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I am graduating in June 2015 and will be taking my PANCE exam by the end of June.  I am relocating to the Houston area from Chicago, IL after graduation.  A lot of the jobs I have seen require "active Texas license" which I will not be able to have until after I pass the PANCE.  Any tips on how to get consideration, potentially interview and accept a position without an active Texas license? Or is it better if I get my license after my PANCE, and move down there and then apply to more jobs?  Thank you for any advice, I appreciate it. 

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You can get a lot of the pre-licensing done before your PANCE and then you just have to wait... licensing in Texas is expensive and slow. The medical board only meets a few times a year so if you need an actual license, you may be waiting for 3-4 months from your PANCE. If a job will accept your temporary license, it will take 4-8 weeks after PANCE to get a license. There is no reason you can't start applying and interviewing before hand though, hiring processes and credentialing take time any way. I don't think its unusual for a job to require an "active Texas license," it is completely illegal to work as a PA without a license in Texas. 

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Thank you for all the tips.  I guess I did not phrase it too well-I know I would need an active Texas license to practice, but I feel like when I say "no"  I do not have an active Texas License my application is automatically rejected, even if new grads are welcome to apply (otherwise I would not apply there).  Literally within less than 5 minutes of submitting, some of my applications are rejected.  Other applications have a place to say board-eligible, which allows me to explain I will soon be taking my PANCE.  But with all my Texas applications, I have not found a place to do so.  I will have to look into temporary licensing, thank you for letting me know about it.  Hopefully once graduation is closer/I have a license I will have better luck.  Thank you! 

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  • 1 month later...

I concentrated on taking my PANCE and then submitted all required paperwork to the Texas Medical Board. The reason why I say this is because your application gets put on hold if one thing is missing. One of the things required is verification from NCCPA that you took and passed the PANCE (they also want to know how many times you failed and had to retake etc). Another thing is, you have to take a jurisprudence exam (this is only for the state of Texas) - it is an ethics/law type of exam. On top of all this you have to get forms filled out from the dean of your school and the program director, along with an official transcript to be sent. I can't remember what else, but there is a long list! The main thing you can do is start the application process. You can go to the website and start the process where you get an ID/Application number. This way you are on record and will get an email of the list of things they require from you. I believe once you make an account, you have to pay $200+ (I forget the actual amount) and that will only be valid for a year (meaning you have to submit everything before then else you have to pay the fee again). Another thing you can do is register for the jurisprudence exam and get that out of the way? It took me over 3 months to get my Texas license. I got my temporary license but that was no help with applying for jobs. You are a more stronger candidate once you have your permanent license...at least thats what I have noticed with the reputable places. I recommend you do  not apply to any jobs until you take the PANCE, jurisprudence exam and are in the process of submitting the required documents to the Texas Medical Board. The Texas Medical Board has phases..the first phase is when they receive all the documents...the next phase someone has to review these documents to see if they are completed...then it goes into a prelicensing phase...if you paid for a temp license that is when you will get one...if you didnt..then you just wait until your application goes into a licensing phase where an analyst reviews it...THEN...it goes to the medical board..and they only meet 3-4 times a year...I think its usually March, July, Nov/Dec? They have the dates somewhere...and when they meet is when you will most likely get a notice saying your license will be in the mail..its complicated and long...and I wouldnt apply to jobs beforehand..just my opinion..

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**Whine alert!**  Mr. "Old man codger" here.  I still can't for the life of me understand why the heck when you graduate that you can't auto-apply for your state license (you do NOT have to be a -C here), do the same with DPS for CSR, and then notify DPS of work address when hired (online even, have EFT payment since it is the 21st century, and don't worry about an exemption of the $25 fee for working for a gov.'t agency, which is another separate paper form)?  You can't use the DPS w/o a DEA anywho (can't get it until employed) so why not be able to get the registration out of the way???  Hey, TAPA!  You want to make meaningful changes?  Simplify the process with the TMB/DPS!  You don't get the same answer twice from either state agency, trust me.  The harder you try to "simplify" things, the more convoluted things get.  Back in the 80's all you had to do was fill out a single form, mail it in to TMB (no PA board then), get an acknowledgement back that supervision was approved, and you were golden!  Continue to do the same thing today like it is electronically (no paper).  Just add your backups as SPs as well.  All this PAA paperwork (for non-Texans, "prescriptive authority agreement" which spells out how your supervision is overseen, who the backups are, what you do in an emergency, etc.) nonsense is counter-productive IMO.  Monthly review logs (we have to have monthly reviews with our SPs)?  Don't have a problem with it.  THAT is where you get your oversight accomplished to begin with.  If you do something that you know, or suspect, your SP doesn't want you doing, it's YOUR neck.  Instead of our having to spell it out in paper (money for attorneys if you want to have it legally reviewed), why don't you let the state spell it out for everyone since they pretty much already have in the legislation.  Back to under my comfy rock in the field.

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Nope.  You only have to be a graduate of what was formally referred to as an approved CAHEA program (can't keep up with all the new acronyms for these groups, like JACHO).  Going without the -C dates back decades in discussions here and it's why I've brought it up in these forums with all this NCCPA SA/PI-CME CME nonsense.  If one is like me and dropping out of the game within 6-7 years at latest, and I'm in the first year of the new 10 year renewal cycle, why bother keeping the -C if the employers don't care (based on my experience, they don't have a clue what the guidelines are)?  All I have to do is keep my state CME requirements and I'm golden (unless they were to change that and therein lies the sticking point if you let it lapse).

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100% correct.  For NEW licensees.  I have never had to pass the jurisprudence exam for example (grandfathered).  Here are the requirements straight from the TMB site:

To be eligible for a PA License in Texas, an applicant must meet the following requirements:

 

  • Successful completion of an educational program for physician assistants or surgeon assistants accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, or by that committee's predecessor or successor entities
     
  • Passage of PANCE within 6 attempts
     
  • NCCPA Certification
     
  • Any health care licenses held not subject to any type of disciplinary action
     
  • Good moral and professional character
     
  • Mentally and physically able to function safely as a PA
     
  • Passage of the jurisprudence (JP) exam
     
  • Have practiced at least 20 hours a week for 40 weeks in one of the two years preceding application

RENEWAL FAQ:

Does Texas require NCCPA Certification?

NCCPA Certification is required for initial licensure in Texas but not for renewal of an active Texas Physician Assistant License.

The last requirement is what almost got my goat, and also answers the question about moms and Mr. Moms that are out of the game for a couple of years.  You can't maintain state licensure without that last stipulation.  Thus for myself, getting back with the VA when I did allowed me to remain in compliance until the new position came about.

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Ok. Your post this morning was about an "auto-apply" at graduation since theres no need to be certified, thats why I was questioning you... ;)

Yeah that last one is interesting... could definitely take some people out of the game.

 

Good to know for the future though!!! 

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I'll be honest with you newer grads.  I can't imagine how one keeps up with all these changes.  For myself, it has been easier I suspect since they have all come in smaller bites over time so it has been easier to keep up with.  I have had the pleasure of working alongside newly relocated or new grads (or both) who simply don't know the state requirements.  I had to point out in my new position the fact that the state requires placement of a complaint placard in the waiting room for folks who wish to file a complaint with the TMB.  I have no clue as to what is on the jurisprudence exam but if they don't, they should be asking questions with regard to what is required to establish practice in Texas?  For example, DEA address notification if at more than one work location?  Do you have to notify DPS if you change practice locations?  If so, how do you do so?  These sound like simple questions but I promise you the answers are not so easy to find if one looks through the different websites (see above comment if you were to call).  I DO know that just because you have a DEA number (at a former work location) that it doesn't give you the legal authority to write for a controlled substance when 1) you don't have state authorization under your current SP to do so, and 2) you haven't notified either DEA/DPS of practice address change (this wasn't me btw).

 

Here's another example of the mish-mash that you have to wade through.  I have authorization through each of my SPs (alternate weekly) to write for "dangerous drugs" (I had to tell our employer's in-house attorney what a "dangerous drug" was).  I do not have controlled substance authorization since I was told during the interview (I asked) that we weren't going to be prescribing controlled substances.  Now the employer may or may not wish to change that.  To do so with my two SP's, I have to cancel my authorization, resubmit a request for supervision, and on the physician's end, have them select both dangerous and controlled substances.  When I asked the TMB rep how one continues to practice in the interim, I was told that "It was ok".  HUH???  What I've done is the above for one of the two.  Once authorized for that one I will then terminate the other physician agreement and do the same for the second.  There should be a way to go online, amend/request amendment for the already authorized SP, but keep the original authorization in place.  There is not at present time.

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  • Moderator

There are bills in the Senate this session to combine registration of DPS and overall PA licensure to simplify the process (which physicians in Texas already have- the bill's author is actually an orthopedic surgeon who is a senator), and there is another Senate bill to expand the Texas PA board in order to increase the number of PA's there to help with the workload and ensure that the board has a PA chair- which has never been mandated before.  TAPA is helping to get these bills passed.  

 

The legislative process is not easy and requires time and money.  But things are progressing forward

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