By Marian Matthews
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
In late 2021, Michael and Naomi learned that their 2-year-old son, Sebastián, had an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer. Like any parents, they wanted to get their son the best treatment possible. Unfortunately, his type of cancer was so rare, they needed out-of-state specialists. Because their son was on chemotherapy and severely immunocompromised, they could not travel to meet with medical providers in person and had to rely on telehealth.
However, Michael and Naomi were soon shocked to learn that because New Mexico is one of only a handful of states that does not participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC), they would not be able to see an out-of-state provider even via telehealth unless they traveled to another state. That’s because the doctor would be practicing medicine in New Mexico without a license. So, they were forced to drive from Albuquerque to El Paso, Texas, on numerous occasions to Zoom with an oncologist who had a medical license in Texas.
Texas is one of 42 states that participates in the IMLC, a voluntary agreement that expedites licensure for qualified physicians willing to practice — often through telehealth — in multiple states. The physician compact is among the quickest, most impactful ways to increase access to doctors, including the highly-trained specialists who typically practice in states with much larger populations than New Mexico.
In New Mexico, 32 of our 33 counties are rated by the federal government as Health Professional Shortage Areas due to the lack of access to primary care physicians, let alone specialists. This is one reason New Mexicans are waiting months for appointments.
(Originally published in the Albuquerque Journal, January 18, 2026)