Cosmetic Surgery: Promises and Pitfalls™

Credentials: The Importance of Medical Credentials

PROMISES

One should expect that a physician has the proper training, credentials and experience to provide the service you are seeking. One would expect a board-certified plastic surgeon to have gone through a broad and rigorous training program, to have adequate surgical experience, and to have passed both written and oral objective testing. Further, one would expect that the surgeon has met certain ethical standards as required by the particular specialty. (The American Society of Plastic Surgeons enforces one of the most rigorous ethical codes in the medical profession.)
 

PITFALLS

  • Any physician may call himself/herself a plastic surgeon or cosmetic surgeon with training.
  • In most states, including Texas, any physician may perform any procedure in his/her office without peer scrutiny. There are no training requirements. And there is no requirement that the physician be a trained surgeon. American Society of Plastic Surgeons
  • A physician may claim to be board-certified simply by joining a sound-a-like organization. In fact, this has made the public understanding of board certification so difficult, that it has become necessary to use the American Society of Plastic Surgery name and logo to distinguish those surgeons certifies by the American Board of Plastic Surgery from all the rest!

OUR APPROACH:

All of the plastic surgeons at North Dallas Plastic Surgery are board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and members in good standing in the American Society of Plastic Surgery . All our surgeons have hospital privileges at several local hospitals to perform all of the procedures that are offered in our accredited office surgical suite.

We feel that obtaining information about credentials and hospital privileges must be part of your decision to select a particular surgeon. Other factors that one should consider are the surgeon's reputation, referrals by physicians or friends and - most importantly - one's comfort level and confidence in the surgeon. One can only determine this after a consultation with the physician personally. It is our firm belief that any surgeon performing office surgery should have hospital privileges to perform that procedure. Additionally, one should always consider a second opinion.
 

OVERVIEW: BOARD CERTIFICATION EXPLAINED

The American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) is a membership organization consisting 97% of all Surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and only ABPS surgeons. The ASPS provides members with postgraduate medical education, public education, and promotes patient safety and member ethics.

  


The ASPS symbol

The one medical board-certifying agency that you can rely upon is the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and its sub-boards. This is the board that OVERSEES the certification of physicians in all specialties.

"The intent of the certification of physicians is to provide assurance to the public that a physician specialist certified by a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has successfully completed an approved educational program and an evaluation process which includes an examination designed to assess the knowledge, skills, and experience required to provide quality patient care in that specialty."
Quoted from the ABMS Assembly

The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) is the specialty board accredited by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) that certifies plastic surgeons. The ABPS is the only one of the 24 boards approved by the ABMS that certifies surgeons in plastic surgery of the face and all areas of the body.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) requires ABPS certification for membership. ASPS oversees continuing medical education, practice standards and ethics.

Medical specialty certification must be differentiated from a physician's ability to designate a special area of interest. This practice, used by the American Medical Association and many local medical societies, is known as a "self-designated specialty."

For example in Table I, to the right, there is a breakdown of the membership of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS).

Notes:

  • More than 25% of AACS are dermatologists - a medical but not a surgical specialty.
  • Nearly 25% are boarded by a dental specialty.

Source: Cosmetic Surgery Times, Vol. 6, Number 2, March 2003.

  
Table I. The Cosmetic Make-up:
Medical discipline of AACS
member practices
Dermatology
27.5%
Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery
23.8%
Plastic/Reconstructive
16.9%
Ophthalmology
9.0%
Otolaryngology
7.9%
Otorhinolaryngology
5.8%
General Surgery
5.8%
OB/GYN
4.8%
Family Practice
1.6%
Emergency Medicine
1.6%
Internal Medicine
0.5%
Other
7.9%

How do you find out which doctor is board certified?
You can check on specific physicians through the American Board of Medical Specialties Website at www.abms.org and then click on "Who's Certified." Verbal verification is available through the ABMS toll-free telephone service by calling 866 ASK-ABMS (275-2267). Verification is available in The Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists, published annually. The directory can be found in many medical and public libraries. Written verification is available by contacting the individual specialty board in the physician's field of practice.

Hospital Privileges

Major hospitals are very diligent in credentialing surgeons for privileges to perform specific procedures. Furthermore, in a hospital setting, surgeons are subject to peer review (case reviews), which enforces acceptable standards. Any hospital medical staff office can provide this information.

 
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Offices of Drs. Harlan Pollock and Todd Pollock
8305 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 210
Dallas, TX 75231
(214) 363-2575
1105 North Central Expressway, Suite 2310
Medical Offices 2, Allen, TX 75013
(214) 509-0270
Dallas Map: Across from
Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas
Allen Map: In the
Presbyterian Hospital of Allen complex

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