Plastic Surgeon 101 - Vital Information For Your Procedure

In a cultural age where plastic surgery has become one of the most common ways to address manifestations of physical disapproval with one’s body, it is becoming increasing more important that pivotal information regarding the selection of a plastic surgeon is disseminated. First and foremost, a candidate for plastic surgery should start by researching the training background of a potential plastic surgery service provider. According to the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a potential customer should know if their potential surgeon has graduated from an accredited school as well as completed the necessary length of training (typically 5 years including 2 years devoted to his/her specialty). This information can be verified in one of many places including the website for the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Customers should also be aware of the difference between a membership with a plastic surgery specialty organization and actual board certification in said specialty, as the difference lies in the fact that the former just means that the physician merely pays to dues to participate in an organization within the same practice while the latter specifically denotes education and /or training compliance deemed necessary for practice.

Another important piece of information regarding the selection of a plastic surgeon involves having a conversation with the selected service provider about his/her particular techniques as well as previous experiences (both good and bad) regarding the same procedures. A good customer should want to know what kind of mistakes the plastic surgeon has made in the past and how he/she has improved. Once you know this information it is a good idea to go back to sources like the American Board of Plastic Surgery and compare notes on recommended procedures for similar surgeries, as skeptical as it may sound, you need to know if the surgeon truly does know what they are talking about. This step can be likened to getting a second opinion on a diagnosis for a major surgery. Taking their word in a situation like this could mean life or death.

Last, but certainly not least, a potential customer of plastic surgery should know going into the surgery how to file a complaint against their plastic surgeon. Again, this may seem a little skeptical and downright distrustful of someone you have entrusted your life in the hands of, however, if in the unfortunately likelihood something goes wrong, you should know how to protect yourself. At the end of the day, no matter how friendly the plastic surgeon may be, he/she does have a business and/or reputation to uphold in the event that a customer becomes dissatisfied with his/her services either due to malpractice or issues that occur post surgery.

The take away should not be fear of embarking on plastic surgery, although some of the information presented does incite fear, but rather that knowledge is power. A customer of any service has a right to know what he/she is up against and just how to protect them in the event something unfortunate happens, and plastic surgery is no different.