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Who holds that licence?

# Check the person, then the licence

Use a website’s badge as a prompt to ask what stands behind it.

Fact file: September 26, 2026.

In brief

Find out who will assess you, and request their full name, professional role and licensing details. Confirm whether you are seeing a doctor or someone in another health profession; the last section explains two other roles you may encounter.

As of September 26, 2026, a doctor seeing someone online or by phone generally needed a licence or other legal authority in the state the patient was in at that time.

## Use the board’s own record

A state gives its permission to practise by issuing a licence.

Medical boards hold public information about a doctor’s current licence and any board penalties.

For a doctor with an MD or DO degree, the Federation of State Medical Boards offers state-board links to check the record; DO means doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Some states keep MD and DO records at separate boards, so a search at one may miss a doctor listed at the other.

Start with the official directory in the source file. Match the name and licence details supplied by the service, then read the status shown.

### Keep the location clear

No medical licence covered the entire country as of September 26, 2026. An agreement between states, called a compact, let eligible doctors apply for several state licences at once; each licence still came from a separate state.

Some states also let health professionals licensed elsewhere register to provide online or phone care, if they met that state’s conditions.

Ask what authority covers your location. “Available online” is too broad an answer to that question.

### What the record does not decide

A record without public penalties does not prove that the person gives good care.

Keep asking about the assessment, the proposed medicine and access to help. A record check is one part of a comparison.

## Check the job title

Nurse practitioners are nurses trained to assess patients and prescribe within state rules. Physician assistants are health professionals trained to provide medical care; they may prescribe under state rules.

As of September 26, 2026, the rules about working with a doctor differed by state and sometimes by the person’s experience.

Medical-board searches for doctors may leave out nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Ask which state office holds that person’s licence and whether the licence permits the proposed care where you are. Search using the exact job title and name.

The records behind this briefing [Open the source file →](/source-file/#licences)

  [Read next Check the pharmacy separately](/question-brief/pharmacy/)

Keep the answer.

Ask the same question of each service. Write down the answer and anything still unclear.

 [Questions for a visit →](/question-brief/)  [Choose another briefing ↓](#directory)

## Find the next answer.

 [Back to the top ↑](#top)

### Get your bearings

- [Start with the care](/)

- [The types of product](/at-a-glance/)

- [Online or in person](/briefing/)

- [Is the treatment legitimate?](/answers/)

- [Made-to-order medicines](/briefing/compounding/)

- [Weight-care copies](/briefing/weight-care/)

### Check the care

- [Prepare for the visit](/question-brief/)

- [Look up the person’s licence](/question-brief/licence/)

- [Check the pharmacy](/question-brief/pharmacy/)

- [Tests and examinations](/question-brief/tests/)

- [Care after the visit](/question-brief/follow-up/)

### Understand the bill

- [The full bill](/cost-brief/)

- [Read a price tag](/cost-brief/price-tags/)

- [Insurance questions](/coverage-brief/)

### Read and verify

- [Promises to pause over](/risk-brief/)

- [A plan for problems](/safety-brief/)

- [Why location matters](/briefing/state-rules/)

- [What backs up a claim?](/evidence-brief/)

- [The source file](/source-file/)

This guide helps readers compare care, with no clinic operations or treatment sales of its own.

[Read this page as text](/question-brief/licence/index.md)  [Further reading](/source-file/)