Plastic Surgery Credentials: The Role of Board Certification
How to Find a Board Certified Facelift Surgeon
Choosing a facial plastic surgeon for your facelift procedure can be a significant decision to your cosmetic surgery experience. The success of the procedure is not only dependent on surgical skill and expertise, but artistic vision. In this guide, we will explore numerous factors to consider to help you find the best facelift surgeon for your facial rejuvenation goals.
About Board Certification
Selecting a facelift surgeon is a confusing task without specific knowledge about board certification and any licensed medical doctor can claim to be any specialist regardless of medical education and training, this confusion can be hard to decipher. First, let’s explore recognized plastic surgery board certification under the American Board of Medical Specialties.The American Board of Medical Specialties is the official oversight board of medical specialties. The ABMS consists of 24 member boards of their respective specialties that certify physicians. These boards are not memberships or professional societies, but independent non-profit organizations.
Yeh, there are doctors trained in other specialties passing themselves off as “Cosmetic Surgeons”
The growing popularity of cosmetic procedures has become attractive to non-plastic surgeons desiring the cash-based business model. Real board-certified plastic surgeons have nicknamed these imposters as “cosmetic cowboys.” In fact, this expanding group of non-plastic surgeons have organized to create their own board certifications to legitimize themselves and create white coat confusion.
These cosmetic cowboys are physicians whose official training is anything but plastic surgery. They seek training in plastic surgery procedures through alternative avenues such as weekend conferences without completing an accredited plastic surgery training program.
The cosmetic cowboys have been known to attempt to explain themselves by marginalizing real plastic surgeons as “reconstructive surgeons” or attempting to claim plastic surgeons are trained in “burns” and “wounds.” To be fair, yes, plastic surgeons are trained in reconstructive procedures, burns and wounds, but at least they are officially trained in these areas within their official accredited plastic surgery training.
The 24 Boards of the ABMS are as follows:
- American Board of Allergy and Immunology
- American Board of Anesthesiology
- American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery
- American Board of Dermatology
- American Board of Emergency Medicine
- American Board of Family Medicine
- American Board of Internal Medicine
- American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics
- American Board of Neurological Surgery
- American Board of Nuclear Medicine
- American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- American Board of Ophthalmology
- American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
- American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
- American Board of Pathology
- American Board of Pediatrics
- American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
- American Board of Plastic Surgery
- American Board of Preventive Medicine
- American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
- American Board of Radiology
- American Board of Surgery
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery
- American Board of Urology
Key Factors When Resarching a Plastic Surgeon
Board Certification
Perhaps the top factor when choosing a plastic surgeon is to pay very careful attention to board certification. There is only ONE recognized board certification for plastic surgeons, but several non-recognized boards that physicians of other specialties have created in order to legitimize their practice of offering cosmetic procedures despite their true medical training in the field.
The American Board of Plastic Surgery is the only recognized board certification for plastic surgery. This certification ensures the surgeon has undergone extensive training by accredited programs and adheres to strict ethical standards.
Experience
After you have narrowed down a selection of board-certified facelift surgeons, the next step should be to consider the surgeon’s experience in facial plastic surgery. Some factors to investigate for experience would be look for peer reviewed publications and years in practice.
Patient Reviews & Testimonials
An important factor to finding a good facelift surgeon is to read their online reviews from business and medical review sites such as Google, RealSelf, and Healthgrades. If a surgeon has all 5-star reviews, this could be red-flag as this industry is notorious for derogatory patient encounters due to unrealistic expectations. Otherwise, check reviews for quality of results, surgeon communication, quality of the doctor-patient relationship, and quality of care provided by staff.
Credentials
In addition to having the proper board certification, the surgeon’s credentials do not end there. All doctors are required to achieve continuing medical education units (CMEs) every year, so memberships in professional societies and associations are a great avenue for surgeons to continue their training, publish peer reviewed articles, and give lectures.
The top professional organizations for plastic surgeons are as follows:
Other than professional associations, another credential for surgeons would be hospital credentials. Every hospital has their own credentialing process for physicians. If the surgeon has their own in-office surgical facility, then they are likely to have hospital credentials if their facility has active certification. Having hospital credentials is important to any surgeon should their patient experience an adverse event and require hospitalization. You would want to know that your plastic surgeon will be caring for you and not another, potentially less experienced physician.
Before and After Photos
In conjunction with years of experience, the surgeon should be able to present their experience with an adequate before and after photo gallery. Take note, not all facial plastic surgery patients give permission for their photos to be used on the web, so do not expect thousands of patient photos to be on a surgeon’s website. The surgeon is more likely to have more photos to show during the consultation. Look for a variety of before and after photos that range in different ages of patients, to the surgeon’s most current patients.
The surgeon’s before and after photos should be within industry standards when it comes to multiple views and showing the facelift scars. Since facelift scars are around the ear, the photos shown should show the incision site and not be covered by the patient’s hair or cropped out. If the photos do not show the ears, then move on. This is a bad sign and could indicate the scars are not presentable.
Ask Around
Any facelift surgeon will tell you they aim to hide their facelift incisions from hairdressers. In fact, most facelift patients are more likely to begin their surgeon search by asking around with friends, family, and yes, their hairdresser. Referrals of this kind are more likely to provide better insights into the surgeon’s reputation than online reviews.
The Consultation
Once you have narrowed down a list of at least three facelift surgeons, schedule consultations with each one and plan to take notes. Although many surgeons offer complimentary consultations, do not let this be the determining factor for your surgeon list. It is industry standard for surgeons to deduct any consultation fees from the surgical quote, so take note that paying a consultation fee is a good indication the surgeon will be devoting ample time to your consultation. Also, many surgeons implement a consultation fee to weed out curious shoppers with less intent on actually signing up for a surgical procedure.
Finding the best facelift surgeon for you is not just about finding the one with the best price, but the best doctor-patient relationship that aligns with your cosmetic goals. Afterall, this is your face and you want to have complete confidence in your surgeon before going into the operating room.
Be sure to read our Facelift Consultation page to learn more.