Conferral of MD

International graduates who plan to remain in the United States may prefer to obtain a Doctor of Medicine Degree (MD). This process may take several months and is costly.

Information on this process may be obtained from the State Education Department website.

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the board of regents is authorized, in its discretion, to confer the degree of doctor of medicine (MD) upon physicians who are licensed pursuant to section sixty‐five hundred twenty‐four or sixty‐five hundred twenty‐eight of this chapter. Each applicant shall pay a fee of three hundred dollars to the education department for the issuance of such degree.  

To qualify for a license as a physician, an applicant shall fulfill the following requirements:

1. Application: file an application with the department;  
2. Education: have received an education, including a degree of doctor of medicine, “MD,” or doctor of osteopathy, “DO,” or equivalent degree in accordance with the commissioner’s regulations;  
3. Experience: have experience satisfactory to the board and in accordance with the commissioner’s regulations;  
4. Examination: pass an examination satisfactory to the board and in accordance with the commissioner’s regulations;  
5. Age: be at least twenty‐one years of age; however, the commissioner may waive the age requirement for applicants who have attained the age of eighteen and will be in a residency program until the age of twenty‐one;  
6. Citizenship or immigration status: be a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States; provided, however that the board of regents may grant a three-year waiver for an alien physician to practice in an area which has been designated by the department as medically underserved, except that the board of regents may grant an additional extension not to exceed six years to an alien physician to enable him or her to secure citizenship or permanent resident status, provided such status is being actively pursued;  
7. Character: be of good moral character as determined by the department; and
8. Fees: pay a fee of two hundred sixty dollars to the department for admission to a department conducted examination and for an initial license, a fee of one hundred seventy‐five dollars for each reexamination, a fee of one hundred thirty‐five dollars for an initial license for persons not requiring admission to a department conducted examination, a fee of five hundred seventy dollars for any biennial registration period commencing August first, nineteen hundred ninety‐six and thereafter. The comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to deposit the fee for each biennial registration period into the special revenue funds‐other entitled "professional medical conduct account" for the purpose of offsetting any expenditures made pursuant to section two hundred thirty of the public health law in relation to the operation of the office of professional medical conduct within the department of health. The amount of the funds expended as a result of such increase shall not be greater than such fees collected over the registration period.  
9. For every license or registration issued after the effective date of this subdivision, an additional fee of thirty dollars shall be paid and deposited in the special revenue fund entitled “the professional medical conduct account” for the purpose of offsetting any expenditures made pursuant to subdivision fifteen of section two hundred thirty of the public health law. The amount of such funds expended for such purpose shall not be greater than such additional fees collected over the licensure period or for the duration of such program if less than the licensure period.  
10. A physician shall not be required to pay any fee under this section if he or she certifies to the department that for the period of registration or licensure, he or she shall only practice medicine without compensation or the expectation or promise of compensation. The following shall not be considered compensation for the purposes of this subdivision: (a) nominal payment solely to enable the physician to be considered an employee of a health care provider, or (b) providing liability coverage to the physician relating to the services provided.  

a. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article or any law to the contrary, an individual who at the time of his enrollment in a medical school outside the United States is a resident of the United States shall be eligible for licensure in this state if he has satisfied the requirements of subdivisions one, five, six, seven and eight of section sixty‐five hundred twenty‐four of this chapter and:  

1. has studied medicine in a medical school located outside the United States which is recognized by the World Health Organization;  

2. has completed all of the formal requirements of the foreign medical school except internship and/or social service;  

3. has attained a score satisfactory to a medical school approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education on a qualifying examination acceptable to the state board for medicine, and has satisfactorily completed one academic year of supervised clinical training under the direction of such medical school;  

4. has completed the post‐graduate hospital training required by the Board of all applicants for licensure; and  

5. has passed the examination required by the Board of all applicants for licensure.  

b. Satisfaction of the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (a) of this section shall be in lieu of the completion of any foreign internship and/or social service requirements, and no such requirements shall be a condition of licensure as a physician in this State.  

c. Satisfaction of the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (a) of this section shall be in lieu of certification by the Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduates, and such certification shall not be a condition of licensure as a physician in this State for candidates who have completed the requirements of subdivision (a) of this section.  

d. No hospital licensed by this State, or operated by the State or a political subdivision thereof, or which receives state financial assistance, directly or indirectly, shall require an individual who has satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (a) of this section, and who at the time of his enrollment in a medical school outside the United States is a resident of the United States, to satisfy any further education or examination requirements prior to commencing an internship or residency.  

e. A document granted by a medical school located outside the United States which is recognized by the World Health Organization issued after the completion of all the formal requirements of such foreign medical school except internship and/or social service shall, upon certification by the medical school in which such training was received of satisfactory completion by the person to whom such document was issued of the requirements listed in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of this section, be deemed the equivalent of a degree of doctor of medicine for purposes of licensure and practice as a physician in this State.