What is a diplomate of medicine?

Answer 1

A diplomate is a professional who has passed the board exams for his/her specialty. Board exams usually consist of a separate written and oral exam administered by a specialty board (e.g., plastic surgery, periodontics, etc). State board exams give a practitioner a license to practice but do not qualify one as "board certified". Passing the written exam allows one to say that they are board eligible but they have to pass the oral exam to be board certified, at which point they are a diplomate (pronounced dip-lo-mate, not dip-lo-mat) of their respective specialty.