (includes first registration period).
Limited permit: $105** (non-refundable, regardless of outcome).
M.D. degree conferral (for foreign medical graduates already licensed in NY who want an actual M.D. conferred): additional $300 fee**, credit card only.
2-year registration cycle** for physicians (most other NYS professions renew every 3 years), meaning renewal fees hit more frequently.
No separate jurisprudence exam fee — NY does not require a jurisprudence exam for initial licensure.

New York does not require a standalone jurisprudence exam. This is one area where NY is actually simpler than many states.

Fingerprinting is not mentioned as a requirement on the NYSED Office of the Professions physician licensing pages. NY does not currently mandate fingerprinting for initial medical licensure (unlike some other states), but this should be independently confirmed as rules change.

FCVS is mandatory** (not optional) for all graduates of non-LCME / non-AOA / non-CACMS-accredited programs (effective December 1, 2002). Contact: 888-ASK-FCVS or 817-868-5000.
FCVS initial processing: ~8 weeks for domestic cases; 10–11 weeks for international graduates.
IMGs must have ECFMG certification or completion of 3 years of accredited postgraduate training (vs. only 1 year for US/Canadian graduates). This is a significant difference that catches IMGs off guard.
The NYSED makes a subjective determination about curriculum equivalency for foreign medical programs. Appeals are not described on the site.
IMGs already licensed who want NY to formally confer an M.D. degree must apply separately with a $300 fee after obtaining their NY license.

NY does not have a general CME hour requirement tied to license renewal for physicians (unlike many states). The NYSED does not require you to report or attest to CME hours at renewal.
The only mandatory education requirement tied to renewal is the NYSDOH 3-hour prescriber course (for DEA holders) and the initial child abuse / infection control trainings.
This surprises many physicians used to other states with 50–100 hour CME mandates.

After all documentation is submitted: allow 6 weeks before even querying status.
FCVS adds 8–11 weeks before your file can be considered complete.
Form 2PGT must be submitted by your residency program no more than 1 month before your completion date — meaning you cannot initiate this part of the application too early.
Limited permits cannot exceed 4 years total and cannot be transferred between facilities without departmental approval.

Vishing scam alert (active as of June 2026):** NYSED has issued warnings about phone scams impersonating SED employees asking for licensure information. Do not provide any information to unsolicited callers. NYSED’s call center also experienced an outage as of June 2, 2026.
Complaints and disciplinary matters for physicians go through NY DOH’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (health.ny.gov) — a separate agency from NYSED. You can be investigated by DOH even while your license sits with NYSED.
Acupuncture certification for physicians requires a separate application and process entirely.
Physician supervisors of PAs: capped at 4 PAs per physician in private practice settings.
The “DO NOT use Form 1” warning is real — if you are already licensed in NY in any capacity, using the wrong form starts a new application and wastes fees and time.

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.

Have a correction or update? Let us know.