Credentials to Seek When Choosing a Plastic Surgeon
Choosing the right plastic surgeon can dramatically affect your patient experience and satisfaction with the results of the procedure. Critically important are the credentials, training and experience of the cosmetic surgeon you choose.
Ask these questions of your surgeon:
- Are you certified by American Board of Plastic Surgery? Board certification ensures that your plastic surgeon has successfully completed required education at an accredited medical school and a minimum 5-year surgical residency with at least 2 years devoted to plastic surgery. Board certification also requires that the board-certified plastic surgeon pass comprehensive oral and written exams.
- Are you a member of American Society of Plastic Surgeons? Founded in 1931, ASPS is the largest international plastic surgery specialty organization. Its mission is to advance quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, practice and research. Membership ensures patients that their plastic surgeon has met the strict requirements of the organization, is board certified and adheres to the highest standards of surgical practice and patient care.
- Are you a member of American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery? Founded in 1967, ASAPS is an elite organization of board-certified plastic surgeons whose mission is to advance the science, art and safe practice of cosmetic plastic surgery. Only one-quarter of board-certified plastic surgeons meet the rigorous educational, experience and superlative professional standards required for membership.
- What is your training and experience in plastic surgery? A plastic surgeon who meets the highest professional standards will be board certified by both his state and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. In addition to achieving his Doctor of Medicine from an accredited medical school, your plastic surgeon should have a minimum of 5 years of surgical training in an accredited medical residency program with at least 2 years exclusively devoted to plastic surgery.
- Beware of "Board-Certified." There are a lot of practitioners who will say they are "board-certified." More important is – "Board-certified in what?" Would you feel safe entrusting your body to someone who is "board-certified in emergency medicine," or "board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology" – to name a few? Would you let your plastic surgeon deliver your baby?