My doctor studied medicine and plastic surgery in South Africa. He's Board Certified in Plastic Surgery by the South African College of Medicine & the Medical Council of New Zealand. He's also Board Certified in General Surgery by the South African College of Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
He has over 20 years of experience and now works in Colorado. But for him to hold an American Board of Plastic Surgery certificate, he's required to have had surgery training completed in the USA. Am I taking a risk to have my Breast reduction with this doctor?
Certainly the situation you describe is unusual and the surgeon might be experienced and qualified. Generally, there will be many well qualified American Board of Plastic Surgery qualified surgeons in Colorado whom you can go to without this concern. Go with your gut instinct here.
In this particular case, I think you are probably in good shape, as long as you have access to some of his before and after photos as well as the ability to speak with some of his patients about their experience. I think in general, being Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is a good first step to selecting your plastic surgeon, but I agree that just because someone is Board-Certified does not mean they are by definition an exceptional breast surgeon. Also, overseas training is different in different countries, but certainly countries such as Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, among others, train some exceptional surgeons.
If you feel comfortable with him, and like his results, I think you will probably be ok; alternatively, You may want to seek a second opinion just to set your mind at ease.
Good luck!
Dr. Salemy
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