Identification
You are applying for the Physician License
Thank you for your interest in applying for a medical license with the Texas Medical Board. As you complete your application for online submission, the Board wants to make you aware of a few facts regarding criminal conduct, convictions, and disciplinary actions in other states.
The mission of the Texas Medical Board is to protect and enhance the public's safety, health and welfare by establishing and maintaining standards of excellence used in regulating the practice of medicine and ensuring quality health care for the citizens of Texas through licensure, discipline and education. One way the Board protects the public is by issuing licenses to fully qualified, competent and ethical applicants.
During the licensing process the Board will ask whether you have ever been investigated by any state, arrested, charged, convicted or pled guilty to a crime. An arrest, subsequent criminal conviction, placement on deferred adjudication/prosecution, or disciplinary action is not an automatic disqualification from licensure. Instead, the Board will look at the facts surrounding the criminal conduct and disciplinary action to determine whether you are fit for licensure. You should know that licensure is a privilege, not a right. One thing you must do to obtain the privilege is to be completely honest on your licensure application.
Be sure to list all relevant complaints, disciplinary actions, charges, or convictions in response to the licensure questions. Failure to disclose such events could constitute grounds alone for imposition of fines or placement of limitations on your license, or even the denial of your application, or revocation of your license. Avoid some of the common excuses the Board has heard from people who fail to disclose, such as:
- My attorney told me I didn't have to disclose the criminal conduct or disciplinary actions.
- I didn't think the prior conduct had anything to do with the profession.
- I didn't think the disciplinary action, arrest, charges, or conviction was still on my record.
- I didn't think it was subject to disclosure because I received a deferred sentence/judgment.
Remember, there is no excuse not to disclose relevant complaints, disciplinary actions, charges, or convictions. Even after licensure, you are still required to report to the Board about subsequent convictions and disciplinary actions in other states, as they must be reported on your physician profile.
The Board queries several criminal and national disciplinary databases. This allows the Board to verify the truthfulness of your application and track subsequent criminal and disciplinary conduct after initial licensure. Keep in mind, you will not necessarily be denied a license or be subject to a licensure action if you have been disciplined, arrested, charged or convicted, but action will most likely be taken on your application or license if you fail to disclose it.
Full Disclosure: It is imperative that you honestly and fully answer all questions, regardless of whether you believe the information requested is relevant. If you are unsure of your response to a particular question, answer "Yes" and submit the appropriate form if required. Your responses on your application are evaluated as evidence of your candor and honesty. An honest "Yes" answer to a question on your application is not definitive as to the Board's assessment of your present moral character and fitness, but a dishonest "No" answer is evidence of a lack of candor and honesty, which may be definitive on the character and fitness issue. Please be advised that a false response to any of these questions may be grounds for denial of licensure and reported to the appropriate data banks.
For JP first and last name, provide your name as it is listed on either your current driver license, issued by a state driver license bureau in the United States, or your current passport. We will furnish this information to the testing center that administers the jurisprudence exam (JP). Your name must match exactly when you present your identification at the testing center, or you will not be allowed to take the exam.