Did You Know

In most states, a doctor licensed to practice medicine may practice in any specialty, with no requirement for education, training, certification, or experience in that specialty. That's right: a doctor with training in dermatology may perform heart surgery, a doctor with training in gynecology may practice psychiatry, and any doctor, from a neurologist to a foot surgeon, may perform plastic surgery. And the unfortunate fact is that many do. What is worse, the public, for the most part, has no idea about the background of the physician performing their procedure.

The Answer

In order to ensure that the public receives the best health care possible from the most qualified doctors, the medical profession has organized itself by specialty to set standards of education, training, and experience appropriate to each specialty. This has been done through the creation of Boards of Medical Specialties, including Plastic Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery.

The Board

Lifestyle Lift® offices recognize only three Boards as qualified to certify plastic surgeons specializing in the facial area: The American Board of Plastic Surgery, the American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery, and the American Board of Otolaryngology Facial Plastic Surgery. These boards have the most stringent requirements for certification in plastic surgery of any organization that certifies these surgeons. A plastic surgeon or facial plastic surgeon certified by one of these Boards has graduated from an accredited medical school and has completed at least five years of additional training as a resident surgeon. Additionally, the doctor has successfully completed comprehensive written and oral examinations to become Board certified or Board eligible. Only these physicians can call themselves plastic or facial plastic surgeons. Be aware of surgeons calling themselves "cosmetic surgeons".

The Others

A number of other unrecognized "Boards" certify doctors in cosmetic surgery. However, these organizations generally do not require a doctor to meet the stringent criteria established by the above Boards. Furthermore, these doctors can only refer to themselves as cosmetic surgeons, not plastic or facial plastic surgeons. In a cosmetic surgeon's office, you may be impressed by framed certificates and diplomas; however, you will not see a diploma from a training institution that has the words plastic surgery on it. Oftentimes, emergency room doctors, dermatologists, gynecologists, general surgeons, and other surgeons take "weekend courses" to receive a certificate in cosmetic surgery. Rest assured, at Lifestyle Lift®, all of our surgeons are facial plastic surgeons or general plastic surgeons. We never associate with cosmetic surgeons.