Plastic Surgery Articles

One of the potentially most confusing things for the patient considering plastic surgery, particularly for elective cosmetic surgery, is “How Do I Know that My Surgeon is Qualified?” There are many different means of answering that question but the FIRST place to start is looking for Board Certification. Unfortunately, even this can be confusing to the patient so let me list a few salient points for the potential patient to consider.

1. Board Certification: This means that the doctor has been trained in an approved American College of Surgeons residency, has completed all of the years requisite training, and has passed a rigorous examination testing.
2. American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS): This is the only board recognized by the American College of Surgeons that qualifies a surgeon to be a plastic surgeon.
3. What about other boards? There are other boards with names such as the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery, etc. BUT, the only four words that a patient has to remember is AMERICAN BOARD OF PLASTIC SURGERY. Many of these other boards were “invented” as a means to give want-to-be plastic surgeons some form of self-proclaimed credentialing.
4. If my surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery what does that guarantee me? Unfortunately the only thing that it guarantees the patient is that your surgeon has fulfilled all of the training and examination requirements. It does not require a perfect result.
5. How do I know if my doctor is truly Board Certified? First of all ask him/ her but find out EXACTLY what surgical board has certified them. Ask to see their diploma from the board of examiners. If you still need information, contact the American Board of Plastic Surgery at their website: www.abplsurg.org

Contact Philadelphia plastic surgeon Carl Manstein today.

Written by: Carl Manstein MD