Overview:
Renewing a license in Georgia is done online. Before you get started, make sure you have a list of all your licenses including the state, license number, issue date, and expiration date. You will also need your educational information (college and high school) such as school name, years attended, and degree. (Hint: you can store all this info in Elsie for easy reference!)
Renewal Date: Every two years on licensee's birthday or during their birth month (Happy Birthday!!)
Difficulty: ⏳⏳⏳ 3 out of 4 hourglasses. The renewal process for Georgia is not challenging, it's just requires a lot of information and time to complete.
Timeline: Once all your information is gathered, it will take about 45 minutes.
Price: $105 renewal fee plus $8.31 convenience fee (paid online or mail)
Late Fee: $205
State Contacts:
Website: https://medicalboard.georgia.gov/
Address: 2 MLK Jr. Drive SE East Tower, 11th Floor Atlanta, GA 30334
Email: medbd@dch.ga.gov
Phone: (404) 656-3913
What you'll need:
A list of all licenses including state, license number, issue date, and expiration date.
A list of the educational institutions you attended - grad school, undergrad, and yes, even high school.
Must have completed 30 hours of continuing education.
Process:
Sign in to GA website using user id and password.
NOTE: If you do not have an account yet, you'll need to register which is only a few extra steps. Go to first bullet point on the website and click on “here” OR click “Register a Person” under Menu.
Put in the last name, birth date, GA license number, and SSN where indicated then click “Search.” Then create a user name, password, and security question. Then click “Register”. (Hint: you can save your login info in your Elsie password manager for safe keeping!)
Now you're ready to start!! Go back to the login page and use the newly created user name and password to enter the site.
Under “Menu” in top left corner, click “Renew a License”. Click “Continue” in the blue banner above the word “Active.”
The first page you are taken to is a bit confusing. This page acts as a preface to the renewal application. It lists instructions as well as documents that will need to be submitted under the "Attach Documents" step near the end of the process. Click through each drop down and read through it carefully, particularly the "For Applicants who are not U.S. Citizens" and "Questions that Need Documents".
These will list what documents need to be submitted for those who are non-US Citizens or those who have faced a malpractice suit, been arrested, DUI, termination of employment, denied a license, etc.
Update or add personal information. This info will all be private and is only used to contact you with renewal reminders and to send updated licenses. Note, they cannot mail anything to a P.O. box, so please provide a physical street address.
Update or add practice location. FYI, this address will be made public on the license verification website. We suggest using your employer's official address.
Add education by including degrees, attendance dates, and school names. Don't forget your high school info too.
TIPS: For “School Type”, use “College” for both masters and bachelors.
When you add the dates, you MUST add zeros before any months/days or the system will error (ex. 05/05/2022)
To add more rows, click “Save/Add Row” AFTER completing a row.
Now for the fun part. You will create a list of your license history. Include both active and expired licenses, as well as the state, license number, status, and issue/expiration dates. For license type, put Genetic Counseling.
TIPS: Just like the educational section, don't forget to add the zeros before the months and days, if needed.
If you have licenses that are currently pending and being processed by the state, DO NOT list them here.
Answer Application Questions. Carefully read through the questions.
If you answer "Yes" to any questions between #3-11, you will need to submit paperwork or documentation.
For question #12, this is where you indicate if you are currently applying to other licenses. List the states, in question #13.
On the next page, you will attach any documents if you fell into the categories listed in the preface or if you answered "Yes" to any questions between #3-11.
Once you reach the summary page, DO NOT continue. You will need to click on "Required Workforce Survey". As of summer 2024, Georgia has added more questions to the renewal but for some reason it doesn't take you to that page. Here's some tips for this page:
Work in Georgia
Answer “No” to Are you a mobile/interim/non-permanent provider
Answer “No” to Have you worked in Georgia in the last 60 days unless you live in Georgia.
The question "In the last 24 months, has your practice setting changed?" does not apply to changing jobs.
For Select your primary practice state, put the state that you live in. If the option isn’t there, put your company's location.
Put “0” for What percentage of this time is spent in Georgia. This is in relation to being physically there.
For What percentage of your total worked time do you spend on the following activities?, estimate how much time is spent for each category. For those that don’t have a percentage, put “0”. Don’t leave the fields blank.
Practice Locations
For “Current Active Practice Location #1”, put the address for their current employer.
For “Practice Setting”, put “Telehealth Provided to GA Residents”, unless you physically see patients in Georgia.
For “Age Ranges” you’ll have to leave at least one blank for it to accept your answers.
For work percentages, again estimate your time and make sure to not leave anything blank. For those that don’t have a percentage, put “0”.
For types of insurances, select “Commercial Insurance”
For other practice locations, just mark “Does not apply; I only work at one site” unless you work more than one genetic counseling job.
Review summary and click "Pay Online" to pay the renewal fee.
Tips and Tricks:
It takes 24 hours for Georgia's verification website to update your license with a new expiration date.
If you need another copy of the license, you can download it by logging into the Georgia portal, and click on "Print license" under Licenses. Note, you will need to give the system a few days after a renewal for the changes to be reflected in these downloads.
The renewal process for Georgia is a perfect example of how the amazing services of Elsie can make it easier. The website can store a list of all your licenses and will look just like the image below. Looks sleek huh?
Interested? Click here to get started with our CEU tracker!
Now, if you want to take it a step further and have our team at Elsie take care of your renewals so you can spend more time on what's important to you, contact our team here and we would love to get you set up for our AutoRenew services.
Note that these requirements are subject to change at the discretion of the Board. Please defer to the Board if questions or discrepancies arise.
