How to get your Ohio license

[slevittMD]

Thanks to Scott Chapman, who originally sent out this information.

If you graduated from a US school, you can get your license in your PGY-2 year. If you graduated from a foreign / Caribbean school, you can get your license in your PGY-3 year. However, you can (and should) start filling out your FCVS application early, since this is the most time consuming portion.


You will need 3 big things:

• FCVS - Each state has their own requirements, Ohio and Michigan require that you apply through FCVS (Federation Credentials Verification Service. The FCVS does not grand licensure, they merely verify the credentials on behalf of the state. When applying to states that use FCVS (many do, the rest probably will eventually), this will save you a lot of time, since you only have to do it once. Of course, the convenience is not free
• Ohio State Application - Once you have completed FCVS, you'll need to apply directly to the state.  Ohio uses the Universal Application, which is through the same people as FCVS, for most of the process.  Unfortunately, the universal application is less universal than FCVS, but hopefully more states will come on over time and it will make the process better for everyone.
• DEA - You will also need a DEA number. DO NOT APPLY FOR YOUR DEA UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR OHIO LICENSE!!
• AMA profile - you'll have to set this up and send it where requested.

Websites:
FCVS - start a new account
Ohio State Medical Board
DEA - DO NOT APPLY UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR LICENSE


This stuff is not cheap, somewhere around $2000 (the DEA alone is over $700).  Remember that you'll be able to write these costs off when you start moonlighting and although it's a lot of money to find as a resident, you'll make it back in about a shift...maybe half a shift depending on where you work!  
Chapman's advice - "Money is cool, moonlighting teaches you a lot, days off are even better.  Just remember that."

If anyone happens to remember the exact pricing, let me know and I'll add it to the post.

[tyson]

how long did it take for you to set up your fcvs profile? what was the cost of that roughly?

[meeendeee]

Scott,

do you think you can add the general timeline/time period it takes for each with the optimal goal of having everything done and ready to moonlight on july 1st of 3rd year?

[tyson]

i did my fcvs profile a couple of months back. cost $450 total. Took about 2-3 weeks to get all the paperwork in and for them to verify it all. That would be a good start. Once all that is verified, i think it makes license application shorter. but i think ohio in general can take anywhere from a couple of months to 6 months to get license.

[pbruss]

if you dont hear anything back CALL THEM. if there is something missing they do not let you know and your application just sits there.

[kemple]

good heads up. Weekly to bi-weekly phone calls ftw.

[slevittMD]

Dec 11, 2014 17:30:15 GMT -5 meeendeee said:

Scott,

do you think you can add the general timeline/time period it takes for each with the optimal goal of having everything done and ready to moonlight on july 1st of 3rd year?

Sorry for the late reply, but glad others have picked up the slack! The FCVS portion is the time consuming part as it takes a while to get everything in and then get it verified. As mentioned, best to stay on top of things and watch the status of what has and has not been received (you can check online what they're waiting on). Once everything is in to FCVS, they meet once a month, so it just depends if you get reviewed right before they meet or if you happen to have your application ready the day after they met.

After FCVS it goes to Ohio and again, they meet once per month. If you catch them at the right time, it really doesn't take long and shouldn't take more than a month or two in total for Ohio to approve you. After Ohio approves you, you get your DEA which only takes a week or two (surprisingly enough).

To start moonlighting as soon as possible, I'd recommend getting your FCVS stuff in by December or January at the latest. If you're reading this now, hopefully that's already done. If you are from a US school and want to moonlight at an urgent care during second year, obviously get your stuff in ASAP.

The biggest delay will likely be getting credentialed somewhere once you have your license and DEA. Depending on where you work in 3rd year, credentialing can take several months, which is why you want your license taken care of ASAP. If you're from a caribbean school, you can't submit your application until July 1, so you're looking at getting your license in August or September (you can have everything submitted and ready to go ahead of time, it just can't be reviewed and approved until after July 1). By the time you're credentialed for an ER, you're looking at probably November or December. Credentialing is usually much faster for an urgent care, which you could do in the mean time. Unfortunately, EmCare lost 2 of the 3 contracts where 3rd years have been moonlighting the most for the past couple years and they were the most convenient with good pay, but there are still other options out there. Just talk to some of the current third years.