News

MSDC advocated on behalf of physician interests during the DC Board of Medicine’s monthly meeting this morning.   Of note to MSDC members was progress on streamlined licensure through the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and a potential name change for PAs. See further details below.

INTERSTATE MEDICAL LICENSURE COMPACT: Implementation of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), a streamlined licensure process which MSDC was instrumental in passing in the District of Columbia, is ongoing and soon may be available for physicians. The IMLC enables physicians who are principally licensed in the District to apply for streamlined licensure in states which belong to the Compact.  (Read more at https://www.imlcc.org/).  The online process is expected to launch this summer, possibly in late June.  

COVID UPDATE: Dr. Preetha Iyengar reported that approximately 50% of DC residents are partially or fully vaccinated and that the Mayor has lifted the mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals. She reported that on May 21, restrictions on most public and commercial activity, including capacity limits, were lifted, and on June 11, all restrictions will be lifted. She urged providers to look out for and report negative side effects from the vaccine.  

Despite the lifting of the mask mandate, members of the public coming to a District government facility must still wear a mask. 

TITLE CHANGE FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS: Board of Medicine Chair and MSDC member Dr. Andrea Anderson raised a recent action by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to change the title "PA" to “physician associate.” See the AAPA release. MSDC opposes this action, which could cause confusion among patients. The impact of this action is unclear as regulations and legislation in states and the District of Columbia refer to Physician Assistants. The action by itself does not override or impact current law and regulation. The Board of Medicine is reviewing this action.  

LICENSURE CENSUS: The Board of Medicine provided an update on medical licensees. Specifically, there are currently 11,037 physician licensees in the District (10,572 MDs and 465 DOs).  This is an uptick from March when the Board of Medicine reported 10,500 physician licensees. However, it is a decline from the number of physicians this time last year when there were 11,714 physician (MD and DO) licensees.