Check who is providing the care

Use the state record

California’s public licence search lets you check the person treating you and the pharmacy supplying the medicine.

The letters MD identify a medical doctor. The letters DO identify a doctor of osteopathic medicine, which is another type of doctor. These letters tell you which state licensing board to choose.

• Record the potential prescriber’s full name along with their licence number.
• Open the state licence search linked in Source notes, then choose the board and licence type described below.
• Match the name and licence number, then read the current status and any public documents attached to it.
• Ask the licensing board what any listed limit or condition means.

Match the record to the role

For an MD, choose Medical Board of California; for a DO, choose Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

A nurse practitioner has further training beyond being a nurse. Under California rules checked September 28, 2026, these nurses can prescribe with the required permissions.

Choose Board of Registered Nursing, then look for Registered Nurse (RN), Nurse Practitioner (NP), and Nurse Practitioner Furnishing (NPF). The NPF record is the separate certificate for ordering medicines.

A physician assistant provides care as a health professional, working under an agreement with a doctor who supervises them. Under California rules checked September 28, 2026, that agreement covers which medicines they may order. Choose Physician Assistant Board in the state search.

As of September 28, 2026, physician assistant records left out the board’s investigations and reports of criminal convictions (findings of guilt in court). They also left out malpractice information, about harm caused by poor medical care. Medical doctor records could include some of those details.

• Ask what role the person will have in reviewing your health.
• Ask who decides whether to write a prescription.
• Treat a licence check as a starting point for questions, rather than a rating of care.

Check the pharmacy as well

The California pharmacy board lists separate licence types for pharmacies and for making sterile medicines, including out-of-state operations.

Sterile means free from living germs.

California rules checked September 28, 2026 require a pharmacy located outside California to hold a California nonresident licence before shipping prescription medicine into the state.

Its pharmacist in charge must also have a California licence.

• Get the pharmacy’s actual name.
• Use the pharmacy board’s page to choose the right licence search.
• Get contact details for a pharmacist who can answer your questions.