Texas will become the 13th state to offer an alternative licensure pathway for experienced international physicians this September, The Dallas Morning News reported Aug. 13.
House Bill 2038 — called the Doctor Act — will allow foreign-trained medical school graduates with at least five years of experience practicing medicine to apply for a provisional license in Texas without having to complete a U.S. residency program.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in June after it was passed in the most recent legislative session. The bill will take effect in September.
“This bill introduces two new licensure pathways: one for internationally trained physicians and another for physician graduates,” a spokesperson from the Texas Medical Board said to The Dallas Morning News in an email. “The Board expects an increase in available providers and will track these applications to provide future impact insights.”
This type of alternative pathway is growing more popular across the country as the U.S. faces a physician shortage of 64,000 physicians by the end of 2024 and 86,000 by 2036, according to a survey from McKinsey.
The Federation of State Medical Boards found that 18 states have enacted legislation that allows qualified internationally-trained physicians to gain some form of full licensure without accredited postgraduate training as of August 2025. Sixteen more states have pending or proposed similar legislation recently, and at least three states have pathways to gain limited licensure without any additional graduate medical education.
