Starting residency · AZ
Starting residency in Arizona
Arizona requires residents to hold a training license from the Arizona Medical Board: the Postgraduate Training Permit. Arizona has a flat income tax (2.5% for 2026).
Training license
- Status
- Training license required
- Called
- Postgraduate Training Permit
- Apply
- Board form: register at least 30 days before training starts.
- Fee
- $50 per year
- Renewal
- Annual; residents register for each year of training
Who applies: Resident and the sponsoring hospital complete the registration form together.
Residents without a full Arizona license need this one-year renewable permit (A.R.S. 32-1432.02); the licensing exemptions do not cover residents. The permit limits practice to the supervised training program, so it does not cover moonlighting. The registration form is linked from the board's forms page.
Full license: MD: after a 12-month approved internship, residency or fellowship for US/Canadian graduates; IMGs must also be enrolled in an additional approved 24-month program (A.R.S. 32-1423). DO: after an approved internship or the first year of a residency. A full license matters if you plan to moonlight.
Source: Arizona Medical Board
State income tax
Flat income tax: 2.5% for 2026.
Source: taxfoundation.org
Match Day to your first loan payment
Assumes you enroll in RAP or IBR when the grace period ends, recertify once a year, and file each tax return by April. Your servicer's dates govern.
Mid-March
Match Day
You learn where you'll train. Your program sends its residency (GME) agreement and onboarding steps.
March–April
Arizona training license
Apply for your Arizona training license as soon as your program sends instructions. Applications often need school records and background checks that take weeks.
April–June
Credentialing and onboarding
Hospital credentialing, health screening, payroll and benefits forms, and a DEA registration if your program requires one.
Late June–July 1
Move and start
Intern orientation usually starts in the last week of June. When the first paycheck arrives depends on the hospital's payroll schedule, so budget for a few weeks of moving costs without one.
About 6 months after graduation
Federal loan grace period ends
Payments start 6 months after you leave school. Choose a plan before then, or request residency forbearance, during which interest accrues and months don't count toward PSLF.
First year of payments
Payments use last year's income
RAP and IBR use the adjusted gross income on your most recent tax return, which for most new residents is a student year. Payments rise after you recertify with a resident's income.
DO residents get a postgraduate training permit from the separate Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery: $50 a year, submitted through the Arizona program director at least 30 days before the start date (per that board's 2019 instructions).
Related
- Compare RAP, IBR and Tiered Standard on a resident's income
- Arizona physician non-compete law, for when you sign your first attending contract
- All states
General information, checked on the date above. Board requirements and fees change; confirm with the Arizona Medical Boardand your program before you apply.