Medboard Matters Podcast
In this episode, host Jean Fisher Brinkley talks with Brian Blankenship, JD, Chief Legal Officer and Legislative Liaison for the Board, about an important update to physician and physician assistant licensing fees. No one likes hearing that fees are increasing, and we understand that. So rather than simply announcing the change, we wanted to explain how it was decided that the increase is warranted and what these fees support.
Posted August 26, 2026 |
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Resources
Fee Justification and Organizational Growth
NCMB Annual Reports
Our Annual Reports provide a summary of the Board's activities for a given year. They include demographic information about NCMB's licensees, information about complaints received and investigations conducted, data about public and private actions by the Board, and a summary of significant policy initiatives for each year. Click here to view our past 5 years' worth.
Hosts and Guests
Jean Fisher Brinkley
Communications Director, North Carolina Medical Board
Jean Fisher Brinkley is NCMB’s Communications Director, a role that involves developing and overseeing production of communications materials and strategies needed to enhance public and professional awareness and understanding of the Board and its mission. She joined NCMB in 2008, after an 11-year career in newspaper journalism, most of it dedicated to reporting on medicine, health policy and the business aspects of health care.
Brinkley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Raleigh with her husband and two daughters.
You can reach Jean at podcast@ncmedboard.org
Brian Blakenship, JD
Chief Legal Officer and Legislative Liaison, North Carolina Medical Board
Brian serves as the Chief Legal Officer and Legislative Liaison for NCMB. Prior to this, he served as Deputy General Counsel for the Board supervises three attorneys and manages the prosecution and defense of all cases handled by Board attorneys. Prior to joining NCMB in 2002, Brian served as an Assistant Attorney General with the North Carolina Department of Justice where he was responsible for prosecuting law enforcement officers accused of misconduct. Brian has served for more than 24 years in the United States military, first as a member of the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG Corps) and, since 2001, as a member of the North Carolina Army National Guard.
Brian is frequently invited to speak at professional conferences on Medical Board investigations and prosecutions. In 2018, Brian was a presenter at the FSMB Board Attorney Workshop on Prosecuting Professional Sexual Misconduct Cases and in 2019, Brian served as a panel member of the General Session presentation, Sexual Boundary Violations: What State Medical Boards Need to Know.
