Physician Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below you will find a series of commonly asked questions regarding the medical community and the total and permanent disability process. The questions are grouped by topics. To search for responses, simply click on a topic: Physician Credentials & Licensure, Certifying Disability, Privacy Issues.
- What kind of doctor is allowed to certify the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge application?
Only a doctor of medicine (M.D.) or osteopathy (D.O.) who is licensed to practice in the United States or a U.S. territory can certify your application. This means that the physician certifying your application must have a practice in one of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau. Your loan discharge application must include the physician’s professional license number issued by the state or territory where he or she is licensed to practice.
Chiropractors, herbalists, physician's assistants, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), Ph.D.s, interns, residents, etc., are not eligible to certify total and permanent loan discharge applications. Applications certified by anyone other than a licensed M.D. or D.O. will be returned.
- What if I am licensed in a U.S. territory or in West Virginia?
If your physician is licensed in a U.S. territory, such as Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, or in West Virginia, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) may have difficulty verifying your physician’s license. Please obtain a copy of your physician’s license to submit with your discharge application.
- This patient is a veteran and I am employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Can I certify that this patient is totally and permanent disabled?
VA policy does not prevent you from providing medical opinions to other agencies, at the request of the veteran. Please see the Veterans Health Administration directive detailing this policy. Although the former directive document expired September 31, 2005, the VA issued the current directive on October 29, 2008.
- Is there separate information for physicians dealing with disabled borrowers who are veterans?
Yes. If a physician has a disabled veteran applying for disability discharge, the physician should visit the Veterans Disability Discharge section of this site.
- How does a U.S. licensed physician certify a TPD application?
An applicant's physician must fully complete Section 4 of the TPD application and:
- Certify that the applicant cannot work and earn money in any capacity;
- Provide the diagnosis of the applicant's condition (without the use of acronyms or abbreviations);
- Describe the severity of the applicant's condition;
- Describe any limitations (physical or mental) that prevent the applicant from working;
- Include an original signature and date on the application.
- Are abbreviations or medical codes allowed on the TPD application?
Medical abbreviations or insurance codes cannot be used to identify or explain the applicant's condition on the application. Applications that include only medical abbreviations or insurance codes will be returned.
- What kind of information must a doctor provide to establish that an applicant is totally and permanently disabled?
It is not sufficient for an applicant's doctor to merely state the applicant's diagnosis. The applicant's doctor must fully respond to each of the following questions in Section 4 of the TPD application:
- Question 1: The applicant's doctor must be able to answer "Yes."
- Question 2: The applicant's doctor must supply the diagnosis and describe the severity of the applicant's disabling condition.
- Question 3: The applicant's doctor must explain how the applicant's medical condition is totally and permanently disabling by providing the requested limitations.
- May an applicant's doctor submit additional information with the TPD application that supports his or her certification that the applicant is disabled?
The Department encourages an applicant's physician to provide as much information about the applicant's disabling condition or illness as possible. A physician may include detailed information such as a list and description of an applicant's medications, responses to medications, surgical procedures undergone or soon to occur, non-surgical treatments, and a history of an applicant's physical examination results, etc.
- May a physician make changes to the Physician Signature Date?
If an applicant's physician makes a mistake while entering the Date of his or her signature, the physician must make sure to initial any and all alterations. The Physician Signature Date is very important because it determines the beginning of the three-year conditional disability discharge monitoring period.
- Am I violating privacy laws by sharing my patient's detailed medical information?
No. When your patient signed the discharge application, she authorized you to release medical information to the Department. Please see Section 3, which states:
"I authorize any physician, hospital, or other institution having records about the disability that is the basis for my request for a discharge to make information from these records available to the holder(s) of my loan(s) and/or to the Department."
