Licensure Cancellation or Retirement Options for Physicians

The retired status exempts physicians from the registration process, registration fee, and CME.

The following restrictions apply to physicians whose licenses are on retired status:

• The physician cannot engage in clinical activities or practice medicine in a Texas, and
• To be eligible for retired status, a physician's license cannot be under investigation, under a Board order, or be otherwise restricted.

To return to practice from retired status, a physician must submit an application online for re-activation/re-licensure and meet all of the current requirements for licensure.

To request retired status, complete and return the retirement request form (link below) to the Board for approval before the expiration date of the current registration permit.  Refunds of registration fees already paid cannot be made.

If a physician is ineligible for retired status, biennial registration, including the fee and CME, are required to keep the license current.

Helpful Document

• Physician Retirement Request Form

The emeritus retirement status is a subgroup of the “official retired status”. Like the standard retired status, the emeritus retired status exempts physicians from the registration process, registration fee, and CME.

The following restrictions apply to physicians whose licenses are on the standard or emeritus retired status:

• The physician cannot engage in clinical activities or practice medicine in Texas, and
• To be eligible for retired status, a physician's license cannot be under investigation, under a Board order, or be otherwise restricted.

The following additional qualifications are required for a physician who requests the emeritus retired status:

• The physician has never received a remedial plan or been the subject of disciplinary action by the Texas Medical Board;
• The physician has no criminal history, including pending charges, indictment, conviction and/or deferred adjudication in Texas;
• The physician has never held a license, registration or certification that has been restricted for cause, canceled for cause, suspended for cause, revoked or subject to another form of discipline in a state, or territory of the United States, a province of Canada, a uniformed service of the United States or other regulatory agency.

To return to practice from emeritus retired status, a physician must submit an application online for re-activation/re-licensure and meet all of the current requirements for licensure.

To request emeritus retired status, complete and return the emeritus retirement request form (link below) to the Board for approval before the expiration date of the current registration permit. Refunds of registration fees already paid cannot be made.

If a physician is ineligible for any retired status, biennial registration, including the fee and CME, are required to keep the license current.

Helpful Document

• Physician Emeritus Retirement Request Form

The voluntary charity care status exempts retired physicians, whose only practice is the provision of voluntary charity care, from the registration fee and reduces the informal CME requirement.

"Voluntary charity care" is defined as medical care provided for no compensation to indigent populations; in medically underserved areas; or for a disaster relief organization. “Compensation" is defined as direct or indirect payment of anything of monetary value, except payment or reimbursement of reasonable, necessary, and actual travel and related expenses.

The following restrictions apply to physicians practicing under voluntary charity care permits:

• The physician's practice of medicine cannot include the provision of medical services for either direct or indirect compensation which has monetary value of any kind;

• The physician's practice of medicine is limited to voluntary charity care for which the physician receives no direct or indirect compensation of any kind for medical services rendered;

• The physician's practice of medicine cannot include the provision of medical services to members of the physician's family; and

• The physician's practice of medicine cannot include the self-prescribing of controlled substances or dangerous drugs

A physician on voluntary charity care status must still obtain and report continuing medical education, except that the number of credits of informal CME is reduced from 24 credits to 20 credits per biennium.

To request voluntary charity care status, complete and return the voluntary charity care request form (link below) to Board for approval before the expiration date of the current registration permit.  Refunds of registration fees already paid cannot be made.

If the physician does not qualify for this status, notification will be sent and the biennial registration fee must be paid to keep the medical license current.

Helpful Document

• Physician Voluntary Charity Care Request Form

A physician may request cancellation of his or her Texas medical license at any time.

Once a license is cancelled, the physician will no longer be able to practice medicine in the state of Texas in any capacity. In order to practice medicine again in Texas following cancellation, a physician must file an application for re-licensure and meet all requirements for licensure in effect at that time (including post graduate training requirements, exam attempt limits, etc.).

To request cancellation of a license, complete and return the cancellation request form (link below) to the Board for approval before the expiration date of the current registration permit. Refunds of registration fees already paid cannot be made.

Notification will be sent if the physician does not qualify for cancellation due to a pending investigation or another reason.

If you have any questions, please email the Registration Department.

Helpful Document

• Physician Cancellation by Request Form