Physician - Resident Educational Licensure

This license is designed for applicants who have been accepted into a post-graduate training program in a facility in this state approved by the Board and accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The REL is required for the entire duration of your training or until a permanent license to practice medicine and surgery is granted.

The holder of a REL may, under the direction of a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery in this state, perform services requisite to the post-graduate training program in which the licensee is serving. Acting under such direction, the Resident Educational licensee shall also have the right to prescribe drugs and controlled substances, and to sign any certificates, reports or other papers for the use of public authorities which are required of or permitted to persons licensed to practice medicine and surgery.

The Resident Educational licensee shall confine training and entire practice to the post-graduate training program in which the resident educational licensee is taking their training.

A Resident Educational License to practice medicine and surgery is valid for one (1) year and may be renewed for additional one-year terms as long as the license holder is enrolled in their post-graduate training program. See more information in the REL Renewal Information section

Below are some general instructions for applying for a credential on LicensE. 

1. Create or log into your LicensE account. Please visit LicensE account Information page for detailed guidance on selecting your account type.

2. Select "Apply for a License."

3. Select your Category.

4. Select your License Type.

5. Select your Application Method, then "Next."

6. Review your Personal Information.

7. Enter the requested Information on each page of the application. Information may include Examination, Education, or License History, depending on your profession.

8. If applicable, request a Veterans Fee Waiver or Initial Credential Fee Reduction.

9. Submit the requested Documents you may already have. You do not need to have all documents ready to submit.

   Note: Forms are now hosted on AccessGov. Visit AccessGov Forms Directory to choose your form.

10. Respond to the Attestation questions.

11. Provide Payment Information. Fees may be found Credential Fees.

12. Submit your application.  

Profession specific application requirements can be found in the "Application Information" section.

After logging in, select Apply for a License and choose:

• Category: Health
• License Type: Resident Educational License
• Method: Resident Educational License MD or Resident Educational License DO

Optional: Enter your FSMB Federation ID information

If you have an account and profile with the FSMB, you may enter the FSMB Federation ID to prepopulate school information, post-graduate training and fellowships, practice history, and other activities. This does not verify these items. We are currently aware of an issue where some FSMB Federation IDs are not being recognized by LicensE. If you receive an error when entering your ID, continue with your application by entering education, training, and other activity information manually into the application.

Optional: Enter your Specialty

We do not verify specialties. This information may be updated in the future on your application and/or license by submitting a LicensE support ticket.

Please Note: You are not required to provide all documents before initial application submission. You do not need to upload documents to every available category.

Complete the applicant portion of Form 3050 - Certificate of Professional Education and have your school send the document directly to our department.

Complete the applicant portion of Form 2601 - Affidavit of Hospital Authority and have your Wisconsin training program send the document directly to our department.

Complete Form 1229 - Communicable Diseases Form if you answered ‘No’ to the application Declaration question regarding state health laws related to communicable diseases. Review the laws in the DHS Administrative Code (link available below).

Physician Malpractice Suits or Claims Form (if applicable) -  Complete Form 12829 and upload all required documents directly to your LicensE application’s Supporting Documents page in the Malpractice Suits or Claims section.

Supporting Documents for State Board Discipline – If a licensing agency has ever taken disciplinary action against you, upload a statement and copies of all disciplinary documents.

REL licenses may be renewed for additional one-year terms as long as the license holder is enrolled in their post-graduate training program.

REL renewals are completed through our LicensE system. To complete an REL renewal application, log into your LicensE account at license.wi.gov and select Renew My License. You may also access the REL renewal application by selecting My Approved Licenses, then clicking Renew from the Action dropdown arrow. You can renew your license beginning 120 days before it expires. The post-graduate training program will need to complete and upload Form 2329 to your LicensE application. Complete the applicant portion of Form 2329 and have your Wisconsin training program submit the document directly to our department.

If you held a previous REL that has lapsed and you are continuing training in the same program, submit a LicensE support ticket requesting renewal. DSPS staff will then be able to open your previous REL for renewal. Support tickets may be submitted by going to license.wi.gov and clicking Request Support at the top of the screen.

If you held a previous REL that has lapsed and will be training in a new program, submit a new REL application via LicensE.

List exam information here.

After you upload all required documents, submit your application, and pay the required fee(s):

1. Preliminary Application Reference Number (PAR)

   1. Your application will be assigned a Preliminary Application Reference number or PAR number. This number allows you and trusted parties to look up the status of your application without logging in. You can also reference this number in any support tickets you submit in regard to your application.

      • A trusted 3^rd party can look up your credential status by visiting LicensE, clicking “Application Status Lookup” and entering the PAR number you have provided to them.

2. Review Timeline

   1. Your materials will be reviewed within approximately 10 days by a member of the credentialing team.

      • Note: Some licenses do take longer to process due to complexity. You can see the performance data on our LicensE Dashboard to see what date we are reviewing for certain application types under "Application Review Times by Profession."

3. Pending Applicant Input Status

   1. After this review, if anything is missing or the credentialing team has any questions on your application, your application will go back into a status called “Pending Applicant Input.”  You will receive an email letting you know your application was moved into this status. You should then log into LicensE and check your application “Due Diligence.”

4. To check your "Due Diligence" 

   1. Your Due Diligence is a checklist of items required for your credential.

   2. The Due Diligence section is how DSPS staff will communicate with you regarding your credential requirements.

   3. Log in to your LicensE account

   4. Click on "Check Application Status" 

   5. Your credential application should be shown on this page. Under “Action” select the button that looks like an upside-down triangle. If you are on mobile, you will need to turn your phone into landscape view. Note: LicensE is best viewed on a desktop or laptop.

   6. After clicking the upside-down triangle, select “View Due Diligences.”

   7. The Due Diligence column lets you know what the requirement is.

   8. The “STATUS” column will you know if the item is “Met”, “Not Met”, or “Not Applicable.”

      • Items listed as “Not Met” are items that are needed by the Department.  

   9. The “NOTES” column of your Due Diligence will provide further written details or instructions about what is still needed.

5. To upload documents

   1. Some applications require additional document uploads.

   2. Log into your LicensE account

   3. Click on "Check Application Status"

   4. Your credential application should be shown on this page. Under "Action" select the button that looks like an upside-down triangle. If you are on mobile, you will need to turn your phone into landscape view. Note: LicensE is best viewed on a desktop or laptop. 

   5. After clicking the upside-down triangle, select "Upload Document."

   6. The document must be an allowable document type. 

   7. After uploading the document, click "submit." If you do not, it will not be sent to a reviewer. 

6. If you have any questions, you can submit a support ticket on LicensE by logging in and clicking "request support" at the top of the page.

LicensE statuses that require action from applicant:

LicensE statuses that indicate the application is with Department staff:

Support Ticket
Submit a support ticket on LicensE and click "request support." Please provide as much detail as possible regarding your concern so we can work to answer your question with a one touch resolution. 

Call
608-266-2112

Email
dsps@wisconsin.gov

Office Hours
7:45am-4:30pm
Department of Safety and Professional Services
4822 Madison Yards Way
Madison, WI, 53705

Note: The in-person office does not process same day.