Ensuring Your Plastic Surgeon's Qualifications: A Comprehensive Guide

In deciding to have cosmetic surgery, make sure your doctor is qualified to perform the procedure you want. Choose a board-certified plastic surgeon, and remember, if your doctor seems more interested in making money than he does in caring for you, seek a second opinion.

Things You'll Need

• Books - Plastic Surgery

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Instructions

• 1

  Talk to friends and co-workers who've had the same procedure you're considering. Learn what they liked or disliked about their surgeons.

• 2

  Ask your family doctor which surgeon he would recommend to a family member.

• 3

  Question nurses, especially operating room nurses who work with plastic surgeons everyday.

• 4

  Call the hospitals in your area. Obtain a list of board-certified plastic surgeons who have hospital privileges to perform the particular procedure you're interested in having.

• 5

  Phone the Plastic Surgery Information Service at [phone], and leave your name, address and the procedure you're interested in. They will send you the names of five plastic surgeons in your area who perform that procedure.

• 6

  Understand that if a plastic surgeon is recommended by the above service, he or she will be certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) and is a member of the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the U.S.

• 7

  Choose a plastic surgeon who's certified by ABPS, indicating that the doctor has completed at least five years of additional training as a resident surgeon, with a minimum two-year residency in plastic surgery, and has passed a comprehensive written and oral exam.

• 8

  Go online and surf plastic surgeons' Web sites. See what different doctors offer, and what types of procedures they perform.

• 9

  Pick out what you like, and don't like. When you meet with your plastic surgeon, discuss some of the pros and cons you have discovered online.