Go straight to the text

The care word map

Words for an online care conversation

Browse the word map

Find your bearings

Care word map

The word map

Telehealth

Tirzepatide

A care conversation

Specialist

Licence

Assessment

Prescription

The medicine words

Approval

Compounding

Shortage

Trial evidence

Unwanted effects

Misleading offers

Payment and questions

Self-pay

Coverage

Prior approval

Care questions

Licence

# A licence is a record you can check.

The state medical board keeps a doctor’s licence record, including public action taken over the doctor’s conduct.

Jump to a section

Your location matters

Look up the exact person

The pharmacy has its own record

Read the source pages

## Trace the person and the pharmacy

### Your location matters

For each appointment, the prescriber needs permission from the state you will be in, as checked September 26, 2026. In certain states, doctors can use a licence from elsewhere and complete a registration for online visits. They do not need a full licence in the patient’s state if they meet its registration conditions. Typical conditions require a current licence elsewhere, no past cases about breaking professional rules, and insurance for claims about their care. The doctor usually cannot open an office or provide in-person treatment in the patient’s state.

Give the service your location for that appointment, including travel plans.

Ask how the prescriber is authorised to care for someone there.

Ask again before a visit while travelling.

### Look up the exact person

Use the Federation of State Medical Boards’ public directory to reach U.S. state and territorial medical boards.

Find the licensing board for your appointment location.

Compare the person’s full name and profession with the licence entry.

Look for a current licence and any board action concerning the person’s conduct.

### The pharmacy has its own record

The state pharmacy board keeps pharmacy licence records. The medical board keeps doctors’ records.

Ask which pharmacy will send the medicine.

Use the pharmacy board search to match that business’s name.

## Read the source pages

State medical board directory

Find the board first, then search its own record.

FDA route to pharmacy licence searches

For the separate check on the dispensing pharmacy.

U.S. health department on cross-state practice

For the distinction between a licence and a telehealth registration.

Prepare for the assessment

This care-word guide offers reading, runs no clinic, and sells no medicine.

Find a word

Carry a question

Back to this word