Special Permits 

Special Permits are issued to international physicians who are not currently eligible for a Physician’s and Surgeon’s License in California. You must be sponsored by a medical school, hospital, or an approved fellowship training program in California. These permits authorize you to practice medicine only within the sponsoring medical school and any of its affiliated institutions. Depending upon the type of Special Program, there may be supervision requirements, limits on permitted activities, or eligibility limits based on U.S. citizenship.

 

Section 2111 Appointment

The 2111 Appointment is for a foreign medical school graduate who has an appointment with the DGSOM. The regulations require the physician to have 3 years of postgraduate basic residency training and be board-eligible, board-certified or equivalent in their basic discipline prior to requesting a Section 2111 appointment. The physician must be in the U.S. in the appropriate visa status. The 2111 appointment is only for incidental patient care activities, defined as 20% or less time.

Learn more about Section 2111 Appointments

Section 2113 Appointment

The purpose of the Section 2113 Certificate of Registration is to allow a faculty member, who holds a 100% appointment at a California medical school the right to practice medicine within the scope of the faculty appointment. The Certificate does not allow the faculty member to open a private office outside of the UCLA faculty position.

Learn more about Section 2113 Appointments

Steps:

 

The Special Faculty Permit is issued for faculty from other states or countries, which do not have a California State medical license. The Medical Board of California issues a Special Faculty Permit authorizing eminent academic physicians to practice medicine within California medical schools. Pre-information concerning the Special Faculty Permit is listed below:

The permit authorized by Section 2168 of the Business and Professions Code is intended to attract gifted academic physicians to the State of California, and enhance California’s position in the international medical community.

The Special Faculty Permit authorizes the permit holder to practice medicine only within the sponsoring medical school and any affiliated institutions in which the permit holder is providing instruction as part of the medical school’s educational program, and for which the medical school has assumed direct responsibility.

The permit is valid only while holding a full-time appointment at the level of a full professor in a tenure track position or its equivalent (i.e., in-residence) in the sponsoring medical school and fulfilling the duties assigned by the dean and department chair.

The permit does not authorize practice in other medical schools or in any setting outside the sponsoring medical school and appropriate affiliated institutions. Leaving the faculty of the sponsoring medical school or switching to another California medical school invalidates the Special Faculty Permit.

If the permit holder later desires to engage in the practice of medicine outside the parameters of the sponsoring medical school, he or she must apply for and meet all of the routine requirements for the standard, unrestricted California medical license.

The Special Faculty Permit is not intended to be a pathway to full and unrestricted licensure. Faculty service rendered in a medical school while holding a Special Faculty Permit will not satisfy the postgraduate training required for full and unrestricted licensure, nor entitle the permit holder to request a waiver of any of the routine licensing examinations or other requirement.

The permit is not time-limited; however, the permit holders must renew their permit at regular biennial intervals.

To obtain a Special Faculty Permit application, please contact the DGSOM Visa and Licensing Office.

The Special Faculty Permit Review Committee reviews the applications submitted to the Board pursuant to Section 2168.1of the California Business and Professions Code and makes recommendations to the Medical Board of California relative to an applicant’s eligibility for the requested appointment.

The application deadline for the receipt, review, and determination that an application is complete and approved to proceed to a meeting has been established for each Committee meeting to ensure appropriate processing. These dates have been determined based on current staff assignments and mandatory staff furloughs. As a result of the challenges faced due to the reduced work hours, no exceptions to the deadlines will be considered. Therefore, please ensure that applications are submitted well in advance to allow for the complete process.

SP 2168 Application for Special Faculty Permit v. 2019

Section 2060. Nothing in this chapter applies to any practitioner from outside this state, when in actual consultation with a licensed practitioner of this state, or when invited guest of the California Podiatry Association, or one of their component country societies, or of an approved medical or podiatric medical school or college for the sole purpose of engaging in professional education through lectures, clinics, or demonstrations., if he or she is, at the time of the consultation, lecture, or demonstration a licensed practitioner in the state or country in which he or she resides.

Such practitioner shall not open or appoint a place to meet patients or receive calls from patients within the limits of this state.

Download a sample 2060 Request Letter