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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Graduate Medical Trainee

    All graduate medical training applications are initiated by the training hospital. Once the application is created by the hospital, the applicant will receive an email to log into the PALS licensing system to complete their portion of the application and submit it to the Board for processing. If you would like additional hospital representatives to be authorized to discuss your application, please complete the Third Party Authorization form and upload it to your application in PALS.

    There are two primary ways to obtain licensure as a Graduate Medical Trainee:

    • Accredited Application: Graduates of  medical schools in the United States or and Canada will apply using the obtained by “accredited” application.  
    • Unaccredited Application: Graduates from anof international medical school located outside of the United States and Canada will apply using the obtained by “unaccredited.” application.  

    Tips for reducing processing time for Graduate Medical Trainee

    1. State Board of Medicine applications are processed in the order they are received. Please submit your application as early as possible.

    2. To obtain a fingerprint-based FBI background check, which will be reviewed by the Board as part of your application, you must pre-register for fingerprinting services through IdentoGO and use the service code provided during your application process to ensure the Board receives your results. IdentoGo only accepts these identification documents.

    3. You are required to complete three hours of Board-approved continuing education on the topic of child abuse recognition and reporting. Learn more about Approved Child Abuse CE Providers. Confirmation of the course completion must be sent directly to the Board from the education provider. When registering for a course, please be sure to indicate that you are applying for Pennsylvania licensure to ensure your confirmation is sent to the Board.

    4. Any application that includes criminal history, disciplinary action taken in another state, malpractice complaints, etc., must be accompanied by a written explanation from you explaining the circumstances of the situation. Every page of requested documents must be submitted; partial copies are not acceptable. This includes copies of all legal or court documents, disciplinary action from another Board, or a complete copy of a malpractice complaint filed in court.

    5. If primary source verification is provided, applicants may use the FCVS credentials verification service through the Federation of State Medical Boards to verify their medical education, ECFMG Certification, Verification of Fifth Pathway, and examination scores.  

    6. If you have current ECFMG certification and ECFMG verified your medical education at the time you received certification, you DO NOT need to request the record of graduation, educational transcript, and diploma from your medical school.  The verification of your medical education through ECFMG will satisfy these requirements. If ECFMG DID NOT verify your medical education at the time you received ECFMG certification, your school MUST provide these items.

    7. Within a year of obtaining initial licensure, you must document completion of at least 4 hours of Board-approved education consisting of 2 hours in pain management or the identification of addiction and 2 hours in the practices of prescribing or dispensing of opioids.  The Board does not approve continuing education programs but accepts continuing education programs accredited as AMA PRA Category 1, AMA PRA Category 2, and AOA Category 1A, 1B, or 2.

    Frequently Asked Questions for Graduate Medical Training Application and Submission

    The licensee does not have the ability to correct the information under the applicant information section (name, address, SSN, date of birth, etc.). However, you as the hospital have this capability. Log into your dashboard and go to the “Third Party Activities” section and click on the hyperlink under the description column for the applicant that you need to edit. When done, click on Save. Edits cannot be made after the application has been submitted to the Board for processing. Please note, edits can only be made for the same applicant. Do not attempt to create a new application for a different applicant by editing the applicant information on a saved application. A new application is required.

    Please have the applicant select the checkbox option “Do not possess a SSN” during the submission of their initial application.

    The street, city, state and ZIP field are not mandatory and can be left blank. Enter the name of the Country after inputting the name of the medical school (i.e., Ross University School of Medicine –Barbados).

    If an applicant has ever been issued a graduate training license (active, expired, etc.), do not submit an initial application. Applicants who have ever been issued a graduate training license should submit a renewal application.

    Log into your dashboard and go to the “Third Party Activities” section. Click on “+” to open and view the status of the application checklist.

    The specialty does not impact the number of years. Enter the total number of years of “ACGME or AOA accredited” training in the US, regardless of specialty. This information is only a required field for initial applications.

    If you are experiencing login issues, please contact the Board office at st-medicine@pa.gov.

    Contact the Board via email at st-medicine@pa.gov and provide documentation to provide proof of when ACGME accreditation was obtained, the date, the exact name of the specialty which is now accredited, the program approval number, etc.

    • Less than 7 days - Contact the Board via email and provide the license number, licensee name, and requested extension dates.
    • 7 or more days – Submit a renewal in PALS. Please note, if you are requesting an extension and then a renewal to a higher PGY Level, you will need to submit the extension first. Please wait until the Board processes the extension and then submit a renewal to renew at the higher level.

    Please submit a change form through your dashboard.

    From your Dashboard, verify that the information listed on the applicant information section (first name, last four of SSN, year of birth, and email address) is correct, and if necessary, make changes. You can also resend the email from your dashboard.

    Currently, the hospital is the only party able to pay the application fee. You will need to seek reimbursement from the applicant(s) via your own procedures/policies to cover the application fee.

    All applications are reviewed in date received order. This ensures a fair process for all applicants.

    Once the hospital successfully submits and pays for the applicants, the applicants are notified via email (from the information provided by the hospital on the application) to log into their account and complete their part of the application process—including answering the legal questions and uploading the required documents.

    Email Example: Dear (Applicant Name),

    A request has been initiated by a hospital for you to obtain a Graduate Medical Trainee license. You must log in to www.pals.pa.gov, using the below credentials. If you are logging into the system for the first time, please reset your password by answering the security questions and following the direction to login to the system. Once validated, log back into PALS, scroll to the Activities section of your Dashboard. Under Description column, click on the application link to access your application.

    Complete your portion of the application including answering the questions and uploading supporting documents. When complete, you will need to click “Submit” to forward the application to the Board for processing. Please click the below link to access PALS.

    Your UserID is: dskajpidjfm

    Click here to Log In. If you do not have your password, from the login page reset your password.

    Nothing. The license will automatically expire.

    Licensees will be asked a question regarding completion of the opioid CE. Proof of completion does not need to be submitted. However, should the licensee receive notification of an audit, proof of CE will need to be submitted at that time.

    Completion of the course will automatically be submitted by the continuing education provider. Proof of completion cannot be uploaded by the applicant/licensee. It is important that all applicants/licensees register with the CE provider with their name, social security number, and date of birth as it is listed on their application or license record. If the applicant does not have a social security number, they need to register using all zeros.

    A graduate training initial application and renewal requires that an applicant, licensee, or hospital representative uploads a copy of the exam scores based off of the requested PGY level. In order to process an initial application/renewal in a timely manner, the scores need to be uploaded to the application/renewal. If submitted to the Board via the FSMB, delays in processing will occur.