To meet the Indiana physician assistant license requirements, you must graduate from an ARC-PA accredited program, pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE), hold a current NCCPA certificate, clear a criminal background check, file a collaboration agreement with a licensed Indiana physician, and submit your application to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency with a $100 nonrefundable fee. Licenses renew every two years for $50, and you must maintain NCCPA certification the whole time you hold the license. The framework sits in Indiana Code Title 25, Article 27.5 and the administrative rules at 844 IAC 2.2, which were amended in mid-2025 to update collaboration terminology.
Education, Exam, and Certification
Your PA program must be accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). After graduating, you have to pass the PANCE, administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), and hold a current NCCPA certificate when you apply.1Indiana General Assembly. Title 844 Article 2.2 Physician Assistants
One detail trips up applicants who try to patch gaps after graduation: your pharmacology training has to come from the accredited PA program itself. A separate pharmacology course taken afterward does not satisfy the requirement.
What the Application Requires
You submit your application to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) with a nonrefundable $100 fee.2Legal Information Institute. Indiana Administrative Code 844 IAC 2.2-2-8 – Certification of Physician Assistants Fees The package needs to include proof of graduation from your ARC-PA accredited program, your PANCE scores, your current NCCPA certificate, and a completed criminal background check that covers both state and federal records with fingerprinting.
The application form itself asks for more than credentials. You have to disclose any licensure or discipline in another state, any drug-related criminal convictions, and any history of substance dependency. It also asks for a complete employment history listing every position you have held as a PA in any jurisdiction.1Indiana General Assembly. Title 844 Article 2.2 Physician Assistants
A temporary license provision exists under IC 25-27.5-4-4 that may allow recent graduates to begin working under defined conditions while the full application is pending. If you just finished your program, ask the IPLA about the temporary license, because the requirements and timeline are separate from the standard track.
The Collaboration Agreement
You cannot practice until a collaboration agreement is on file and approved by the Medical Licensing Board. Indiana PAs work under a collaborating physician who delegates authority and stays available for consultation, but the physician does not need to be physically present while you treat patients. The administrative rules were amended in June 2025 to use the terms “collaboration” and “collaborating physician” throughout, replacing older “supervision” language.1Indiana General Assembly. Title 844 Article 2.2 Physician Assistants
Under 844 IAC 2.2-2-1(h), the written agreement must be submitted on the employer’s letterhead and written specifically for you as the individual applicant. It must detail the delegated tasks and medical services you are authorized to perform, describe the emergency procedures you must follow, specify the drugs and medical devices you may prescribe, identify the collaborating physician by name, address, and phone number, and describe the practice setting where you will work.
The collaborating physician also has to separately register their intent to collaborate with you on a board-approved form. If you change employers or collaborating physicians, a new agreement has to be on file before you start the new role. Practicing outside the scope defined in your agreement is treated as willful misconduct.
Prescribing and the Controlled Substance Registration
Indiana lets a collaborating physician delegate prescribing authority to a PA, including authority over controlled substances, but only within the scope of the physician’s own practice. You cannot prescribe anything the collaborating physician could not prescribe. The agreement has to spell out the specific drug protocols and medical devices covered.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-27.5-5-6 – Delegation of Authority to Prescribe Drugs and Medical Devices Filling Prescriptions
If controlled substances are included, you need two separate registrations on top of your PA license: an Indiana Controlled Substance Registration (CSR) and a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration. The Indiana CSR is often overlooked because people assume the DEA number covers it. You must hold an active Indiana PA license before the state will issue a CSR, and the CSR has to be tied to a physical Indiana practice address. Post office boxes are not accepted. If you practice at multiple locations where you store or dispense controlled substances, each location needs its own CSR.4Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Controlled Substances Registration Home
One recent change worth noting: the two-hour opioid prescribing and abuse continuing education requirement for CSR issuance and renewal expired on July 1, 2025. Applications submitted after that date no longer need proof of opioid-specific CE.4Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Controlled Substances Registration Home
Pharmacists must fill a PA’s prescription without asking to see the collaboration agreement unless they have specific knowledge that filling it would violate the agreement or the law. Prescriptions that comply with the statute do not require a co-signature from the collaborating physician.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-27.5-5-6 – Delegation of Authority to Prescribe Drugs and Medical Devices Filling Prescriptions
Renewal and Keeping NCCPA Certification Current
Indiana PA licenses renew every two years, with a $50 renewal fee.2Legal Information Institute. Indiana Administrative Code 844 IAC 2.2-2-8 – Certification of Physician Assistants Fees Because current NCCPA certification is a condition of your Indiana license, you have to meet the NCCPA’s continuing education and recertification requirements to keep the state license active.
The NCCPA runs a 10-year certification maintenance cycle divided into five two-year periods. In each two-year period you earn and log 100 CME credits and pay a certification maintenance fee by December 31 of your certification expiration year. By the end of the 10-year cycle, you also have to pass one of two recertification exams: the traditional PANRE at a Pearson VUE test center, or the PANRE-LA, a longitudinal at-home assessment. Either option costs $350.5NCCPA. Maintain Certification
Keep your CME records for at least three years. The IPLA can audit your records at any point in the renewal cycle, and if you cannot produce documentation your license is at risk.
If Your License Lapses
A license that has been delinquent for three years or less can be reinstated through a relatively direct process. You submit a completed renewal application, pay the current renewal fee, pay a separate reinstatement fee set by the IPLA, and either certify that you completed the required CE or follow the board’s remediation process if you fell behind.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 25-1-8-6 – Reinstatement of Delinquent or Lapsed License This path does not apply to licenses that were revoked or suspended; those follow a different and more demanding process.
What Can Cost You the License
The Medical Licensing Board, acting through the IPLA, can discipline PAs who violate practice rules or act dishonestly. Sanctions available to the board include reprimand or censure, probation with practice conditions, fines of up to $1,000 per violation, suspension (including emergency summary suspension when the board finds an immediate danger to public safety), and revocation. Fines are not available when the finding is incompetence due to a physical or mental disability. After revocation, you cannot apply for a new license for seven years from the revocation date. The board can combine these sanctions.7Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. Report a Professional
Conduct the rules treat as willful misconduct or incompetent practice includes prescribing outside the scope of your collaboration agreement, practicing without a valid agreement on file, and failing to follow the emergency procedures the agreement specifies.1Indiana General Assembly. Title 844 Article 2.2 Physician Assistants Any formal disciplinary action, along with voluntary license surrenders made after an investigation has begun, is reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank and will surface when you apply for licensure in another state.8National Practitioner Data Bank. Reporting State Licensure and Certification Actions