Louisiana Medical License

Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners

Contact information

630 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: (504) 568-6820
Fax: (504) 599-0503
Email: licensing@lsbme.la.gov

Things you need to know

• Application process: 4-6 months (unless applicant already has an established FCVS profile)
• Board Meetings: The Louisiana State Medical Board meets on a monthly basis (no meeting November 2011). All files are presented at the Board meeting. The application must be complete two weeks prior to the Board meeting. Applicant must also appear for a personal interview
• Application Fee: $382
• Background Check Fee: $50
• Lousiana Medical License Renewal: $100
• Expiration: Applications expire after 6 months from the date it is received by the Board
• FCVS: This state requires an FCVS profile for the licensing process
• Interview: All applicants must appear for a personal interview in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Morgan City, or Shreveport (applicants may choose location for interview). Exception: Applicants in residency programs are not required to appear for an interview.

Louisiana medical licensing requirements

• SPEX/COMVEX Requirement: Required if no written licensure exam or board certification exam taken within 10 years
• USMLE Time Limit: Must complete all three steps within 10 years
• USMLE Attempt Limit: No attempt limit for Step I; four attempts for Steps II and III
• PGT (International Medical Graduate): 3 years (Fifth Pathway may be counted as one year of required GME)
• PGT (US/Canada Medical Graduate): 1 year allopathic GME

Help applying to Louisiana medical licensure

State description

Louisiana (an area of 134.3 thousand square kilometers) is a state in the southern United States, on the Gulf coast. The flat and in the southern part of the noticeably swampy territory of the state rises quite slightly above sea level (the highest point is Mount Driskill, 163 m). The Pelican State has a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers and short, warm winters. The unique geography of the region, the hot climate and the proximity of the Gulf of Mexico explain the frequent summer thunderstorms (about 60 thunderstorms a year – more than in any other state except Florida), tornadoes (an average of 27 annually) and tropical typhoons coming from the Caribbean Sea.

New Orleans is located in the southeastern part of Louisiana, in the vast Mississippi Delta, and is bounded on the north by Lake Pontchartrain, and on the southeast by the levees separating it from the Gulf of Mexico.

Warhouse County is also popular with its dozens of galleries, restaurants and local artists ‘ shops, the French district of Lafayette – one of the country’s largest and most original cultural enclaves, the National Memorial of the Battle of Chalmette (1815) to the south of the city, the spacious Thibodeau National Historical Park (97 km southwest of New Orleans) with its cultural center Wetland-Cahoon. “Cahoon Country” generally deserves special attention – the vast expanses of wetlands stretch across the entire south of the state from Lafayette to the Texas border, being a haven for millions of birds, alligators and other living creatures, as well as the birthplace of the eponymous musical style and colorful dance traditions.

The state has many protected national parks.