Florida Is Now a Member State in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

By: Toni Large, Large Strategies, INC

How will this impact my license renewal?

During the 2024 legislative session, the Florida Legislature approved the state’s participation in a multistate compact for medical licensure. Seen as a way to streamline the application process associated with what previously had been a state-by-state approach to granting a license to practice, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC or Compact) is one of the tools included in the “Live Healthy” legislation focused on attracting more physicians to and retaining more physicians in our state.  

The IMLC is different than the nursing compact. Physicians participating in the Compact still must have a license in each state where they practice, but the Compact offers doctors a single electronic pathway to gain those licenses once they have met the qualifications of licensure in their home state. Now that Florida is a member state along with over 40 other jurisdictions, the good news is there is now the potential for a single point of entry should you as a Florida medical license holder have need to be licensed in multiple states.

Though implementation is ongoing, here is a first look into how the new licensing pathway will work. If you are currently licensed in Florida and plan to continue practicing in this state, in many ways nothing will change for you. You will need to biennially renew your license as usual. Want to seek licensure in another IMLC jurisdiction? It can all start with your existing Florida license. 

The first step in your multistate journey is to head to the IMLC website and use your Florida license as your “ticket to entry” by choosing Florida as your “State of Principal Licensure” and applying for a “Letter of Qualification.” If granted, this letter is valid for 365 days and certifies you are licensed and in good standing in your home state, thus eliminating much of the duplicative administrative work to be completed by each additional state where you ultimately will seek licensure.  

To designate Florida as your State of Principal Licensure (SPL), ensure AT LEAST ONE of the following are true:

• Your primary residence is in the SPL (in this case Florida)
• At least 25% of your practice of medicine occurs in the SPL (in this case Florida)
• You are employed to practice medicine by a person, business or organization located in the SPL (in this case Florida)
• You use the SPL (Florida) as your state of residence for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes.

With your Letter of Qualification (LOQ) in hand, you can now choose the state(s) where you would like to apply for an “expedited license.” Remember, upon receipt of an expedited license, you will have an unrestricted license in the new state. 

To qualify to get an expedited license from another member jurisdiction in addition to your Florida medical license, you must have:

• Graduated from an accredited medical school, or a school listed in the International Medical Education Directory or its equivalent such as the World Directory of Medical Schools
• Successfully completed ACGME- or AOA-accredited graduate medical education
• Passed each component of the USMLE, COMLEX-USA, or equivalent in no more than three attempts for each component (note that passing the Canadian Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada, or the LMCC, DOES NOT meet this requirement)
• Hold a current specialty certification or time-unlimited certification by an ABMS or AOABOS board

In addition, physicians must:

• Not have any history of disciplinary actions toward their medical license
• Not have any criminal history
• Not have any history of controlled substance actions toward their medical license
• Not currently under investigation

As for cost, if you choose to participate in the Compact by designating Florida as your SPL, the Compact Commission will collect $700 for the work associated with granting the SPL designation and issuing an LOQ. If you chose to pursue an expedited license through the Compact, each state will have costs associated with issuing a medical license. In Florida, this is the standard $355 licensure fee plus any NICA fees associated with your NICA status.

The Department of Health plans to roll out Florida’s Compact participation by the first of the year. Implementation details can be found on the Florida Board of Medicine website under the licensure tab as they are released at. As with any new program, we will share information as it develops or changes but hope this gives you a quick overview of new ways to maximize one of your greatest assets – your medical license. Special thanks to Paul Vazquez, Executive Director at the Florida Board of Medicine, for his time and expertise in sharing the information included in this article. FCEP is happy to be a team partner with regulators working to address issues that affect our patients and our profession.