“Official” Definition of the Practice of Medicine

The Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States defines the practice of medicine to include the following:

§ advertising, holding out to the public, or representing in any manner that one is authorized to practice medicine in the jurisdiction;

§ offering or undertaking to prescribe, give, or administer any drug or medicine for the use of any other person;

§ offering or undertaking to prevent or to diagnose, correct, and/or treat in any manner or by any means, methods, devices, or instrumentalities any disease, illness, pain, wound, fracture, infirmity, deformity, defect, or abnormal physical or mental condition of any person, including the management of pregnancy and parturition;

§ offering or undertaking to perform any surgical operation upon any person; and

using the designation Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathy, Physician and Surgeon, Dr., M.D., D.O., or any combination thereof in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease or condition (unless such a designation is in addition to the designation of another healing art (e.g., dentistry), for which one holds a valid license in the jurisdiction).