Training of Plastic Surgeons

For an individual to be considered as a “fully trained” plastic surgeon, he or she should undergo specific formal training in the field of plastic surgery, in addition to having completed their education at a respected and accredited medical school.

In the United States of America a residency in the field of plastic surgery should be at least two years in length. This residency should only be granted to an individual after he or she completes all prerequisite surgical training such as a minimum four to five year surgical residency in another field of speciality or in general surgical techniques. However, it would not say much for a surgeon to have three years of surgical training if all three years were in different fields of speciality and all at the first year level. Having multiple years of progressive training is an important factor in the training of a plastic surgeon.

This means that a qualified surgeon should have a bare minimum of six or seven years of additional training after graduation from medical school. Plastic surgery should be considered a serious discipline just like any other area of surgical speciality. The same knowledge of human anatomy is required of competent plastic surgeons just like any other surgical discipline. The same risks also apply in regards to anesthesia as with any type of surgical procedure.

Unfortunately it is legal for physicians to practice as plastic surgeons without the training mentioned above. It wasn’t until recent years that hospitals began requiring formal residency training for plastic surgeons on their staffs. Physicians may still practice plastic surgery privately without having completed anything close to a five year residency training in plastic surgery or in some cases without residency training in any area of surgical speciality. That is not to say that such individuals are not good doctors or even good plastic surgeons, but when considering plastic surgery for any reason one should be aware of the level of training each surgeon he or she is considering has completed. Weekend courses and other short term programs do not make competent plastic surgeons. This is not to say that such training programs aren’t good for plastic surgeons to take, but they should not be the only medical and/or surgical education that an individual surgeon has completed.