The Conundrum of Medical Licensure for Physician Leaders

This article discusses the dichotomy between the need for physician leaders and the need for alternative pathways for medical licensure for nonpracticing physicians who seek leadership roles, including the possibility of a national solution to the problem. Currently, no nationwide licensing standards or requirements exist for clinically inactive physician leaders, and states have different requirements and procedures for licensure. In many states, physician leaders who no longer practice medicine may be held to the same standards of medical licensure as practicing physicians, which may require board recertification or enrollment in formal "reentry" programs and other activities that may seem unreasonable or irrelevant to the roles and responsibilities of physicians in leadership positions. Physicians interested in leaving practice for leadership opportunities in industry and other sectors of medicine should always maintain an active medical license. Those seeking employment in a state other than the one(s) in which they are currently licensed should not make any job commitments based on expectation of licensure until they are actually licensed.