A record you can look up.
Licence.
Get a name. Check the record. Read what it says.
US care access, as of September 2026.
The definition.
A doctor's licence is the state's permission to work as a doctor. The state medical board is the body that gives this permission and keeps the public record.
The record can also show public discipline, meaning action the board has taken over a doctor's conduct.
Check a doctor's licence.
Note the full name.
Ask which state the visit will happen in and get the doctor's full name.
Find the state board.
Open the medical-board directory on the further-reading page. Choose the board that oversees doctors in the state in which you will receive care.
Search the board's record.
Use the board's own lookup. Check that the name matches, then read the licence's status, any restrictions and any public discipline.
Resolve a mismatch.
Ask about a missing record, a name that does not match or a restriction you do not understand. Keep the question open until there is a clear answer.
Check the pharmacy separately.
Doctor
The medical board's record.
A clear public licence record does not measure how good the care will be.
Pharmacy
The pharmacy board's record.
A separate state body, the board of pharmacy, gives pharmacies their licences.
The limit
Permission is only one check.
A pharmacy's licence does not prove that it follows the rules every time it gives out medicine.
If the person prescribing the medicine is not a doctor, ask which board keeps their licence record.
The question to take away
Which record covers this person and this pharmacy for the state where I am receiving care?
Take the checks to a visit