What is a Board-Certified Diplomate?

A board certified diplomate is a physician who has earned board certification in his or her specialty. According to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), more than 80 percent of all physicians in the United States are board-certified diplomates. To become board certified, a physician must complete ongoing education and training, as well as pass a certification exam.

According to ABMS, board certification provides "assurance of a physician's expertise in a particular specialty and/or subspecialty of medical practice."

• Look for a specialty medical board certificate on your doctor's wall.

History

• Board certification can be traced to the early 1900s when large numbers of physicians began to move away from a more general practice of medicine and toward specialization. Because there was no existing way to assess a physician's qualifications to practice in a particular specialty, specialty board organizations were created. The first specialty board was the American Board for Ophthalmic Examinations (later renamed the American Board of Ophthalmology), established in 1916. Today, board certification is governed by the American Board of Medical Specialties and its 24 medical specialty member boards.

Significance

• Physicians must be licensed in order to practice in the United States. However, medical licensure merely indicates a base level competency in diagnosing and treating patients. Medical licensure is also not specialty-specific. Becoming a board certified diplomate shows that a physician is qualified to treat patients in a specialty. According to Dr. Kevin B. Weiss, president and CEO of the American Board of Medical Specialties, "Any doctor who has graduated from medical school, fulfilled residency requirements and has been licensed by the state in which he or she practices, can set up an office and practice medicine, even in a specialty for which he or she has not trained. An ABMS Member Board certified doctor has participated in a voluntary training and assessment process that demonstrates knowledge and skill in their chosen specialty/subspecialty beyond the basic licensing requirements."

Types

• In all, 145 specialties and sub-specialties offer board certification---including anesthesiology, emergency medicine, family medicine, plastic surgery, medical genetics and pediatrics. According to ABMS, in 2007, the three specialties issuing the most certifications were internal medicine, 7,309 certificates; pediatrics, 2,791 certifications; and family medicine, 2,646 certifications.

Benefits

• If your doctor is a board-certified diplomate, it means they are staying current on the latest advances in medicine and technology. Board certification is considered to be the "gold standard" in physician credentialing. Physicians must undergo recertification every 6 to 10 years---an assurance that they are committed to lifelong learning and improvement. In a 2008 survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, New Jersey, 91 percent of survey participants said that board certification was "very important " or "important" in their choice of doctor.

Identification

• Many physicians list their board certifications on their website or other materials in their office. You can also learn whether your physician is board-certified by searching the database at the American Board of Medical Specialties.

Considerations

• More than 750,000 U.S. doctors are board certified diplomates in their specialties, according to ABMS. The states with the highest number of board-certified diplomates are (in order) California, New York, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Warning

• Patients should check all credentials of their physicians, including board certification.