In licensure of health manpower, the recognition by one State of the licenses of a second State when the latter State extends the same recognition to licenses of the former State. Licensing requirements in the two States must usually be equivalent before formal or informal reciprocal agreements are made. Reciprocity is often used interchangeably with the term endorsement. Theoretically, licensure by endorsement requires only that the qualifications of the licensee, or the standards required for licensure in the original licensing State, be deemed equivalent to the licensure requirements of the State in which licensure is being sought; and not that the two States have a reciprocal arrangement.
An agreement among specific states under which one state will grant a license to a physician or other health professional if that person produces evidence that she is licensed in any other state which is a party to the agreement. Usually the initial license must have been granted on the basis of an examination, either that of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) or of the state of origin; in other words, a license granted itself on the basis of reciprocity cannot be used to gain another license by reciprocity.
The recognition by one state of the license to practice granted to a health care professional by another state.