Diploma Mill traces the rise and spectacular fall of Dr. John Buchanan—educator, author, and criminal—and the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania  (EMC) over its three decades’ existence. Founded as a legitimate educational institution, EMC aspired to carry the banner of eclectic medicine in the eastern United States before lapsing into diploma sales during an era of weak regulatory oversight. The story of Buchanan and EMC contains unusually dramatic elements (criminal trials, senate investigations, a fake suicide, manhunt) more typical of a novel than a work of history. The story ties these together as interests of medical education, licensing and the profession intersected in the second half of the 19th century.