Choosing a Plastic Surgeon: A Guide to Finding the Right Specialist

According to a 2009 report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 12.9 million plastic surgery procedures in America performed that year. If you're considering plastic surgery it's important to find the right surgeon for your procedure. You'll want to make sure the surgeon's experience, education and training meet or exceed national standards. With even the smallest of procedures, it's still important to have a skilled plastic surgeon and the confidence going into the surgery that you've checked his background thoroughly.

Things You'll Need

• Internet

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  The American Board of Plastic Surgery is a valuable resource for checking out your surgeon.

  Check if your plastic surgeon is board certified. The American Board of Plastic Surgery certifies surgeons who meet education and training requirements and pass a written and oral test. If a surgeon was certified after 1995, then every 10 years the surgeon has to maintain her certification by taking educational courses and getting retested.

• 2

  Check the surgeon's background thoroughly.

  Check if the surgeon has any complaints by patients. You can do this by contacting the Federation of State Medical Boards, which keeps information on a doctor's education, if he is licensed and if there have been any disciplinary problems with the doctor. For example, the Federation of State Medical Boards will be able to tell you if the surgeon has any restrictions, such as providing certain prescriptions to patients and what the reason for that action is. The cost for this service is less than $10.

• 3

  The surgeon should specialize in the procedure you want to get done.

  Check if the plastic surgeon specializes in the area you wish to get done. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons and The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery both have search options on their websites for patients to search for a specific doctor and find her specialty area, such as liposuction or facelift. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery site also lets consumers search based just on the specialty.