Choosing to have cosmetic surgery

Choosing to have cosmetic surgery is a very personal and important decision and so is selecting your surgeon. Board certification in the various medical sub-specialties is the professional benchmark among all physicians. But all board certifications are not equal when it comes to the highly specialized field of plastic surgery.

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is the only recognized agency that oversees the certification boards of medical sub-specialties such as plastic surgery. More than 100 "boards" have been submitted for ABMS approval, but only 24 have met the strict qualifying educational and examination criteria.

The American Board of Plastic Surgery is the only ABMS-approved board that oversees the training and certification of plastic surgeons. Dr. Garramone is a Diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

It's important that patients realize that certification by boards other than the American Board of Plastic Surgery does not ensure the physician has met the same rigorous qualification criteria set by the ABMS. The following boards have not been approved by the ABMS:

• Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
• Cosmetic Plastic Surgery
• Dermatologic Surgery
• Facial Cosmetic Surgery
• Plastic Aesthetic Surgery
• Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery

Accreditation by these unapproved boards should not be confused with plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and, by extension, the American Board of Medical Specialties.

You should consider certification by American Board of Medical Specialties as the benchmark among plastic surgeons. In fact, Dr. Garramone recommends that you contact the ABMS at Call 1-866-ASK-ABMS (275-2267) to see if the plastic surgeon you are considering is certified or you can visit www.abms.org and search by name or specialty. An informed decision is the best decision.