How long does a Michigan medical license take?

LARA publishes a typical 4 to 6 weeks from receipt of the application for a DO license and no processing time for an MD license, and Michigan sets no deadline for either board to decide. Prescribers also need the controlled substance license, which LARA says averages 4 to 6 weeks. On the compact route, IMLCC’s Year 9 averages were 38 days from application to a Letter of Qualification, then 22 days from qualification to issued licenses.

How much does a Michigan medical license cost?

$445 for an MD and $440 for a DO in board and transcript fees, or $375 for an MD licensed elsewhere at least 10 years or a DO licensed for the last 5 years, who need no exam transcript. Fingerprint fees, which LARA does not publish, come on top, as do verifications from your other boards and, if you prescribe controlled substances, the $259.10 controlled substance license. Through the IMLC, compact fees are $1,075: $700 to IMLCC and $375 for Michigan.

Is Michigan in the IMLC?

Yes. Michigan has been a member since September 24, 2019, both boards issue licenses through the compact, and either can be your state of principal license. Its original compact law carried a sunset that repealed it on March 28, 2025, but the House Fiscal Agency notes that withdrawal from the compact takes effect only after a year, and a law effective March 26, 2026 re-enacted the compact with no repeal date before that year ran out. In IMLCC’s Year 9, April 2025 to March 2026, the Board of Medicine issued 565 licenses through the compact and the osteopathic board 102.

Do MDs and DOs apply to the same board in Michigan?

No: MDs apply to the Board of Medicine and DOs to the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, though both sit inside LARA and charge the same $375 to apply and $314.40 to renew. The differences are the exam (USMLE for MDs, COMLEX-USA for DOs), the years of licensure elsewhere that stand in for the exam and training items (10 for MDs, 5 for DOs), the Category 1 CME minimum (75 hours against 60), and FCVS, which only the Board of Medicine mentions.

Do I need a Michigan license to treat Michigan patients by telehealth?

Yes, apart from narrow exemptions. Michigan’s telehealth law sets consent and prescribing duties for licensees and creates no out-of-state registration, so telehealth to patients in Michigan takes a Michigan license, issued directly or through the IMLC. The exemptions include a physician from another state whom a Michigan health professional calls in for consultation or treatment in an exceptional circumstance, and one who lives next to the Michigan border and keeps no Michigan office or place to meet patients or receive calls.

I’ve been licensed in another state for years. Does that help?

Yes: an MD licensed in another state or Canadian province for at least 10 years, or a DO licensed in good standing for the last 5 years with proof of an accredited osteopathic education, is presumed to meet Michigan’s exam and training requirements. The file then needs no exam transcript or training certification, so the fees come to $375 plus fingerprinting. LARA’s DO guide words the DO branch as at least 5 years of active practice.

Does Michigan require fingerprints or a jurisprudence exam?

Fingerprints, yes; a jurisprudence exam, no. Every new applicant on the direct route goes through a Michigan State Police and FBI check, set up by instructions LARA sends after the application is filed, and the state’s vendor takes fingerprint cards from non-residents. The vendor collects the state and FBI fees and may add its own; neither LARA nor the state police publishes the total for health licensing. Instead of a law exam, Michigan requires implicit bias and human trafficking training before licensure. On the compact route, your state of principal license runs the check.

Does Michigan require a state controlled substance license?

Yes, if you will prescribe controlled substances in Michigan: LARA issues a separate controlled substance license, which it requires before a Michigan DEA registration and which a license issued through the compact does not include. It costs $259.10 with a new three-year license, averages 4 to 6 weeks to issue, and issues only after a one-time opioids and controlled substances awareness training; it then renews with your professional license for $82.70 a year.

Is FCVS required in Michigan?

No. The Board of Medicine accepts FCVS and calls its use strictly voluntary, and the osteopathic board’s guide and rules do not mention it, though FSMB lists both Michigan boards as accepting it. A first FCVS profile costs $395 and includes your exam transcripts.

What does staying licensed in Michigan involve?

Renewal every three years for $314.40, MD or DO; 150 CME hours per cycle, including medical ethics, pain and symptom management, and 1 hour of implicit bias training for each year; MAPS registration and report checks for controlled-substance prescribing; a controlled substance license that renews for $82.70 a year; and a separate $888 DEA registration for Michigan.

Michigan physician license: fees, timeline, requirements, and common delays

Michigan licenses MD and DO physicians through two boards inside the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, and both issue licenses directly or through the IMLC. Applying directly, an MD pays $445 in board and transcript fees, or $375 after 10 years of licensure elsewhere, and a DO $440, or $375 after 5 years, plus fingerprint fees LARA does not publish. Compact fees are $1,075. LARA says a DO license typically takes 4 to 6 weeks from receipt of the application and publishes no MD processing time. The friction is verification: every state or country that has ever licensed you reports directly to LARA.

Michigan at a glance.

License: Medical Doctor (MD) or Osteopathic Physician (DO) license, renewed every three years
MD and DO: Two boards in one agency: the Board of Medicine for MDs, the osteopathic board for DOs
IMLC: Member state, issuing licenses. Either board can be your SPL; the compact law was re-enacted with no repeal date on March 26, 2026
FCVS: Accepted, not required, at the Board of Medicine; the osteopathic board does not mention it
Uniform Application: Not used
Fingerprints: Required: a state police and FBI check; non-residents can use fingerprint cards
Jurisprudence exam: None; implicit bias and human trafficking training before licensure instead
Interview: Not routine; a board may call an endorsement applicant
Board fee: $375 at either board: the application plus the first three-year license
Renewal: Every three years, $314.40, MD or DO
CME: 150 hours every three years, at least 75 in Category 1 (MD) or 60 (DO)

Which route fits.

MDs file with the Board of Medicine and DOs with the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, both inside the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), for the same fees, directly or through the IMLC. Michigan has no out-of-state telehealth registration: its telehealth law sets consent and prescribing duties for licensees, so treating patients in Michigan by telehealth takes a Michigan license unless a narrow exemption applies, such as a Michigan health professional calling you in for consultation in an exceptional circumstance.

The MD license.

Who it fits: MDs who will treat patients in Michigan, in person or by telehealth, on a license from another state or Canadian province. An MD licensed elsewhere for at least 10 years is presumed to meet Michigan’s exam and training requirements, so the board asks for license verifications instead of exam scores and a training certification, and Michigan law bars the board from requiring board certification.
The trade-off: $445 in board and transcript fees, or $375 at 10 years, plus fingerprinting, and no published processing time: LARA says only that it processes applications in the order received. Every state or country that has ever licensed you verifies directly, showing no pending discipline.

Licensing board: Michigan Board of Medicine.

The DO license.

Who it fits: DOs who will treat patients in Michigan, in person or by telehealth. A DO licensed in good standing for the last 5 years, with proof of an accredited osteopathic education, is presumed to meet the exam and training requirements; LARA’s DO guide words that branch as at least 5 years of active practice.
The trade-off: $440 in board and transcript fees, or $375 at 5 years, plus fingerprinting, and the only full-license processing time LARA publishes: typically 4 to 6 weeks from receipt of the application. Every state or country that has licensed you, active or inactive, verifies directly.

Licensing board: Michigan Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery.

The IMLC.

Who it fits: Physicians whose state of principal license is another member state and who meet the compact’s terms, which include specialty certification. Either Michigan board can also be your state of principal license, to add other member states. Michigan stayed a member after its original compact law’s 2025 sunset, and a law effective March 26, 2026 re-enacted it with no repeal date.
The trade-off: Compact fees of $1,075, $700 to IMLCC plus $375 for Michigan, against $445 (MD) or $440 (DO) to apply directly; adding Michigan to a Letter of Qualification still within its 365 days costs $475. Prescribing controlled substances takes Michigan’s separate controlled substance license on either route, and LARA says you cannot hold a regular Michigan license alongside one issued through the compact.

What it costs.

MD license, Board of Medicine
Application fee with the first three-year license	$375
USMLE transcript (FSMB), not needed after 10 years of licensure elsewhere	$70
All-in	$445, or $375 after 10 years of licensure elsewhere, plus fingerprinting
Our service fee	Quoted with your plan

DO license, Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery
Application fee with the first three-year license	$375
COMLEX-USA transcript (NBOME), not needed after 5 years of licensure	$65
All-in	$440, or $375 after 5 years of licensure, plus fingerprinting
Our service fee	Quoted with your plan

The IMLC route, MD or DO
IMLCC fee	$700
Michigan license fee, from the IMLCC fee table	$375
All-in	$1,075
Our service fee	Quoted with your plan

Both boards’ fees go to LARA with the application. Under LARA’s fiscal year 2027 fee schedule, the $375 is a $60.60 application processing fee, which Michigan law makes nonrefundable, plus three years of the $104.80 annual license fee. Transcript fees go to FSMB or NBOME. On the IMLC route the $700 goes to IMLCC, which calls every compact fee nonrefundable, and adding Michigan to a Letter of Qualification still within its 365 days costs a $100 handling fee plus the $375. LARA’s compact FAQ still quotes $360.55 for the three-year Michigan license plus a $100 application fee; $360.55 matches Michigan’s fiscal year 2019 application and license fees, and IMLCC’s table lists $375 for each Michigan board. Michigan law waives the application and initial license fees for active members of the armed forces or uniformed services, honorably separated veterans, and their dependents.

Left out of every total: the fingerprint check every new applicant needs, because neither LARA nor the state police publishes its price for health licensing; the vendor collects the state and FBI fees and may add its own service fee. Also left out: verifications from every state or country that has licensed you, at each one’s own fee; the implicit bias and human trafficking trainings, priced by their providers; FCVS, optional for MDs ($395), which includes your transcripts; ECFMG’s $70 certification verification report, which the MD guide asks of every international graduate; any school charge to verify a DO’s osteopathic education; and, if you prescribe controlled substances, Michigan’s controlled substance license, $259.10 with a new license, and its opioid awareness training. On the IMLC route, your state of principal license runs the fingerprints and verifications at its own fees.

Fees change; verified October 26, 2026.

How long it takes.

4 to 6 weeksLARA’s processing time for a DO licenseLARA’s DO guide says processing typically varies from 4 to 6 weeks from the date it receives your application, and the license issues once every required item is submitted and accepted.Board-published
4 to 6 weeksControlled substance license, average to issueLARA’s controlled substance licensing guide gives an average of 4 to 6 weeks to receive a new license, sooner if every required document comes with the application.Board-published
30 daysState police deadline to forward FBI resultsMichigan law requires the state police to forward the FBI’s criminal history results to LARA within 30 days after the request is made.Statutory deadline
38 daysIMLC application to Letter of QualificationIMLCC’s Year 9 average across the compact, April 2025 to March 2026, over 10,837 completed applications; 55% received the letter in 30 days or less.IMLCC average
22 daysIMLC qualification to licenses issuedIMLCC’s Year 9 average for the next stage, from qualification to the requested state licenses; 47% received them in 7 days or less. The two stages are separate averages, not a total.IMLCC average

LARA publishes no processing time for the MD license; its health licensing page says only that applications are processed in the order received. Michigan sets no deadline for either board to decide a complete application, and state law voids an application, forfeiting its fees, if its requirements are not completed within 2 years of receipt. The state police say Livescan licensing checks come back in seven business days or less, and once a DO license is approved, LARA’s guide puts the mailed license at about 7 to 10 business days, with a PDF copy emailed as soon as it issues. No board guarantees a date.

What the file involves.

An MD file moves between 7 parties besides you and 8 core document types; for an MD licensed elsewhere at least 10 years it is 5 parties and 6 document types, because your training program and FSMB drop out. A DO file runs 7 parties and 8 document types, or 6 and 7 for a DO licensed for the last 5 years, who proves an osteopathic education instead. Each extra state or country that has licensed you adds a party, international MD graduates add ECFMG, and prescribers add the opioid training provider and the controlled substance license. On the IMLC route, the Michigan file involves 3 parties: IMLCC, your state of principal license, and LARA.

Every state or country that has licensed youVerifies each license you hold or have held directly to LARA, showing no pending discipline and no sanction in force.
Your postgraduate training programCertifies at least 1 year of postgraduate clinical training; not needed after 10 years of licensure elsewhere (MD) or 5 years (DO).
FSMB or NBOMESends your USMLE or COMLEX-USA scores directly, unless the 10-year (MD) or 5-year (DO) presumption applies.
A source for your osteopathic education (DO files at 5 years)Proves you completed an accredited osteopathic education, which the 5-year presumption requires; LARA’s guide leaves open whether your school or another state’s board sends it.
A fingerprint vendor, the Michigan State Police, and the FBITake your prints and run the state and national criminal history checks for LARA.
An implicit bias training providerCertifies 2 hours of implicit bias training within the 5 years before your license issues.
A human trafficking training providerCertifies the one-time human trafficking training Michigan requires before licensure.
LARA, for your boardReviews the file for the Board of Medicine or the osteopathic board, either of which can call an endorsement applicant for an interview, and issues the license.

Postgraduate training, MD: At least 1 year of postgraduate clinical training in an ACGME program or one accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College, for US, Canadian, and international graduates alike; presumed met after 10 years of licensure elsewhere.
Postgraduate training, DO: At least 1 year in an AOA-approved program at an accredited institution or an ACGME program; presumed met after 5 years of licensure, with proof of an accredited osteopathic education.
Exams, MD: All three USMLE steps, with no more than 4 attempts at any step and no completion window in the rules; on endorsement, Part I of the Medical Council of Canada’s qualifying exam (MCCQE) can stand in. After 10 years of licensure elsewhere, the exam requirement, attempt limit included, is presumed met.
Exams, DO: All three COMLEX-USA levels, with no more than 4 attempts at any level; the osteopathic rules name no other licensing exam. A rule change effective May 8, 2025 cut the limit from 6 attempts and dropped a 7-year completion window. After 5 years of licensure, the exam requirement is presumed met.
Required trainings: Before licensure, 2 hours of implicit bias training within the 5 years before the license issues and a one-time human trafficking training. A controlled substance license also needs a one-time opioids and controlled substances awareness training before it issues.
Board certification: Michigan law bars both boards from requiring it, and passing a specialty board exam counts for 50 CME hours. The IMLC requires it.
International graduates: On the endorsement route, Michigan law bars the Board of Medicine from holding them to stricter requirements than US and Canadian graduates, and the rule lists no ECFMG item, but the MD guide asks every international graduate for ECFMG verification sent directly by ECFMG.

We run the Michigan file.

We do

Confirm the right board and route, a direct license or the IMLC, and whether your years of licensure bring the 10-year (MD) or 5-year (DO) presumption, before any fee is paid.
Prepare the application for the Board of Medicine or the osteopathic board and check every answer against its current rules.
Request and chase every verification: every state or country that has licensed you, your training program, and your exam scores where the file needs them.
Coordinate your fingerprints as soon as LARA sends its instructions, and track the results until they reach LARA.
Add Michigan’s controlled substance license to the file if you prescribe, since LARA requires it before a Michigan DEA registration.
Answer every LARA request and follow the file until the license issues.

You do

Share your credentials and license history once, in our secure portal.
Approve your application answers and sign the attestations.
Complete the implicit bias and human trafficking trainings and, if you prescribe, the opioid awareness training, which Michigan requires of you personally.
Have your fingerprints taken in person for the state police and FBI check.
Appear for an interview if a board calls one.

Get My Licensing Plan

Staying licensed.

Renewal cycle: Every three years, on or before the anniversary of the date your license issued, for $314.40 (MD or DO); renewal opens no sooner than 90 days before expiration. Renewing within 60 days after expiration adds a $20 late fee, and you can keep practicing during those 60 days; after that the license is void, and relicensure costs $395. A license issued through the compact renews through IMLCC when another state is your state of principal license.
CME: 150 hours every three years at both boards, including 1 hour of medical ethics and 3 hours of pain and symptom management, at least 1 of them on controlled substances prescribing. MDs need at least 75 of the hours in Category 1. DOs need at least 60 in Category 1, at least 40 of those through AOA or Michigan Osteopathic Association activities, and no more than 90 in Category 2. Both boards also require 1 hour of implicit bias training for each year of the cycle, which can count toward the 150.
State controlled-substance registration: Yes: a separate Michigan controlled substance license, which LARA requires before a Michigan DEA registration. It costs $259.10 with a new three-year license, less when fewer months remain on your professional license, expires with your professional license, and renews for $82.70 a year. If you only prescribe, one license covers every location, and it issues only after a one-time opioids and controlled substances awareness training.
Prescription monitoring: Register with MAPS, Michigan’s prescription monitoring program, run by LARA, before prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance. Before prescribing or dispensing more than a 3-day supply of a controlled substance, obtain and review the patient’s MAPS report, with exceptions such as drugs administered in a hospital or surgical outpatient facility and hospice patients whose report was reviewed at admission.
DEA registration: $888 for three years, with a separate registration for Michigan, after the Michigan controlled substance license.
E-prescribing: Required for every prescription, controlled substances included, with LARA enforcing it since January 1, 2023. Exceptions include a prescription from a prescriber located outside Michigan to be filled in Michigan, technology failures, and waivers of up to 2 years.
Opioid prescribing: Michigan requires a bona fide prescriber-patient relationship before you prescribe a Schedule 2 to 5 drug, limits an opioid for acute pain to a 7-day supply within a 7-day period, and requires signed patient forms before opioid prescriptions outside inpatient care, including a consent form before a minor’s first opioid prescription in a course of treatment.
Telehealth: Both boards’ rules require the patient’s consent before treatment by telehealth, with proof of it in the record, and hold telehealth care to the same standard of care as in-person care.

Renewals, CME tracking, and DEA registrations are managed where included in your plan: physician licensing at NP Licensing.

Frequently asked questions

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Your licenses, your deadline. We come back with the Michigan plan.

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Also licensing in these states?

Ohio One board licenses MDs and DOs, by traditional application, by reciprocity, or through the IMLC, and Ohio can be your state of principal license.
California Two boards and no IMLC route: every California license is a direct application.
Texas One board licenses MDs and DOs, by direct application or through the IMLC.
Florida Separate boards for MDs and DOs, both issuing licenses through the IMLC, plus a telehealth registration with no state fee.
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