North Dakota

At a Glance

Category	Details
IMLC Member	Yes
FCVS	Accepted
NP Independent Practice	Yes
PA Independent Practice	Yes
Physician-Owned PC Allowed	No
Max NPs per Physician	No Limit
Max PAs per Physician	No Limit

Licensure

Item	Cost
Initial License	$200
Renewal Fee	$405
Renewal Cycle	Biennial
Annualized Cost	$203
Controlled Substance Registration	No

Endorsement & Reciprocity

Not yet researched — whether this state offers license-by-endorsement or reciprocity, and its prerequisites, is being verified.

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APC Supervision

In-state requirement for supervising physicians: None.

Nurse Practitioners

NPs can practice independently in North Dakota.

• Maximum NPs per physician: No Limit (FPA)

Physician Assistants

PAs can practice independently in North Dakota.

• Maximum PAs per physician: No Limit

CME & Training Requirements

Requirement	Details
Total CME	40 hours
Category 1 Minimum	40 hours
Cycle	Biennial
Jurisprudence Exam	Not required

Fingerprint Requirements

Detail	Info
Required	Yes
FBI Check	Yes
Method	Ink cards (FD-258)
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: No person may practice medicine in North Dakota without a current license; if a physician continues practicing after the license expires without timely renewal, the physician is deemed to have been 'practicing while expired' and faces an enhanced late fee on renewal. If a lapsed license is not reinstated within 3 years, the physician can no longer simply reinstate/renew and must submit an entirely new application for licensure.
• Lapse consequences: A physician found to have practiced medicine after the license expired must pay a late-renewal fee up to 3 times the normal licensure fee, plus other authorized penalties; a physician who did not practice while lapsed may simply pay the arrearage and meet other Board requirements to renew. Beyond 3 years lapsed, reinstatement by renewal is barred entirely and a brand-new licensure application is required, regardless of whether the physician practiced in ND during the lapse.
• Reinstatement: Within 3 years of lapse: pay the fee (up to 3x normal licensure fee if the physician practiced while expired, or just the arrearage if not) and meet other Board requirements. After 3 years lapsed: a new application for licensure is mandatory (i.e., a hard point-of-no-return for simple reinstatement), irrespective of whether the physician practiced during the gap.

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Quirks & Gotchas

Fees

• Initial application + licensure: $405 total (often misquoted as $205 — that is the application portion only)
• Background check: $40 — separate check/money order payable to the ND Attorney General, not the Board
• Locum Tenens license: $205 (90 days, single site); converting to Provisional Temporary: $200 more
• License verification for international purposes: $30
• Secretary of State business verification (if applicable): $20 + $20/year annual filing
• CME non-compliance penalty: $500 fine plus possible disciplinary action
• No separate state Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) permit required — saves ~$100+ vs. many states
• No DEA registration required by the Board, but DEA itself costs ~$888/3 years

Fingerprints & Background Check

• Required: two FD-258 fingerprint cards (standard FBI white/blue format) submitted at application start
• Alternative cards accepted if they have exactly 14 boxes/sections
• First rejection: resubmit two new cards; second rejection: triggers a name-based search, which meaningfully extends processing time
• No license of any type issued** until the Board has both federal and state background check results

Jurisprudence Exam

• Not required** — multiple authoritative sources (NDBOM FAQ and getlicensemap) confirm this; the single third-party site (medicallicensing.com) that listed it appears to be an error

Application Requirements

• FCVS is accepted for core credentials, but applicants must still complete the full online application — FCVS does not replace it
• Specialty board certificates and the NPDB self-query must be separately submitted even when using FCVS
• Residents converting to permanent licensure must file a complete new physician application (medical school re-verification is waived if currently licensed as a resident; fingerprints are waived only if the resident license is still active)

Timeline

• Official average: 8–12 weeks from complete submission to final approval
• File must be complete 4 weeks before a Board meeting to be placed on that meeting’s agenda
• Chair approval after Board meeting adds 7–10 more days
• Applications expire if incomplete after 1 year — the clock runs from submission, not from when you start
• Postgraduate training requirement for IMGs increased to 24 months (as of August 1, 2023); U.S./Canadian grads still need only 1 year

Other Gotchas

• Licenses expire on your birthday every other year (changed August 1, 2023) — renewal tied to birthdate, not a fixed calendar date
• Initial license expires on the second birthday after Board approval, regardless of when in the year the license was issued — could be less than 2 years
• Renewal notices sent only at 59 days and 14 days out — easy to miss if contact info is stale
• Inactive licenses can be reactivated up to 3 years post-expiration; after that, full re-application
• Must practice under your legal name** unless the Board approves an alternative with supporting legal documents (marriage cert, court order, etc.)
• USMLE/COMLEX attempt limits**: Maximum 3 attempts per step/level — hard cap. Exception pathway exists only for physicians already licensed 5+ years with no discipline and current specialty board certification.
• 7-year completion window**: All USMLE/COMLEX steps must be completed within 7 years of starting the sequence
• IMLC member state**: Qualifying physicians can use the Interstate Medical Licensing Compact for expedited multi-state licensure
• Telemedicine**: As of January 1, 2025, new ND Administrative Code 50-02-15 created exceptions, but a doctor-patient relationship must still be established before prescribing via telemedicine
• Locum Tenens licenses are site-specific**: A new LT license is required for each practice location, even during the same 90-day window
• Physician FAQ - ND Board of Medicine
• CME Requirements - ND Board of Medicine
• Eligibility - ND Board of Medicine
• North Dakota Medical License Guide - medicallicensing.com
• North Dakota Physician License Requirements 2026 - getlicensemap.com Researched from state board websites and regulatory sources. Verify with the board directly before applying.

CME & Mandatory Training

• AMA Category 1 CME per triennial cycle — total in the table above** (prorated downward for physicians licensed partway through a cycle)
• Cycle follows 2013 implementation years: compliance due 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025, etc.
• No mandatory topic requirements for the general CME pool — free choice
• Alternative compliance: current ABMS, AOA, or Royal College of Physicians board certification/MOC satisfies the entire CME requirement as of August 1, 2023
• Audit-based reporting: you do not submit CME proof at every renewal — the Board audits a subset; if audited, you must produce records, so retain them well past the end of the cycle
• ACCME direct reporting available — ask your CME providers to report to ACCME and the Board can pull the record
• Abortion law instructional course: As of January 2026, any physician who performs abortions must have completed this course within a defined recent window before** performing any abortion (medical emergency exception exists). This is a standalone requirement, separate from the general CME pool. A legislative bill was also heard to require a dedicated abortion-law CME component specifically for OB practitioners — status unclear.
• DEA opioid/SUD training: One-time federal requirement triggered by any DEA initial registration or renewal on/after June 27, 2023**. Not an NDBOM requirement per se, but hits every physician at DEA renewal.
• No implicit bias training mandate found for ND (unlike many other states)

Resources

• North Dakota Board of Medicine
• 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.