I was googling.
I had just written an article about recertification for my board, and on a whim I googled “Board Certified Cosmetic Surgery.” Many people interchange “plastic surgery” with “cosmetic surgery.” It is an easy thing to think. To my shock, on the first page right next to my real board was the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.
!!!!!
So I went to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) who are the governors of the Boards. I looked down the list- Allergy and Immunology, Anesthesia, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Dermatology… Yup. No Cosmetic Surgery listed. Plastic Surgery is listed, and when I clicked on it, it showed the lovely guy I have grown to know as the icon of our Plastic Surgery board.
I clicked on the Plastic Surgery section, to see if the “cosmetic surgery board” is somehow under it. Nope. Subspecialties include Head and Neck and Hand… . No cosmetic surgery. But on this lovely Cosmetic Surgery Board website, it states “The specialty of Cosmetic Surgery is recognized by the American Medical Association’s list of self-designated practice specialties.”
I get what they are trying to do. They are trying to make themselves into a recognized Board. They have rules and criteria, including a lengthy application, proof of one year of cosmetic surgery training or 6 years of cosmetic practice, and you need to recertify every ten years. Sounds a lot like my board. What the Cosmetic Surgery board is doing is making a portal for Dermatologists, General Surgeons, OB Gyns, Oral Maxillofacial MD (Dental) , and ENTs to be able to say they are “boarded” in something OTHER than what they trained in for their residency. Over time, I bet this board may become recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. But right now it is not. And boy is it deceptive to call themselves the American Board of anything. It is so deceptive, it made me, a board certified plastic surgeon, go look it up to see if it was real.
I proctored a local dermatologist at the hospital. He wanted priveleges to do liposuction at the hospital, so the rules, as they are for every new surgeon at the hospital, require you are proctored. For your first cases approved surgeons at the hospital mentor you to make sure you have good technique. I like this doctor. He does a lot of liposuction out of his office. But his technique was not the same, down to the way he scrubbed in before surgery. The head nurse complained bitterly. He did not get priveleges.
I had been told when I was a medical student. “Don’t do plastic surgery residency. Surgery residency is a long road, long hours. It is tough. Dermatology is the back door to plastic surgery. Easier residency, shorter, and you get to be a plastic surgeon when you are done.” I didn’t take the easy route. I wanted to be a surgeon. A tried and true, through and through, to my core surgeon. I wanted to put in chest tubes, peer through an open wound at the heart beating, cut out gall bladders and appendixes. I wanted to know the body inside and out. Sew in deep holes, upside down, in tough spots, in old people and babies, all over the body from the head to the toe. I wanted to see it all.
When watching this dermatologic surgeon I realized I made the right choice.
Plastic Surgery Board certification means something. Residency training and the decade I lost in the hospital means something. I don’t need to be “self designated” in my specialty. I am a plastic surgeon. I am recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties as a plastic surgeon.
For a list of approved boards, go to the ABMS website: