Where to check for a plastic surgeon's credentials & if there are any malpractice or complaints about a plastic surgeon?

Make sure your surgeon is a Double-Board Certified Plastic Surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), a member of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS).Best,Dr. DesaiBeverly Hills Institute for Aesthetic Plastic SurgeryHarvard Educated, Beverly Hills & Miami Beach TrainedDouble Board-Certified, Double Fellowship-Trained Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

Hello,Credentials: Board certification: abplasticsurgery.org; Society membership: surgery.org, plasticsurgery.org; complaints in CA: mbc.ca.gov.  For malpractice suit history, you'll need access to Lexus/nexus, which is free for attorneys.  Best of luck!

You can see if your plastic surgeon is board certified in plastic surgery on the American Board of Plastic Surgery website.

This is a really smart question, and I'm glad you are taking the time to research your doctors. The first step is finding out if the surgeon is board certified by the appropriate board, and the only ABMS recognized board for plastic surgery is the American Board of Plastic Surgery. You can verify a surgeon by looking them up on the boards website. If they are not on there, look for another surgeon. If they are on there, an additional place to verify credentials is the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), which requires additional criteria on top of the Board, and a separate application process. You can also check if the surgeon is a member of the American College of Surgeons (usually surgeons who are members put "FACS" after their names, to signify they are also Fellow of the American College of Surgeons), which is also an entirely separate process of application and acceptance, and involves interviews etc.  Next, you can look at local hospitals to see which hospitals the surgeon has privileges at, and this is useful because each hospital has its own independent process to vet a surgeon, and check her/his credentials. Each surgeon also has to maintain these privileges by renewing each year. If you don't know which hospitals to check, you can typically find a list on each surgeons website, and go down the hospitals on the list. The most misleading place to search is the physicians own website, and I say this because everything on there is written by either the surgeon or someone working for the surgeon, and is meant to be a marketing tool. For example, just because a surgeon himself calls himself world-renowned, does not mean he is world-renowned. That would be more valid if you saw a bunch of other sources calling the surgeon that, rather than the surgeon himself. Regarding TV appearances, some networks or shows do a comprehensive search and seek out leaders in the field, but generally speaking, TV appearances are more a reflection of marketing skill, trendiness of a given procedure or name, and strong TV presence rather than surgical skill or expertise.  Next, you can search reviews but do this with a grain of salt. Some offices offer discounts to patients who write a positive review, so they are not necessarily an honest unbiased account. Some competitors may also write negative reviews, skewing the reviews in the opposite way. Some reviews are not about the physician at all, and may be low due to the hassle of traffic or parking, or something else that does not reflect the true nature of the doctor. In reality, every surgeon has happy patients and unhappy patients, but hopefully the unhappy ones are few and far between. Asking another doctor for a referral is also a good method, since this is an additional level of support. Regarding researching complaints, you can check the Medical Board of California's website to find out if the surgeon has an active medical license, and see if there have been complaints. The above is a good starting point, but make sure you also look at the surgeons before and after photos to see if you like the work, and inquire if that surgeon will do the work herself/himself if you go to an office with more than one surgeon, or with doctors in training.

Dear alisonzahntech,you should make sure that you plastic surgeon is board-certified by American Board of Plastic Surgery. You can use realself website to check patient reviews and to see the ratings of every plastic surgeon. Finding the right Dr. is extremely challenging especially with the number of online platforms and resources available. There a lot of great Dr's available. Definitely check to make sure your choice specializes in the procedure you want and spend the time to read through patient testimonials. 
You can always pick up the phone and call around also, find an office you feel comfortable with and set up a few consultations. Daniel Barrett, MD, MHA, MS 
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery  
Member, Am. Society of Plastic Surgery

This is a great question, thanks for asking! You can start by checking on the American Board of Plastic Surgery’s website to see if yours is board-certified there. It can also be helpful to do a little digging around on his or her website for more information and possibly before and after photos. RealSelf is also a great resource to use to find testimonials from real people who have had experiences with that plastic surgeon in the past.

Thanks for this great question, I commend you on understanding the importance of looking for credentials.  You can check about Board Certification on the website of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and most Board Certified Surgeons  dislplay their Certification on their website.  Additionally, if a surgeon is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) or the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) you know that they are Board Certified as you cannot be a member of either of these Societies unless you are Board Certified and keep up ongoing CME (Continuing Medical Education).Feel free to check my site for the symbols associated with Board Certification, ASPS, and ASAPS so you know what to look for.As for malpractice seeing what the malpractice history of a doctor is, try contacting the state medical society for resources.  Keep in mind that ethical violations often result in loss of membership in ASPS and ASAPS so these members are usually rather trustworthy.Best wishes, Dr. L

Thank you for the important question. It is important because the decision of who does your procedure will be the most critical decision you make when it comes to concerns such as safety, achievement of the desired outcome, and ability to manage complications that may arise (even in the best of hands).
 My general recommendations are: make sure that your selected plastic surgeon is a board-certified plastic surgeon who can demonstrate significant experience achieving the types of outcomes you would be pleased with. *** I would also suggest that you ask to see lots of examples of his/her work and preferably speak/see patients who have had similar procedures done. Experience does matter.
Unfortunately, differentiating the credentials of the variety of physicians who wish to provide "cosmetic surgery" services, can be very confusing to patients. Also unfortunately, there is no strict regulation set up to protect the consumer by state or national medical regulatory organizations. Therefore, patients must take the responsibility to ask the question: what are you board-certified in?
The American Board of Plastic Surgery is the only board recognized by the American Board of medical specialties. Confirming that your surgeon is certified by the American Board of plastic surgeon is very important; this will assure you that your surgeon's undergone rigorous training, testing, and continued medical education necessary to become and remain board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. 
Plastic surgeons who are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery are then potential candidates to join the American Society of Plastic Surgery and/or the Aesthetic Society of Plastic Surgery. These societies will have lists of their plastic surgeon members; these lists may be helpful when patients are seeking a board-certified plastic surgeon. Again, in the process of selecting a plastic surgery I also encourage patients to ask to SEE lots of examples of their work AND preferably speak/see patients who have had similar procedures done.
 
Best wishes.

Dear allisonzahntech,
Thank you for yopur question.  All Plastic Surgeons that are members of the American Society of Plastic Surgery are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  You should restrict your consultatons to ASPS member surgeons.  I would encourage you to check the surgeons website as well.  The National Practioner Data Bank has information on legal action against surgeons.  None of these sites guarantees good, ethical work by the surgeon, but it is the best place to start.  Have a list of questions ready during your consult.  Price is obviously a considertion for everyone, but it shouldn't be the be all and end all; be comfortable with your surgeon.
Hopw this helps
James Sheridan, MD

You can check to see if your plastic surgeon is board-certified by visiting the website of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  Most state medical boards list disciplinary actions and recent malpractice history of doctors in the state