Abdul El-Sayed’s claims about being a physician have come under scrutiny after state records showed he did not hold a medical license in Michigan or New York, prompting questions about how he describes his professional background.

Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly referred to himself as a physician and a doctor while running for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan. A review of medical licensing records in Michigan and New York found no evidence that he was ever granted a license to practice in either state, a development reported by national outlets citing reporting by Politico.

El-Sayed’s academic credentials are real: a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, a doctorate in public health from Oxford University, and time at the University of Michigan Medical School. Those degrees are legitimate, but a diploma is not the same thing as a state medical license that permits clinical practice.

The gap between those diplomas and how El-Sayed talks about himself shows up again and again in public settings. At a recent debate in Detroit he called himself “a physician and epidemiologist,” language that most voters interpret as meaning he was licensed and practiced medicine. That impression matters in a campaign where credibility is central.

“My job was to be the, like, worst doctor on the team.”

“cosplaying a doctor.”

The clinical experience El-Sayed has described elsewhere did not amount to a full medical career. Reporting shows his hands-on clinical work was a four-week sub-internship at a small Manhattan hospital near the end of medical school. That is a short rotation, not a residency or years of patient care, and he has said he moved away from clinical practice after that period.

“has earned the right to be called ‘doctor’ twice over”

“Rather than this being a gotcha attack, this is Dr. El-Sayed’s origin story.”

The campaign response has been to lean on the technicality that El-Sayed holds doctoral degrees and can be called “doctor” in many informal contexts. That defense, framed by a campaign spokesperson, also labeled the discrepancy an “origin story.” For voters who heard “physician” as reflective of licensure and patient practice, the explanation will likely feel like a stretch.

“I think the work that I have done and I continue to do is true to the core and the ethos of medicine. And when I took my Hippocratic Oath, that is still an oath that I use to guide my work today.”

Saying one follows the ethos of medicine and invoking the Hippocratic Oath is a statement about values but it does not change the licensing record. El-Sayed did take the oath as a medical school graduate, yet public records in Michigan and New York show no evidence he secured the state licenses required to treat patients there.

Some reporting notes that he “realized that his calling was not to practice medicine” and moved into public health work instead. Career changes are common, and shifting to public health is a legitimate path. The question voters face is whether the way he has presented his background accurately reflected that career change.

There are still factual gaps. The review of public records focused on Michigan and New York, so whether El-Sayed ever obtained a license elsewhere is not clear from the available reporting. The name of the Manhattan hospital where he completed his short sub-internship has not been disclosed in public accounts.

An anecdote from the sub-internship era, about encountering a patient later seen sleeping on the subway, is cited as a moment that moved him toward public health work. Human stories like that help explain career choices, but they do not alter what state licensing records show about formal authorization to practice medicine.

The stakes here go beyond labels. A U.S. Senate seat comes with influence over health policy, federal budgets, and judicial confirmations, and candidates are expected to be straightforward about their qualifications. Whether or not any legal line was crossed, the political question for voters is simple: did the candidate’s words create a misleading impression about credentials and experience?