Starting residency · VT
Starting residency in Vermont
Vermont requires residents to hold a training license from the Vermont Board of Medical Practice: the Limited Temporary License (LTL). Vermont has a graduated income tax (top rate 8.75% for 2026).
Training license
- Status
- Training license required
- Called
- Limited Temporary License (LTL), also called a training license
- Fee
- $75; renewal $75
- Renewal
- Annual; licenses run July 1 to June 30
Who applies: Resident, online; the program director or supervising physician signs a statement accepting responsibility.
Residents without a full Vermont license hold an LTL. It covers practice only within the approved program and its sites, so outside moonlighting is not covered. Residents from other states on away rotations in Vermont also need one. State law lets the board issue it up to 90 days before the training year; the board publishes no recommended lead time.
Full license: MD: after 2 years of ACGME training for US/Canadian graduates; 3 years (or specialty board certification) for IMGs. DO: after 1 year. A full license matters if you plan to moonlight.
State income tax
Graduated income tax: top rate 8.75% (above $249,700 in 2025; threshold indexed annually) 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
Vermont training license
Apply for your Vermont 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 separate limited temporary license from the Board of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (Office of Professional Regulation): $75 to apply and $145 to renew each year, and it can be renewed or reissued only four times.
Related
- Compare RAP, IBR and Tiered Standard on a resident's income
- Vermont 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 Vermont Board of Medical Practiceand your program before you apply.