Why Is Board Certification Important in Choosing a Cosmetic Surgeon?
Cleveland cosmetic surgery, also called plastic surgery, is a highly specialized medical field. Just as gynecologists and heart surgeons must complete additional training in their respective specialties, plastic surgeons are also required to complete additional years of specialized surgical training after they obtain their medical degree. To protect the public and ensure that U.S. physicians who practice cosmetic surgery are adequately trained, the American Board of Plastic Surgery has created exacting standards for education and experiential training that govern members of the cosmetic surgery profession. Physicians who successfully meet these requirements are “certified” by the Board to practice cosmetic surgery.
To obtain board certification, a Cleveland plastic surgeon must successfully complete four years of medical school followed by five to six years as a general surgery resident followed by a plastic surgery fellowship of two to three additional years. Only upon successful completion of this rigorous and lengthy course of study and practical experience can a plastic surgeon earn the designation “board certified.”
Cleveland women and men contemplating cosmetic surgery should make certain that the plastic surgeon they choose is board certified. The field of cosmetic surgery has become so popular in recent years that there have been numerous incidents of physicians without adequate training or board certification advertising cosmetic surgery procedures. Many of these physicians have merely taken a limited weekend course in the application of a particular technique such as Botox injections or liposuction. A physician who has a passing familiarity with a cosmetic surgery technique but lacks both well-honed practical experience and an underlying knowledge of facial nerve and muscle construction can cause permanent damage to delicate facial tissues, muscles and nerves.