Here is a last year resident checklist not to forget:

LICENSING:

Licensing is becoming increasingly complex as identity and medical fraud become more common. Therefore don't wait till the last minute to start the process. The AMA reports that physicians should expect the process to take at least 60 days, and should plan their career moves accordingly.

The highest volume of licensure applications is received between the months of April and September, when physicians with school-age children are making changes and residents who didn't plan ahead are applying for licenses. Therefore the standard approval timeframes posted on a state medical board's website don't apply during this period and expect the process to take longer and act accordingly.

Having a permanent address during residency enhances the process for licensing and other credentialing.

Keeping your state licenses active is also very important. It makes getting additional state licenses much easier. Most state boards require verification of all licenses, regardless of status, before they will issue a new license. About half require you to submit a written statement explaining why you let any license expire or lapse.

DEA: (Drug Enforcement agency)

Unless you are a radiologist, you must have a DEA license to practice medicine anywhere in the US. You will need it to write any form of prescription.

Your residency program may have a blanket hospital DEA license covering residents. This covers you during your training, however, you will eventually need a personal DEA. Having a permanent address and specified worksite in the same state as your original medical license makes the process much simpler. and you may be eligible for reduced student rates.

UPIN: (Unique Physician/Practitioner Identification Number)

As with your DEA, we recommend that you apply for a UPIN during your residency for some of the reasons mentioned previously; having a permanent address, having plenty of time to complete the process etc.

The UPIN is assigned by CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).It is a six-character alphanumeric code identifying you as a Medicare provider.Each individual practitioner receives one UPIN, regardless of the number of practice settings he or she works in. You will keep this UPIN throughout your Medicare affiliation, regardless of the state or states you practice in. CMS uses the UPIN to identify the ordering and referring physician, to aggregate payment and utilization information for individual practitioners, to ensure compliance with contractor recommendations for sanctions, and to validate duplicate services.

BOARD CERTIFICATION:

Board certification is evidence that you have successfully completed an approved educational and training program and passed a rigorous evaluation process. It demonstrates that you are prepared to provide quality patient care in your specialty. We highly recommend you get board certified because employers are increasingly demanding that you have it.

It's also just as important that you keep your certification current. All certificates issued by members of the ABMS (American Board of Medical Specialties®) are time limited. The limits range from six to 10 years, depending on the board and specialty.

JAMES FRED ASSOCIATES:

Since 1983, Jim Fred, the owner of James Fred Associates, http://www.physicianjobs.us has always had the policy of being a "candidate driven" recruiter. In other words to search for jobs for physicians, and not search for physicians for jobs.

Jim Fred's philosophy has always been to work for you in finding the best job for your career versus "client driven" recruiters who are working for the employer and trying to find them physicians, which means they are doing everything to screen you out of a possible job instead of everything to get you the right job as we do.

James Fred Associates is also a member of a National Recruiter Network with over 100 other recruiters to help us reach your goal, and we have a combined Network Nation-wide database of recruiter physician jobs, many of which are unadvertised.