What Happens if I’m Late Renewing My License and What is the Process of License Renewal?
- The Board sends out renewal applications on or before March 1 of each licensee's renewal year which are due by June 30th.
- The renewal applications must be filled out completely and the completed renewal must be either in the hands of the Board or postmarked by June 30th of the year in which your license renewal is set to occur.
- The renewal application is not considered complete until all Continuing Medical Education (“CME”) requirements are fulfilled. The NH Medical Society (“NHMS”) handles CME reporting. The NHMS sends the Board a list of all physicians who have not completed their CME requirements. If you are on this list (i.e., delinquent in fulfilling CME requirements) but you file a completed renewal application, your application is considered INCOMPLETE. The application will be returned to you unprocessed. If your CME is incomplete, you will not be renewed.
- IF YOU HAVE NOT RENEWED BY JUNE 30 OF THE YEAR IN WHICH YOUR RENEWAL IS SET TO OCCUR, YOU CANNOT LAWFULLY PRACTICE MEDICINE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND YOUR LICENSE IS EXPIRED.
- There is typically a rush of applications in the last week of June, which the Board cannot possibly process. However, if the renewal application, including up-to-date CME, is in the Board's hands or postmarked by June 30 of the year in which your license renewal is set to occur, you may practice lawfully while the application is being processed. However, the implications here are obvious: if the application is received June 30, but found on July 1 or later to be incomplete, you will be considered to have an expired license. If you have been practicing on July 1 and later, you will have been practicing without a license. One Board member who runs a NH hospital requires his physicians to renew in plenty of time to present a current license card well before June 30 for exactly this reason.
- The "90 day extension" in the Board’s rules do NOT allow a physician to practice lawfully after June 30 of the year in which the licensee's renewal is set to occur if the license renewal is incomplete. It DOES allow the physician to complete the renewal process by filling out the same application and paying double the renewal fee. After 90 days, the physician must fill out a reinstatement application, which includes references, a criminal background check, and multiple other requirements.
- Please be sure to have your completed renewal application in the Board’s office well before June 30 of the year in which your license renewal is set to occur so as not to risk practicing medicine without a license in New Hampshire.