Alaska can be a great place to start your medical practice. The state's physician shortage, leaving Alaska thirty percent short of general physician needs not just in rural areas but even in Anchorage, ensures that you will have available employment opportunities and eager patients needing your care. The state's strong economy, stable population, and fine healthcare facilities ensure your medical practice's continuing support. You just need to resolve your NBME/USMLE issues favorably so that you can qualify for Alaska State Medical Board licensure. Don't retain unqualified local representation. For the skilled and experienced attorney representation, you need to resolve your medical licensing exam issues, call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team. We are available in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Badger, Knik-Fairview, College, North Lakes, and across the rest of Alaska. We can help you get your Alaska State Medical Board license to get started in practice.
Alaska Medical Practice Support
Alaska has the hospitals and healthcare facilities to support your new medical practice and provide you with employment opportunities. Those facilities include Anchorage's Providence Alaska Medical Center and Alaska Regional Hospital, Palmer's Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Soldotna's Central Peninsula Hospital, Nome's Norton Sound Regional Hospital, Juneau's Bartlett Regional Hospital, Homer's South Peninsula Hospital, Ketchikan's PeaceHealth Medical Center, and Kodiak's Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. The University of Alaska Anchorage WWAMI School of Medical Education offers teaching, continuing education, and networking opportunities. The Alaska State Medical Association also supports all physicians while promoting healthcare across the state. Let us help you gain your Alaska State Medical Board license so that you can get started and take advantage of these medical practice opportunities.
Alaska Medical Licensing Authority
You must deal effectively with the Alaska State Medical Board if you expect to practice medicine in Alaska. Under Alaska Statutes Section 08.64.101, Alaska vests its medical licensing authority in the Alaska State Medical Board. Alaska Statutes Section 08.64.170 prohibits any person from practicing medicine in Alaska without a State Medical Board license. Alaska Statutes Section 08.64.360 makes it a Class A misdemeanor crime to practice medicine without a license, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $25,000 fine. Under the statute, each day of unlicensed practice is a separate misdemeanor. If you practice without a license, you may not only face criminal charges, conviction, and incarceration but also lose your opportunity to gain a medical license in the future, in Alaska, and in other states. Don't run these risks. Instead, retain us to help you favorably resolve your NBME/USMLE issues.
Alaska License Application Requirements
Alaska Statutes Section 08-46-180 requires that you apply in writing to the Alaska State Medical Board for your license through the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development's Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Alaska Statutes Section 08-46-190 requires that your application be under oath, attesting to the accuracy of the information you supply that the State Medical Board requires. The same statute further warns that the State Medical Board may “verify information in the application through direct contact with the appropriate schools, medical boards, or other agencies that can substantiate the information.” State Medical Board Rule 40.963 details application requirements. State Medical Board Rule 40.946 reiterates the attestation requirement and expressly warns of the credential fraud risk. These provisions not only place the burden on you to prove your qualifications. They also authorize the State Medical Board to construe inaccuracies and inconsistencies in your application as credential fraud, where they appear to deliberately attempt to conceal disqualifying conditions. Your medical licensing exam issues could trigger credential fraud charges and license denial if not accurately disclosed on your State Medical Board application. Let us help you ensure the accuracy of your license application and make any corrections with appropriate explanations.
Alaska Medical Board General Requirements
Alaska Statutes Section 08-46-200 states the Alaska State Medical Board's general requirements for medical licensure. Those requirements include graduation from a CME-approved medical school program, one year of medical residency, a list of any malpractice lawsuits or judgments, and assurances that you have not committed acts worthy of professional discipline or had a medical license in another state suspended or revoked. Alaska Statutes Section 08-46-326 lists the disqualifying disciplinary acts, including incompetence or gross negligence in medical practice, credential fraud, certain criminal convictions, illegal drug delivery, unprofessional acts, intemperance, or drug addiction, among others. Alaska Statutes Section 08-46-210 adds an unspecified medical licensing exam requirement, leaving it to the Alaska State Medical Board to specify the required examination by rule. Our attorneys can help you address issues with any of these general license requirements, including resolving your USMLE issues.
Alaska Medical Board Licensing Exam Requirements
While Alaska Statutes Section 09-46-210 leaves the medical licensing exam choice to the Alaska State Medical Board, the Board has adopted Rule 40.020 specifying the USMLE as the approved medical licensing exam. Rule 40.020 requires passage of all three USMLE step exams within seven years of the first attempt, extending the period to ten years for applicants enrolled in dual-degree programs. Rule 40.020 further limits attempts to just two for each step of the exam. Rule 40.020 permits additional attempts beyond the two-attempts limit only after the applicant completes an approved course of remedial study. Alaska's two-attempts limit is significantly lower than the USMLE's own four-attempts limit. Our attorneys can help you discern whether your medical licensing pathway meets Alaska State Medical Board requirements or, if not, whether the Board may extend a waiver and permit substitute examination under your special circumstances.
Alaska Medical Licensing Exam Issues
The above medical licensing exam requirements imposed under Alaska medical licensing statutes and Alaska State Medical Board administrative rules have the purpose of ensuring that licensed physicians have the knowledge and skills necessary for safe and effective medical practice. The Alaska legislature and Alaska State Medical Board carry out a patient protection role when imposing and applying medical licensing exam requirements. The State Board must ensure that every licensee has the requisite knowledge and skills. The rigor and detail of these medical licensing exam requirements can trigger several common issues in the following categories:
- issues qualifying to take the exam;
- issues passing exam steps without exhausting attempt limits;
- issues with extenuating circumstances frustrating exam attempts;
- facing exam cheating allegations;
- enduring anomalous exam performance disqualification; or
- enduring an invalidated exam score.
We appreciate your frustration with USMLE issues, especially when they begin to delay or threaten your Alaska licensure and medical practice. You will have earned the right to practice medicine in Alaska once you resolve your USMLE issues. You've certainly invested a tremendous amount in your medical education. Trust that our attorneys know the USMLE policies, rules, and procedures to invoke favorably and promptly resolve your exam issues. The following sections address in detail each of the above common categories for medical licensing exam issues.
Alaska Licensing Exam Qualification Issues
Qualifying to take the USMLE is your first challenge and is likely to trigger issues. The USMLE approaches exam qualification with scrutiny and rigor similar to that the Alaska State Medical Board exercises for licensure. The USMLE's Bulletin of Information states the requirements for USMLE exam qualification. You should take the same care with your USMLE exam application as you take with your Alaska State Medical Board license application to ensure that you do not face credential fraud charges. The USMLE, like the State Medical Board, may construe errors or inconsistencies in your exam application as your attempt to deceive exam officials as to the stage and facts of your qualifying medical education and other requirements. Exam application issues can arise around any of the following triggers:
- application statements failing to match documentation;
- documentation that is unauthenticated, missing, or incomplete;
- medical school records showing unsatisfactory academic progress;
- medical school records showing discipline for unprofessionalism;
- medical school records leaving academic issues unresolved;
- medical school records leaving disciplinary charges unresolved;
- medical school accreditation in doubt during your enrollment;
- medical residency records showing termination or nonrenewal;
- medical residency records showing misconduct or unprofessionalism;
- disqualifying criminal conviction or domestic restraining order;
- indications of mental or physical impairment;
- indications of substance abuse, dependency, or addiction;
- inadequate or inconsistent photographic identification; or
- questionable citizenship or lawful immigration status.
How We Address Exam Qualification Issues:
When our attorneys appear on your behalf to obtain necessary, updated documentation, medical school registrars, residency directors, agency and court clerks, and other recordkeepers generally take notice and prompt action to respond. That's one advantage of having us working on your behalf, using not only our skills but also our reputation, standing, and relationships. If you have unresolved medical school or residency issues, or court or immigration issues, we can invoke the appropriate procedures to address and resolve those issues, so that we can help you update your exam application. We can also communicate with Alaska State Medical Board officials to ensure that they do not prematurely reject your license application and close your file.
Alaska Medical Licensing Exam Attempt Limits
Passing the USMLE within the permitted attempts limit is a second common challenge applicants face. If you exceed the attempt limit, USMLE officials may bar you from further attempts while notifying the Alaska State Medical Board of your failure and disqualification. The Alaska State Medical Board would accordingly deny the license application. The Alaska State Medical Board's low two-attempts limit under State Medical Board Rule 40.020 makes exhausting attempt limits a significantly greater issue in Alaska than in other states with higher attempt limits, especially insofar as the Alaska limit is so much lower than the USMLE's own four attempts limit. Applicants who require three or four attempts to pass a Step 1 or Step 2 exam before they learn that they will apply for a license in Alaska or learn of Alaska's two-attempts limit face potential license disqualification. Exhausting attempts limits is a common issue in all states but an especially common issue for applicants for a medical license in Alaska.
How We Address Exam Attempt Limits:
If you exhaust your available attempts on a step exam and need an extra attempt, we can take two approaches to help you. First, you've seen above that the Alaska State Medical Board has adopted Rule 40.020, limiting attempts to two for each USMLE step exam but allowing an extra attempt after an approved course of study. We can help you gain State Medical Board approval for a brief remedial course of study to gain you the extra attempt you need to pass. Yet the USMLE also offers an extenuating circumstances policy. Ordinarily, the USMLE will count an attempt if you register for a scheduled exam but fail to show up or if you appear for an exam and begin the exam but withdraw out of illness or other emergency reasons. The extenuating circumstances policy, though, authorizes USMLE officials not to count those missed or withdrawn exams as an attempt if you can show a convincing emergency in a timely and reliable manner. Let us help you do so. We can also keep Alaska State Medical Board officials informed to keep your license file open.
Alaska Licensing Exam Irregular Behavior Issues
You didn't register for the USMLE only to face cheating allegations. However, cheating allegations are another common issue. The USMLE expects test center staff members and exam proctors to report suspected cheating. USMLE rules also encourage examinees to report on their fellow examinees who appear to be seeking undue advantages. You may face cheating charges when you least expect it. USMLE officials investigate and punish cheating under an irregular behavior policy. The policy appears in the USMLE Bulletin of Information. If USMLE officials conclude that you cheated, they will disqualify you from the exam and may report your disqualification to the Alaska State Medical Board. The Bulletin of Information illustrates cheating with these and other examples:
- an imposter takes your exam;
- you take someone else's exam as an impostor;
- seeking, accepting, or offering assistance during the exam;
- unauthorized materials or devices in the exam room;
- exam materials removed from the exam room;
- exam questions recorded during the exam;
- exam questions reproduced after the exam;
- disobeying or obstructing exam proctors;
- failure to cooperate with or obstructing cheating investigation;
- claiming exam passage after exam failure;
- claiming exam qualification when not qualified; or
- exam registration when ineligible.
How We Address Irregular Behavior Charges:
The USMLE Office of the Secretariat's adjudication process gives our attorneys the opportunity to present and advocate your defense to cheating allegations. We can help you learn the accusations, identify and gather your exonerating evidence, and present that evidence in the USMLE adjudication process while challenging the adverse evidence. Our computer, document, and handwriting forensic consultants may be able to prove the allegations false or mistaken. We may also be able to present evidence of your good character and strong academic record, dispelling inferences about your character and motive for cheating. Our attorneys can also communicate our diligent efforts on your behalf to Alaska State Medical Board officials so that they do not reject your license application based on the USMLE allegations.
Alaska Anomalous Exam Performance Issues
Another common issue can arise out of a very low score on a USMLE step exam. The USMLE enforces an anomalous performance policy under which it may disqualify an examinee from further attempts when the examinee appears from the exam score and analyzed answer pattern to lack the medical education or earnest intent to pass the exam. USMLE officials do not want to waste time and resources on examinees who cannot or will not try to pass the exam. However, USMLE officials are also watching for examinees who enter the exam room for illicit purposes rather than to attempt to pass the exam, such as to record, memorize, and reproduce exam questions outside the exam or to assist other examinees during the exam. USMLE notice of anomalous performance may trigger the Alaska State Medical Board's rejection of your license application.
How We Address Anomalous Exam Performance:
The USMLE's formal adjudication process for irregular behavior does not apply to anomalous performance matters. Yet our attorneys can work to open informal lines of communication with exam officials to explain and excuse your anomalous performance for another chance at passing the exam. You may have suffered a sudden illness, injury, or medical or mental event during the exam that kept you from making a sound and earnest attempt. Alternatively, you may have mistakenly skipped sections of the exam or entered your correct answers in an incorrect manner. Our presentation of your good moral character and strong academic skills evidence may further dispel false inferences of a lack of medical education or a deliberate scheme to destroy exam integrity. We would also assure Alaska State Medical Board officials of our efforts.
Alaska Invalidated Exam Score Issues
The USMLE also maintains an invalidated score policy that addresses unusually high scores. These cases are rare, not common. But in some instances, the USMLE has invalidated and withheld a passing score, and disqualified the examinee, where the score is so high as to indicate that the examinee either had assistance during the exam or had the questions in advance. Getting previously used questions all correct but new questions incorrect would be a related suspicious pattern potentially invalidating a passing score. An invalidated score and disqualification would trigger Alaska State Medical Board license denial.
How We Address Invalidated Exam Scores:
The USMLE's formal adjudication process for irregular behavior also does not apply to invalidated score matters. We may, nonetheless, present your defense evidence to USMLE officials through informal communications. We may, for instance, be able to show that you had very high MCAT and medical school exam scores, proving your extraordinary, standardized test-taking skills. We can also show your good moral character while communicating to the Alaska State Medical Board the diligence and effectiveness of our advocacy on your behalf.
Alaska Medical Board Response to Exam Issues
Alaska State Medical Board officials have statutory and regulatory duties to diligently process license applications. Their protocols and procedures may require them to act on your license application before you have had time to resolve your USMLE issues. Expect State Medical Board officials to reject your application and close your file if your file indicates unresolved licensing exam issues suggesting or indicating exam disqualification. Rejection of your application may mean having to apply a second time, starting a new cycle of review and investigation, and delaying your licensure by months or more. Beware of the time, trouble, expense, and delay of the State Medical Board's rejection of your application and your necessity to reapply. Time is money. Delay of your medical practice can also cost you a job and other practice opportunities. Let us help you keep the State Medical Board informed and keep your file open while we resolve your exam issues.
Alaska Administrative Review Procedures
We can pursue appropriate relief if the Alaska State Medical Board rejects your application wrongly or prematurely. Under Alaska Statutes Section 8.64.160, the Alaska State Medical Board must comply with the state's Administrative Procedure Act. We can invoke the Act's hearing procedures to contest the State Medical Board's premature or incorrect action to gain reopening of your file, by which time we may also have already favorably resolved your USMLE issues.
Premier Alaska Medical Licensing Exam Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across Alaska to help you resolve your USMLE medical licensing exam issues and qualify for Alaska State Medical Board licensure. Our attorneys represent hundreds of students and graduates across Alaska and nationwide, successfully resolving professional licensing issues and related school issues. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain our skilled and experienced attorneys.
