PA Licensure Resources
PA Licensure Law
​Rules & Regulations
Child Abuse Recognition & Reporting Guidelines
Licensure Application for New Applicants
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Genetic counselors may apply for a new license through the Board of Medicine or the Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS)
PA State Board of Medicine
PA State Board of Osteopathic Medicine
​Mailing Address:
PO Box 2649
HARRISBURG PA 17105-2649
St-Medicine@pa.gov
St-Osteopathic@pa.gov
Renewal Process
​Genetic counselors may be licensed through the Board of Medicine or the Board of Osteopathic Medicine. Login here to begin the process of licensure renewal.
Current licenses expire biennially on December 31 of each even numbered year if you are boarded through the State Board of Medicine,
and on October 31 if you are boarded through the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Renewal forms will be sent by the state board of medicine 2-3 months prior to expiration via mail or email
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​Important that mailing address is correct as Post Office will not forward licenses
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Requirements include 30 hours of NSGC/ABGC approved continuing education (3.0 CEUs)
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No distinction between category 1 vs. 2 category 2 ​
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2 hours of Child Abuse Recognition & Reporting training (See Below)
Online Child Abuse Recognition & Reporting Course
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Per Act 31 of 2014, two hours of Department of Human Services approved continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting requirements must be completed prior to your license being issued or renewed. Verification of completion of training must be sent electronically and directly from the course provider. It may take up to 7 days for the provider to submit the records to the licensing office
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Be sure that the course you select meets requirements for obtaining or renewing licensure
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Current license number is requested upon registration and PA state licensing board is notified
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Print certificate after course completion and save for your record
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There may be a delay in linking license numbers to completion of this coursework
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Information on Act 31 and updated and approved training courses can be found by clicking the box below
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The PA Child Welfare Resource CenterRecognizing and Reporting Child Abuse Course can be found here
Amending PA Licensure
We will be working with the Government Affairs office at Penn State Hershey to coordinate our efforts with the state legislature. We are not “opening” the law for mass changes, only offering up a “simple” amendment to add and delete a word under the scope of practice.
Current Law - Scope of Practice
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(1)(iii) – Identify and coordinate genetic laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies as appropriate for the genetic assessment.
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(3) – Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize a genetic counselor to diagnose, test or treat any genetic disease or condition or other disease or condition.
Proposed Amendment
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Add “test” after “identify” to (1)(iii)
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Remove “test” from (3)
Physician Letters of Support
We will be collecting physician letters of support to strengthen our case before the state legislature. You can help in this effort by getting signatures from doctors you work with.
​We at PAGC have drafted a simple letter of support for you to print on your institution’s letterhead and pass out to your physicians. We have also attached an NSGC white paper that counselors may wish to share with their docs to further explain the importance ordering tests for a genetic counselor. If a GC or physician wants, they may also create a personalized letter or add on to the template letter.
Signed letters can be scanned and emailed to the PAGC Gmail account (PennsylvaniaGC@Gmail.com) with DOC SUPP LTR in the subject heading.