Overview

Physician-in-Training (PIT) Permit allows a qualified person to participate in a post graduate medical training or fellowship program.  A PIT permit is restricted to the supervised practice of medicine that is part of the training or fellowship program.

Individuals considering applying for a PIT permit should review the documents below for more information about eligibility, the application, and the required documentation and fees before submitting their applications. In addition, an applicant must obtain a TMB personal ID# and third-party payor ID#, if applicable, from their GME office or residency training program coordinator.  The third-party ID# is needed if the program will be paying the application fee. 

 

Helpful Documents

PIT applications can be submitted online after you have been notified of your TMB personal ID# from either your GME office or residency training program coordinator. Within the next 3-5 business days following application submission, you will receive an email from the TMB. 

 

Depending on your answers, some application questions will require you to complete a supplemental form and submit it, along with any third-party documentation requested. Your application will not be considered complete and your permit will not be issued until all supplemental information is received, evaluated, and approved.

 

Due to the large volume of applications received, the initial review of an application may take a minimum of 4 weeks.  After the initial review, applicants are notified of any missing documents or information that is needed to complete the processing of the application. 

 

If your application requires a formal review by the Director of Licensure, the Executive Director, or the Licensure Committee, this will increase the time to complete your application. Permit applications that do not require supplemental forms, third-party information, or a formal review should be processed within 14 business days.

 

Supplemental forms and third-party information should be accompanied by your name and your TMB personal ID# whenever possible to expedite processing. 

 

A report of PIT permits issued is faxed to the programs daily. Verification of approved permits can be obtained on our Look up a License page within 24 hours after issuance.

 

Issuing a PIT Permit to a physician shall not be construed to obligate the Texas Medical Board to issue the physician subsequent permits or licenses.  The Board reserves the right to investigate, deny a permit or full license, and/or discipline a physician regardless of when the information was received by the board.

Permit Holders and Program Directors are required to report certain situations, actions or events to the Board. 

 

PIT permit holders must report the following to the Board within 30 days:

  1. An investigation or disciplinary action by any licensing entity other than the board;
  2. An arrest (excluding traffic tickets, unless drugs or alcohol were involved);
  3. Any criminal charge or conviction, including disposition;
  4. Any indictment;
  5. Imprisonment; and
  6. Any diagnosis or treatment of a physical, mental, or emotional condition which has impaired or impairs the ability to practice medicine.

 

Program Directors must report the following to the Board within 30 days:

PIT permit holder who did not begin the training program for any reason, including failure to graduate from medical school;

  1. PIT permit holder who is absent from the program for more than 21 consecutive days (excluding vacation, military, or family leave not related to the participant's medical condition) and the reason(s) why;
  2. PIT permit holder who has been arrested;
  3. PIT permit holder who poses a continuing threat to the public welfare, as defined by §151.002(a)(2) of the Act;
  4. Any final action against a PIT permit holder that adversely affects the permit holder's status or privileges for a period longer than 30 days;
  5. PIT permit holder who is suspended from the program; or
  6. PIT permit holder who is released, terminated, withdraws, or resigns from the program.

 

Helpful Documents

Application Fees: 

  • Basic PIT permit for out of state rotators only - $131.00 (Issued for length of the rotation in Texas only)
  • Basic PIT permit for physicians changing institutions - $141.00 (For physicians changing institutions before current permit expires.)
  • Basic PIT permit for the length of Texas residency - $200.00

 

Additional non-refundable surcharges related to the National Practitioner Data Bank/Health Integrity Data Bank and the Texas Physician Health Program ($7.00) may be assessed with the application fee. The entire fee must be submitted before your application can be processed. An application fee may be refunded under certain circumstances, however, other surcharges and fees assessed at the time of application are non-refundable. 

FAQs

Personal statements can be sent by e-mail, fax, regular or overnight mail. Documents and third-party information can be sent by regular or overnight mail, or fax, if the documents are less than 10 pages.

• E-mail to pit.application@tmb.texas.gov. Fax to (888) 550-7516 Attn: PIT Permits
• Overnight and Regular mail - We recommend using one of the private overnight delivery services that allow tracking to submit all required items. These services require delivery to a physical address and a phone number. Delivery by a private overnight service to our physical address usually allows you to obtain immediate online confirmation of delivery from the carrier.

 

Items mailed through the US Postal Service (regular, certified, express, or overnight), must be addressed to our mailing address, or they will be returned to the sender. A vendor signs for and delivers these items to our agency. Even if a tracking mechanism is used, the signature confirming receipt of items delivered to the mailing address will be that of a vendor employee, making confirmation of delivery more difficult.
 

Delivery Physical Address:                   Mailing address:
Texas Medical Board
1801 Congress Avenue 
Suite 9-200
Austin, TX 78701		                     Texas Medical Board
P.O. Box 2029
Austin, TX 78768 

Yes. They must register with the TMB for bulk payment processing. Your program will receive a third party identification number which they should make available to you, if they wish to pay your application fee. On the payment page of the online application, select "Pay by Third Party Payment". Enter the third party identification number you were given in the "Third Party ID" field. 

 

Note: This number should not be confused with the TMB personal identification number, or your ACGME, AOA, or TMB Program Identification number. Be sure to enter a valid email address. You will receive an email if the application fee has not been paid within seven days. Your application will not be submitted to the Texas Medical Board until the fee has been paid. Entering an incorrect third party identification number will mean that your program, or other third party payer, is prevented from paying for your application, and you will have to submit a new application with the correct third party identification number or choose another form of payment.

Due to patterns of malware, certain countries are blocked from access to TMB online applications. PIT applicants residing in other countries who are unable to access the online application should do the following:

  • Print a copy of the Sample PIT Application.
  • Complete the Sample Application and work with someone in your program to enter the information into our online application.
    Pay the application fee.
  • Complete a Third-Party Application Completion Affidavit since you did not complete the online application or attestation, and mail or fax the completed affidavit to TMB.

The waiver of application fees for any military service member, military spouse or military veteran is allowed, however, other surcharges and fees assessed at the time of application cannot be waived. There is no current reduced registration fee.

This number is assigned to you at the time you submitted your application for licensure. For physicians, it can be found online through LIST (Licensure Inquiry System of Texas). For all other applicants, it can be found in the email correspondence you received from the Board indicating the status of your application (be sure to check the subject line as well as the text of the email). If you are still unable to located your 6-digit Board issued ID number, please contact the Texas Medical Board Customer Service Department at (512) 305-7030 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST or email Screen-CIC@tmb.state.tx.us for assistance.

Call (512) 305-7030 to reach a member of the TMB Call Center between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST.

You must provide us with a statement that gives an explanation of your request and a copy of the legal document(s) that granted your name change, i.e. marriage license, divorce decree etc.

The social security number of an applicant for or holder of a license, certificate of registration, or other legal authorization issued by a licensing agency to practice in a specific occupation or profession that is provided to the licensing agency is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under the open records law.

Texas requires licensees to professionally use the name under which they are licensed by the Texas Medical Board. Using any other name may confuse or mislead the public and could be considered by the Board to be unprofessional conduct. A licensee who wishes to change his or her professional name must use the Application for Name Change.

No.  Changes in mailing or practice addresses can be updated through My TMB.

An application fee may be refunded under certain limited circumstances, however, other surcharges and fees assessed at the time of application are non-refundable.

In certain circumstances, some Physician-in-Training permit applicants may be required to complete fingerprints.

A Family Medicine resident could reasonably be approved by his or her program director to internally moonlight with a PIT permit in the ER, maternity ward, or ambulatory clinic. An Internal Medicine resident could reasonably be approved by his or her program director to internally moonlight in the ER, ICU, or on the Critical Care service. However, a Family Medicine or Internal Medicine resident should not internally moonlight with a PIT permit on the Surgery service as it is not related to the specialty.

Yes. For our purposes, internal moonlighting is defined as additional optional training within the scope of a training program, provided it occurs under the direction of a faculty member associated with the training program; is in compliance with the training requirements including but not limited to requirements for faculty supervision and work hour limitations; and is in the same specialty as the training program or approved by the program director as a training area related to the specialty.

Yes. An online PIT application must be completed for a rotation in Texas regardless of rotation length. You will use the same online application as a Texas physician in training, however, the fee will vary.

Individual application processing time will vary according to the complexity of the application based on the information in your application and your responses to the application questions. Applications that have all “no” answers, do not require supplemental forms or assignment to an analyst, or do not require a formal review should be processed within 14 days from date of receipt by the Board.

 

If the application is assigned to an analyst, the initial review of the application may take approximately 4 weeks due to the volume of applications received. The analyst will communicate with applicants via email. Receipt of documents do not equate to processing, or acceptability, of the document. We do suggest that you should allow at least 90 days to 120 days for processing of the application.

PIT applications are submitted online after you have been notified of your TMB personal ID# from either your GME office or residency training program coordinator.

Be sure to make at least two copies of the Receipt page when you complete your online application. The amount you paid will be reflected on the receipt. You can keep one copy for your records and use the other copy to request reimbursement from your residency program or medical school.

Please use the TMB provider search by performing a search for your name using the “Look Up a License” button on the homepage. If you have been issued a permit, your permit will be listed there. You can also check with your program coordinator to see if they have received the established confirmation from the Board that the permit was issued. Please refrain from sending emails or calls to inquire about your status unless it is more than 30 days past your application date.

The TMB no longer prints or mails hard copy permits but, if online verification is not sufficient, you can obtain a copy by setting up a My TMB account on our website.  The permit will be available for downloading or printing from there. Please be aware that in order to utilize the My TMB portal you will need a valid Social Security number. If you do not have an SSN, you will not be able to access the service.

Not for our purposes. TMB will only be concerned with the supervised practice of medicine under a PIT permit.

Documents submitted to and received by the board prior to the receipt of an application with fee will be held for 6 months. After this time, if no application has been received, the documents will be permanently destroyed.

No, a physician-in-training permit holder is restricted to the supervised practice of medicine that is part of and approved by the training program. The permit does not allow for the practice of medicine that is outside of the approved program.

No. When a Temporary or Full License is issued, it terminates any active PIT permit or other temporary license type (ie – Faculty Temporary License). A Full License will terminate a Temporary License. 

No.

Yes, you need a My TMB account to download a copy of your PIT permit. You must have a valid email address and SSN provided in your application. PIT permits that have expired or have been terminated cannot be printed using the electronic permit system.