To run a California medical license lookup, go to the Medical Board of California’s License Verification page at mbc.ca.gov and search by the doctor’s name or license number. The free database shows whether the physician’s license is active, inactive, on probation, suspended, revoked, or surrendered, along with disciplinary filings and certain malpractice disclosures that California law requires the Board to make public.1California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 803.1
Running the Search
Open the License Verification page on the Medical Board’s site.2Medical Board of California. License Verification Pick a license type first. For medical doctors (M.D.) and doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.), choose “Physician and Surgeon.”
You can enter a full name, a partial name, or the license number if you have it. Optional filters narrow results by city, zip code, self-reported specialty, or language spoken. When the right person appears in the results, click through to open the full public profile.
What the Profile Shows
Each physician’s page pulls together the information the Board makes public:3Medical Board of California. License Verification Sample
- Full legal name and California license number.
- License type (Physician and Surgeon, licensed midwife, and so on).
- Primary status (active, inactive, revoked, etc.) and secondary status, which flags specific actions or restrictions.
- Issuance and expiration dates.
- Medical school and graduation year.
- Address of record for the practice.
- Public documents, meaning the actual legal filings tied to any discipline.
The public documents section is often the most useful part. An “Accusation” is the formal charging document alleging the physician violated the Medical Practice Act. A “Stipulated Settlement” is an agreement between the physician and the Board on discipline without going through a full hearing. A “Decision” is the result after a hearing. Opening these PDFs tells you far more than the status label on its own.
Reading the License Status
The primary status answers the basic question of whether this doctor can legally see patients in California today:3Medical Board of California. License Verification Sample
- Current (Active): Valid license, allowed to practice unless the secondary status says otherwise.
- Inactive: Voluntarily placed inactive. Cannot practice.
- Delinquent: Renewal fee unpaid. Cannot practice until resolved.
- Probation: Can practice, but with specific restrictions, monitoring, or required education for a set period.
- Suspended: Practice is temporarily blocked by court order or administrative action.
- Revoked: License taken away through discipline. Cannot practice.
- Surrendered: License given up, often while under investigation or with charges pending.
Check the secondary status too. A license can read “Current” at the top while carrying a notation like “Accusation Filed and Pending” or “Limitations on Practice” lower down. That changes the picture significantly.
Revoked is not necessarily permanent. Under Business and Professions Code section 2307, a physician whose license was revoked or surrendered can petition the Board for reinstatement, which the Board may grant with or without conditions.4California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 2307 If you see a doctor whose record includes a past revocation but whose license is now active or on probation, that reinstatement path is why. The old discipline stays on the profile either way.
Malpractice and Disciplinary Disclosures
California requires more public disclosure than many states. Business and Professions Code section 803.1 directs the Board to share the following with anyone who asks:1California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 803.1
- Disciplinary orders including revocations, suspensions, probation, practice limitations, public letters of reprimand, and citations or fines.
- Temporary restraining orders and interim suspension orders.
- Enforcement actions taken by other states or jurisdictions.
- Civil malpractice judgments of any dollar amount for death or personal injury caused by alleged negligence, even if later settled after the judgment was entered.
- Arbitration awards of any amount in malpractice claims.
Settlements work differently. Any malpractice settlement over $30,000 must be reported to the Board, but not every reported settlement is posted. The Board uses a risk-category system, and for physicians in a low-risk category, settlements show on the public profile only when there are three or more within the past ten years.5Medical Board of California. Frequently Asked Questions – Medical Malpractice Reporting A clean profile is not proof the doctor has never settled a case.
What the Lookup Does Not Tell You
Two gaps are worth knowing about before you rely on the profile alone.
Board Certification
The MBC profile does not show whether a physician is board certified in a specialty. Licensure and board certification are separate. A California license is the legal requirement to practice medicine. Board certification is a voluntary credential showing the physician completed additional exams and training in a specialty like cardiology or psychiatry. California does not require it. To check certification, use the American Board of Medical Specialties tool at certificationmatters.org.6Certification Matters. Is My Doctor Board Certified?
Payments From Drug and Device Companies
Financial relationships with industry are not on the MBC profile. The federal Open Payments program, run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, tracks consulting fees, speaking payments, meals, travel, research funding, and ownership interests reported by manufacturers.7CMS. Open Payments You can search any physician by name. For the 2026 reporting year, companies must report any single payment of $13.82 or more, and any payments totaling $138.13 or more to the same physician over the calendar year.8CMS. Data Collection for Open Payments Reporting Entities A payment on this record is not evidence of wrongdoing, but it tells you whether a doctor prescribing a specific drug or device has a financial relationship with the maker.
Other Types of Providers
The MBC database only covers providers the Medical Board itself regulates: physicians and surgeons, licensed midwives, postgraduate training licensees, polysomnographic technologists, and research psychoanalysts.9Medical Board of California. License Verification Lookup Disclosure For other providers you need the right board under the California Department of Consumer Affairs:10Department of Consumer Affairs. Public Information – Licensee Lists Overview
- Registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and nurse practitioners: Board of Registered Nursing.
- Dentists: Dental Board of California.
- Physician assistants: Physician Assistant Board.
- Pharmacists: California State Board of Pharmacy.
- Psychologists: Board of Psychology.
- Chiropractors: Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
Each board runs its own search, and the depth of public information varies.
Out-of-State and Telehealth Doctors
A doctor treating a California patient by telehealth from another state generally needs a California license, so the MBC lookup works for them the same way it does for an in-person physician. California has not joined the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, so most out-of-state doctors seeing California patients must hold a full California license.
If you want to see whether a physician has been disciplined in other states, each state medical board runs its own public lookup. The Federation of State Medical Boards operates a Disciplinary Alert Service, but that system shares information between boards rather than with the public. The federal National Practitioner Data Bank collects malpractice payment and adverse action data, but individual records are not available to the public; only aggregate statistics can be downloaded.
Filing a Complaint
If the lookup turns up something concerning, or if your own experience with a doctor raised issues, you can file a complaint with the Medical Board. Complaints go in writing on a separate form for each provider, submitted online, by mail, or by fax to the Central Complaint Unit.11Medical Board of California. File a Complaint Complaints are what feed the enforcement records that eventually appear on physician profiles. The Board investigates, and if the evidence supports it, may file an accusation, negotiate a settlement, or move to revoke the license. Not every complaint leads to discipline, but the Board cannot act on something it does not know about.