which board membership is best qualification? American board of plastic surgey??

[letsfixthis]

Which is the best board to belong to?

American board of plastic surgery
American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
American Board of Cosmetic Surgery
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

They all sound almost the same but I think some are a lot more difficult to belong some of them over others.

Can anyone in the industry let us know the difference?

Thanks

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Gyne surgery is complicated and it is best to seek a fully trained and board certified plastic surgeon for your operation.  Most plastic surgeons first train in general surgery and then sub-specialize in plastic surgery.  This is a lengthy and grueling process of education and training, followed by rigorous written and then oral exams by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  Upon successful completion of the exams, a doctor may be called a "diplomate" of the ABPS (also called "board certified").

For example, I did four years of medical school and then four years of training in general surgery and then three years of training in plastic surgery -- a total of eleven years of education and training after college!  And then I passed the Board exams to become a Diplomate.

Once one is board certified, one may apply to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, whose membership consists entirely of Board certified plastic surgeons.  If a surgeon does mostly cosmetic surgery, then he may apply to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery -- but Board certification is also a requirement for this society.

Thus, certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the entry into ASPS and ASAPS.  If you locate a surgeon who is certified by the ABPS or a member of ASPS or ASAPS, you can be assured of his credentials.

There are only about 20 boards which are recognized by the AMA, and the ABPS is one of them.  However, there are some other boards, created by doctors only and with no AMA recognition, that have been created to help "legitimize" some doctors who have not done the full training in plastic surgery that would qualify for the ABPS.  Among these boards is the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, which is open to any doctor of any specialty who simply states that he does a lot of cosmetic surgery.  Thus, one can be a dermatologist, gynecologist or anything else and belong to this board.  Oftentimes, these doctors advertise themselves as "board certified" but they do not state which board they are certified in.  I certainly would not want a dermatologist doing my gyne surgery!

The American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a similar non-AMA accredited board, which was founded by Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons who wanted to do cosmetic surgery of the head and neck.  While these surgeons may have expertise in surgery of the head and neck, they lack specific training for surgery below the neck, including breast (gyne) surgery.  I certainly would not want an ENT surgeon doing my gyne surgery either!

Yes, all these boards are confusing, but I hope I have helped to clear the waters for you.  One more thing:  experience in performing gyne surgery is extremely important.  As stated previously, this is difficult surgery and even board certified plastic surgeons can have problems doing it.  Certification by the ABPS is a good starting point to look for -- but experience is also a major factor to be sought.

Good luck!

Dr Jacobs

[letsfixthis]

Gyne surgery is complicated and it is best to seek a fully trained and board certified plastic surgeon for your operation.  Most plastic surgeons first train in general surgery and then sub-specialize in plastic surgery.  This is a lengthy and grueling process of education and training, followed by rigorous written and then oral exams by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  Upon successful completion of the exams, a doctor may be called a "diplomate" of the ABPS (also called "board certified").

For example, I did four years of medical school and then four years of training in general surgery and then three years of training in plastic surgery -- a total of eleven years of education and training after college!  And then I passed the Board exams to become a Diplomate.

Once one is board certified, one may apply to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, whose membership consists entirely of Board certified plastic surgeons.  If a surgeon does mostly cosmetic surgery, then he may apply to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery -- but Board certification is also a requirement for this society.

Thus, certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the entry into ASPS and ASAPS.  If you locate a surgeon who is certified by the ABPS or a member of ASPS or ASAPS, you can be assured of his credentials.

There are only about 20 boards which are recognized by the AMA, and the ABPS is one of them.  However, there are some other boards, created by doctors only and with no AMA recognition, that have been created to help "legitimize" some doctors who have not done the full training in plastic surgery that would qualify for the ABPS.  Among these boards is the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, which is open to any doctor of any specialty who simply states that he does a lot of cosmetic surgery.  Thus, one can be a dermatologist, gynecologist or anything else and belong to this board.  Oftentimes, these doctors advertise themselves as "board certified" but they do not state which board they are certified in.  I certainly would not want a dermatologist doing my gyne surgery!

The American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a similar non-AMA accredited board, which was founded by Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons who wanted to do cosmetic surgery of the head and neck.  While these surgeons may have expertise in surgery of the head and neck, they lack specific training for surgery below the neck, including breast (gyne) surgery.  I certainly would not want an ENT surgeon doing my gyne surgery either!

Yes, all these boards are confusing, but I hope I have helped to clear the waters for you.  One more thing:  experience in performing gyne surgery is extremely important.  As stated previously, this is difficult surgery and even board certified plastic surgeons can have problems doing it.  Certification by the ABPS is a good starting point to look for -- but experience is also a major factor to be sought.

Good luck!

Dr Jacobs

Thank you Dr. Jachobs, that information really helped clear things up a great deal for me. I can't thank you enough. I had no idea what a difficult undertaking receiving a American Board of Plastic Surgery certification was for an already medical doctor.

I feel that anyone reading your response will be armed with the correct information to keep from being fooled from one of the non-recognized AMA boards which may allow a dermatologist to appear to be on equal level as someone who has spent years of additional rigorous training past medical school as well as various test they had to pass.  

I can see how the average person could be fooled by the " board certified" credentials without understanding which board and what exactly that means.

It is too bad there is not a subcategory for gynecomastia correct surgery since even many trained professional board certified surgeons have difficultly with this procedure. I guess that would make it too easy on the patient.

Please tell me, during your training in medical school, as well as the various other credentials, did they never talk about how to perform gynecomastia surgery?

The reason I ask is various American board of Plastic surgery doctors all seem to have wildly various methods and technique of performing the same gynecomastia  surgery. It almost seems like they were taught general information about surgery but came to their own conclusions on how to perform the gynecomastia  surgery.

Thanks again for your help.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Please tell me, during your training in medical school, as well as the various other credentials, did they never talk about how to perform gynecomastia surgery?

Medical school prepares you to become a general doctor -- but not how to do surgery or gyne surgery in particular.

To my knowledge, it is only plastic surgery residency programs that teach gyne surgery.  As for the various techniques -- that is something that each individual surgeon adopts as his own.  He may observe various other surgeons do the procedure -- and then he will pick and choose what technique or sequence of techniques work best in his hands.  There is no "one" technique that is better than the others.  What really counts is the final result -- no matter what technique was utilized.

For example, Dr Bermant used to describe his technique as excision first, then fat flaps and then lipo to finesse the edges.  My technique is 100% opposite -- I do aggressive lipo first and then an excision of gland, frequently with fat flaps at the end to prevent craters.  Both techniques work and I dare say, if one technique was done on one side and the other technique on the other side (assuming a surgeon was skilled in both techniques), then one could probably not tell which technique was used on which side.

Dr Jacobs

[HellandBack]

Great read and great info nice posts. I got a question now Dr Jacobs, how the heck did you stay motivated to finish all that schooling? 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

I got a question now Dr Jacobs, how the heck did you stay motivated to finish all that schooling?

It was not easy.  You just persevere and keep your eye on the horizon.  The hard part is deferring some of life's simple pleasures -- such as having a baby because you work crazy hours and you simply cannot afford one.  During those seven years of training, I was "on call" every other night and every other weekend.  My "easy" week was 96 hours; my "hard" week was 116 hours.  Oh, I had two weeks of vacation per year!!  And the salary?  As an intern, I made $9500 for the year.  As a resident, my salary increased roughly $1500 per year.  In essence, it was a lot of hard work and deferral of rewards for the future. 

Residents now have it a bit easier.  They are on call every third night and their salaries are better, but by no means luxurious.  For example. a cab driver usually makes more than a surgical resident.

It's interesting:  my son is now in college and expects to graduate and immediately become a CEO with a very comfortable salary.  He has yet to meet the real world!

Dr Jacobs

[cduub]

Wow!!! Dr. Jacobs your the man!!!! It all paid off for the BEST Gynecomastia surgeon in the world!! Since ive been on this site you have always taken time out of your busy day to help us with our concerns and I just want to let you know I really appreciate it and Thank You.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

cduub

Thanks for the kind words -- much appreciated.

Dr Jacobs

[letsfixthis]

I got a question now Dr Jacobs, how the heck did you stay motivated to finish all that schooling?

It was not easy.  You just persevere and keep your eye on the horizon.  The hard part is deferring some of life's simple pleasures -- such as having a baby because you work crazy hours and you simply cannot afford one.  During those seven years of training, I was "on call" every other night and every other weekend.  My "easy" week was 96 hours; my "hard" week was 116 hours.  Oh, I had two weeks of vacation per year!!  And the salary?  As an intern, I made $9500 for the year.  As a resident, my salary increased roughly $1500 per year.  In essence, it was a lot of hard work and deferral of rewards for the future.  

Residents now have it a bit easier.  They are on call every third night and their salaries are better, but by no means luxurious.  For example. a cab driver usually makes more than a surgical resident.

It's interesting:  my son is now in college and expects to graduate and immediately become a CEO with a very comfortable salary.  He has yet to meet the real world!

Dr Jacobs

Experience is one thing but what you described is pure insanity. 116 hours a week in an profession where a small mistake could cost someone their lives, how is that even physical possible to work that many hours in a week? One can't help but wonder if human error could be decreased by having doctors who actually sleep.
$1,500 a year is all you got paid? There are people who never worked a day in their lives who make more than that a month in entitlements.
This sounds like a labor camp. I can't believe how long hours you had to work for such little pay.

It is a shame that a dermatologist belonging to non-AMA approved boards can portray themselves on the same level as an experienced surgeon specialist such as yourself with patients being none the wiser.  

I would also like to applaud you for the hard word and your dedication to helping people like me and other people on this message board.

Thank you once again.

[George Pope, M.D.]

This is a great thread, as Dr. Jacobs has educated readers on the legitimacy of board certification.  As he said, there are a number of illegitimate boards out there; that is, they are NOT recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

To recap:  American Board of Plastic Surgery - RECOGNIZED by ABMS
             
           American Board of Cosmetic Surgery - NOT RECOGNIZED by ABMS
           American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery - NOT RECOGNIZED by ABMS

So guys, do your homework.  Look for a plastic surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery. 

Dr. Pope, MD