In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government agency before they can practice medicine.
A medical school graduate must receive a license to practice medicine to legally be called a physician.
After completing all the schools' requirements to obtain a medical degree, physicians must serve the "obligatory social service" (in rural areas, research, public health or special populations e.g., orphan children), which usually lasts one year.
After completing the social service, a doctor obtains a "medical registration" at the governor's office (Gobernación) of the Department (province/state) where they served the obligatory term.
Licensed doctors are compulsory members of "Ärztekammern" (literally: "Physician chambers"), which are medical associations organized on state level.
Criteria for licensing of doctors are regulated in the Approbationsordnung für Ärzte, which is a piece of federal law.
Physicians who have not studied medicine in Germany, among others, must prove their language skills by means of a German B2 certificate and a successfully completed Fachsprachprüfung.
The practice of "tele-medicine" has made it common for physicians to consult or interpret images and information from a distant location.
The licensure process for most physicians takes between three and six months, due to the extensive background checks, educational, training, and historical primary source verifications.
Following several years of discussion and debate, the states' ratification of this amendment as part of the Bill of Rights concluded on December 15, 1791.
Eclectics physicians also attended medical schools, but their practice mixed mainstream medicine with Thomsonsianism, a system of herbalism.
[16] Some authors claim that these efforts allowed organized regular and irregular physicians to exclude not only fraudulent practitioners, but other groups, including midwives, clairvoyants, osteopaths, Christian Scientists, and magnetic healers.
[18] In 1889, Dent v. West Virginia,[19] the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time upheld a state physician licensing law.
A practitioner with insufficient credentials to obtain a medical license sued West Virginia, claiming a violation of his rights under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court upheld the statute noting that, while each citizen had a right to follow any lawful calling, they were subject to reasonable state restrictions.
[14] Since its initial publication in 1956, the Essentials of a Modern Medical Practice Act has passed through thirteen updated editions, with the most recent in 2012.
[16][22][23][24] According to a 1979 article in the Journal of Libertarian Studies, the enactment of U.S. state medical licensing laws in the late 1800s was for the primary purpose of reducing competition and allowing physicians to make more money.
[25] The added benefit of public safety made restrictive licensure laws more appealing to both physicians and legislators.
Infrequently mentioned in the literature, is that the "public safety" that is created by reducing the number of practitioners only extends to the patients who receive medical care.
In 1986, Inspector General at the United States Department of Health and Human Services said that medical boards took "strikingly few disciplinary actions" for physician misconduct.
Before they employ or associate with individual physicians, via credentialing and privileging, providers confirm the training, knowledge and skills needed to take on relevant tasks.