Minnesota's In-Person Board Appearance for Podiatrists: What to Expect

Minnesota is an endorsement state for podiatrists in the sense that it has a section for "Applicants licensed in another state." It is not a paperwork-only state. Minnesota Statutes 153.16 requires every applicant, new graduate or veteran surgeon, to appear in person before the Board of Podiatric Medicine or its designated representative. For a podiatrist used to mailing forms, the appearance is the step to plan around.

What does Minnesota require of a podiatrist licensed elsewhere?

Subdivision 2 of section 153.16 says the board shall license a podiatrist "currently or formerly licensed to practice podiatric medicine in another state" who meets every requirement of subdivision 1 and a few extras. Subdivision 1 requires:

• A written, notarized application on the board's forms, showing good moral character.
• Graduation from a podiatric medical school the board approves.
• Passing scores on NBPME Parts I and II. The statute names those two parts and does not list Part III.
• For graduates after 1990, completion of a residency approved by a national accrediting podiatric organization. The statute sets no minimum length.
• The in-person appearance, discussed below.
• The fee, and no conduct that would warrant discipline. If there is past conduct, the board may still license you with conditions if it decides the public will be protected.

Subdivision 2 adds, for out-of-state applicants:

• The current status of your license from your first state of licensure and every other state and country where you have held one.
• For the five years before you apply, the name and address of your professional liability insurer in the other state, and the number, date and disposition of any podiatric malpractice settlement or award for a plaintiff relating to quality of treatment.
• If your license is active, evidence that you have met your current state's continuing education requirement. If it is inactive, evidence of the CE hours Minnesota would require for a biennial renewal, up to five years' worth.

Minnesota also requires a board-approved reentry program for anyone seeking licensure after more than two years without continuous practice (subdivision 1a). A podiatrist who stepped away for family, administration or research should raise this before filing.

What is the in-person appearance?

The statute's words are short: the applicant "shall appear in person before the board or its designated representative to show that the applicant satisfies the requirements of this section, including knowledge of laws, rules, and ethics pertaining to the practice of podiatric medicine." The board may set its own internal procedures for the "personal presentation." There is no published question bank and no vendor; it is the board's own review.

Three things follow from that. First, the appearance comes after the rest of the file, so a missing verification or malpractice disclosure delays the date. Second, the content is Minnesota law: chapter 153, including scope, discipline, reporting obligations and the nitrous oxide rules in 153.26. Reading the chapter before the appearance is the minimum. Third, it is in person. Travel to Minnesota is part of the cost of the license, and it cannot be delegated. Separately, section 153.16 gives an applicant who fails an examination and is refused a license the right to reexamination within one year, with no more than two reexaminations before a new application.

Military applicants have a narrow exception. Active duty members, spouses and recent veterans can get an expedited temporary military license for up to six months, $250, and have six months after finishing the rest of the application to complete the appearance (subdivisions 1(e) and 4).

Does a Minnesota license really include the hand?

Minnesota's scope is unusually broad. Section 153.01 defines podiatric medicine as treatment of "the human hand, foot, ankle, and the soft tissue of the lower leg distal to the tibial tuberosity." It includes partial foot amputation and excludes amputation of the hand or fingers. Local anesthetics are within scope; other anesthetics are excluded except nitrous oxide under the conditions in section 153.26. Podiatrists who have completed a residency may also perform all or part of the history and physical for hospital admission for podiatric management or preoperative podiatric surgery. A podiatrist arriving from a state that does not include the hand gains scope in Minnesota; one leaving Minnesota for a foot-only state loses a lot. See Minnesota's hand and the foot-and-leg states and the scope by state page.

How much does it cost, and when do you renew?

The board's fee schedule, updated July 1, 2025, lists $750 for a DPM license application and $750 for renewal, with a $250 late renewal fee and $1,000 for reinstatement. Section 153.16, subdivision 5, requires 40 hours of continuing education in each two-year renewal cycle, at most 8 of them online, from programs sponsored by CPME or approved by the board. Residents in Minnesota programs use a temporary permit renewed annually until the residency ends (subdivision 3); see residency, training and limited licenses.

Minnesota is also not part of any podiatry compact, and the compact itself is not active. The state license is the only route.

Can we prepare you for the appearance?

Minnesota is our Podiatrist License by Endorsement service, $799 per state, and most clients add Jurisprudence and State Exam Logistics ($249) for the appearance. We prepare the application for you to sign before a notary, request verifications from your first state and every other state, assemble the five-year malpractice insurer and claims disclosure and your CE evidence, and track the file until the board schedules your appearance. For the appearance itself we give you a study plan built on chapter 153 and handle the scheduling logistics; you appear in person and answer the board yourself. You pay the board directly. See the Minnesota state page for current requirements.