District of Columbia Code
Subchapter V - Licensing, Registration, or Certification of Health Professionals
§ 3–1205.01. License, registration, or certification required

*NOTE: The changes made to subsection (a)(3) of this section by section 5042(d) of D.C. Law 24-45 shall apply as of October 1, 2022.*
(a)(1) A license issued pursuant to this chapter is required to practice acupuncture, advanced practice addiction counseling, advanced practice registered nursing, assisted living administration, audiology, chiropractic, certified midwifery, certified professional midwifery, cytotechnology, dental hygiene, dentistry, dietetics, histotechnology, home health care administration, marriage and family therapy, massage therapy, medical laboratory technology, medicine, naturopathic medicine, nutrition, nursing home administration, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmaceutical detailing, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, practical nursing, professional counseling, psychology, registered nursing, respiratory care, social work, speech-language pathology, veterinary medicine, or to practice as an anesthesiologist assistant, athletic trainer, personal fitness trainer, physician assistant, physical therapy assistant, polysomnographic technologist, occupational therapy assistant, surgical assistant, professional art therapy, or as a trauma technologist in the District, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(2) Registration is required to practice as an audiology assistant, dental assistant, nursing assistive personnel, phlebotomist, psychology associate, polysomnographic technician or trainee, speech-language pathology assistant, or speech-language pathology clinical fellow.
(3) Certification is required to practice as an addiction counselor I, addiction counselor II, veterinary technician, or a veterinary euthanasia technician.
(4) Except for administering general or sedation anesthesia in a hospital as defined in § 44-501(a)(1), a federal agency or facility, or a dental school, certification is required for a dentist, or for a facility where dentistry is practiced, to administer general or sedation anesthesia.
(5) A license issued to practice advanced practice registered nursing shall further specify that the license is being issued to practice as a:
(A) Certified nurse practitioner;
(B) Certified registered nurse anesthetist;
(C) Certified nurse-midwife; or
(D) Clinical nurse specialist.
(b) A license, registration, or certification is the property of the District of Columbia and shall be surrendered on demand of the licensor.
(Mar. 25, 1986, D.C. Law 6-99, § 501, 33 DCR 729; July 22, 1992, D.C. Law 9-126, § 2(f), 39 DCR 3824; Mar. 14, 1995, D.C. Law 10-203, § 2(e), 41 DCR 7707; Mar. 14, 1995, D.C. Law 10-205, § 2(d), 41 DCR 7712; Mar. 23, 1995, D.C. Law 10-247, § 2(h), 42 DCR 457; Mar. 10, 2004, D.C. Law 15-88, § 2(g), 50 DCR 10999; July 8, 2004, D.C. Law 15-172, § 2(e), 51 DCR 4938; Mar. 16, 2005, D.C. Law 15-237, § 2(f), 51 DCR 10593; Mar. 6, 2007, D.C. Law 16-219, § 2(f), 53 DCR 10211; Mar. 6, 2007, D.C. Law 16-220, § 2(c), 53 DCR 10216; Mar. 6, 2007, D.C. Law 16-228, § 2(f), 53 DCR 10244; Mar. 26, 2008, D.C. Law 17-131, § 102(e), 55 DCR 1659; July 18, 2009, D.C. Law 18-26,§ 2(e)(2), 56 DCR 4043; May 1, 2013, D.C. Law 19-303, § 2(c), 60 DCR 2711; Jan. 25, 2014, D.C. Law 20-64, § 2(e), 60 DCR 16533; Mar. 26, 2014, D.C. Law 20-96, § 102(k), 61 DCR 1184; May 2, 2015, D.C. Law 20-272, § 2(e), 62 DCR 1911; June 24, 2020, D.C. Law 23-115, § 2(e), 67 DCR 5077; Dec. 29, 2021, D.C. Law 24-46, § 2(d)(1), 68 DCR 011642.)
1981 Ed., § 2-3305.1.
This section is referenced in § 3-1208.62, § 16-2301, § 21-501, and § 21-2202.
D.C. Law 15-88 inserted “marriage and family therapy,” after “dietetics,”.
D.C. Law 15-172 substituted “massage therapy, naturopathic medicine,” for “massage therapy,”.
D.C. Law 15-237 substituted “an anesthesiologist assistant, physician assistant, or occupational therapy assistant” for “a physician assistant or occupational therapy assistant”.
D.C. Law 16-219 inserted “audiology, speech-language pathology,”.
D.C. Law 16-220, inserted “physical therapy assistant,” following “physician assistant,”.
D.C. Law 16-228, inserted “or surgical assistant” following “occupational therapy assistant,”.
D.C. Law 17-131 substituted “pharmaceutical detailing, pharmacy” for “pharmacy”.
D.C. Law 18-26 rewrote the section, which had read as follows: “A license issued pursuant to this chapter is required to practice medicine, acupuncture, chiropractic, registered nursing, practical nursing, dentistry, dental hygiene, dietetics, marriage and family therapy, massage therapy, naturopathic medicine, nutrition, nursing home administration, occupational therapy, optometry, pharmaceutical detailing, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, psychology, social work, professional counseling, audiology, speech-language pathology, and respiratory care or to practice as an anesthesiologist assistant, physician assistant, physical therapy assistant, occupational therapy assistant, or surgical assistant in the District, except as provided in this chapter. A certification issued pursuant to this chapter is required to practice advanced practice registered nursing.”
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-303 substituted “dental assistant, or pharmacy technician or trainee” for “or dental assistant” in (a).
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-64 added “trauma technologist” in (a); and made a related change.
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-96 rewrote (a).
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-272, in (a)(1), added “cytotechnology,” “histotechnology,” and “medical laboratory technology“; and added “phlebotomist” in (a)(2).
Section 5044 of D.C. Law 24-45 provided that the change made to subsection (a)(3) of this section shall apply as of October 1, 2022.
Section 5044 of D.C. Act 24-159 provided that the change made to subsection (a)(3) of this section shall apply as of October 1, 2022.
Section 7081 of D.C. Law 23-149 repealed section 3 of D.C. Law 23-115 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore, the amendment of this section by Law 23-115 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 23-115: § 3 of D.C. Law 23-115 provided that the change made to this section by § 2(e) of D.C. Law 23-115 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 5042(d) of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(e)(2) of Health Occupations Revision General Amendment Emergency Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-146, July 28, 2009, 56 DCR 6308).