Should a doctor be cosmetic board certified or certified in plastic surgery? Which one is better when searching for best BBL?

For a BBL, the most important credential to verify in the United States is certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, or an equivalent plastic surgery board in another country. The phrase cosmetic board certified can mean different things, so it is worth checking the surgeon’s actual residency training, hospital privileges, accredited operating facility, anesthesia team, and experience with gluteal fat grafting.

BBL also has specific safety issues. Ask how the surgeon reduces risk, including fat placement only in the subcutaneous layer, whether ultrasound guidance is used, how blood clot prevention is handled, and how complications are managed. Consistent before-and-after photos and clear follow-up plans matter, but they should come after confirming training and safety standards.

Thank you for your question. I would suggest to be treated by board certified plastic surgeon with experience in this procedure, to get the best desired results.

Respectfully,
Dr. Emmanuel Mallol Cotes.-

Thank you for your question about locating a surgeon to perform a BBL.

To be sure, see two or more experienced, board-certified Plastic Surgeons in your area for a complete evaluation to make sure you are a good candidate and that it is safe for you to have surgery.

I hope this helps.

The American Board of Medical Specialties is a long-standing group that recognizes certain Specialties. They do not recognize a specialty of cosmetic surgery. That came many decades later when a group of various types of doctors wanted to present themselves to the public as "cosmetic surgeons". They can be Obstetricians, pulmonologists, Internal Medicine doctors or any doctor that does a weekend course and can apply to "the board of cosmetic surgery" to get a "certification". You should always ask what, if any , is there American Board of Medical Specialties certification. It is unusual for a board-certified plastic surgeon to call themselves a cosmetic surgeon. Search for an experienced board certified plastic surgeon. Good luck.

Hello @Skylard, thank you for your question. Although the titles of plastic surgeon and cosmetic doctor can be confusing, they are different. A plastic surgeon is trained to restore or reconstruct the appearance and function and has to do residence and complete more requirements in order to have his or her practice. In order to make the right decision for your surgery, it is crucial that you consult with a number of board certified plastic surgeons, get documentation about their work, ask for credentials and referrals, and decide on who you trust the most to carry out the surgery. Best wishes! Alan Gonzalez MD FACS

Dear Skylard,
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. Make sure he/she is a board-certified plastic surgeon. Definitely check to make sure your choice specializes in the procedure you want and spend the time to read through patient testimonials. There is a number of different sites where you can check for reviews (Realself, yelp, google, etc.).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
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Hi
What a great question. I will tell you that more importantly always research the doctors credentials and don't be fooled. IN my opinion you should be with only a board certified Plastic surgeon that is recognized by a certifying board and recognized by hospitals. The board of cosmetic surgery is not recognized by hospital staffs and the certification is no where near the same. Plastic surgeons like myself had to undergo 7 years of plastic surgery residency then had to take written exams and pass and oral examination and pass and chart review. I would recommend and strongly suggest you seek out a board certified plastic surgeon for your BBL. One who has experience in this risky procedure. I wish you the best of luck

A Board Certified Plastic Surgeon is guaranteed to have extensive experience in cosmetic, plastic, and reconstructive surgery - whereas a cosmetic surgeon may not. The best way to find out if your doctor is board certified is to look them up on Plasticsurgery.org. Good luck!

Skylard,
There is no right or wrong answer. Generally speaking, Plastic Surgeons have more 'required' training and are tested by specific plastic surgery boards prior to becoming board certified in plastic surgery. My training required 5 years of general surgical residency followed by 2 years of plastic surgery fellowship training. Cosmetic surgeons may be board certified in their specialty( i.e.: Gyn, ER, Dermatology, Psychiatry) but not be enrolled in a 2 or 3 year formal plastic surgery fellowship nor are they board certified in Plastic Surgery.
I would search for a board certified plastic surgeon, ask for actual untouched before and after photos and review their Realself account for ratings and patient reviews.
Read Dr. Mats Hagstroms answer as well

The American Board of medical specialties overseas formal residency training in the United States including all of the various Medical Board‘s.Since there is no residency in cosmetic surgery there is no formal board certification in cosmetic surgery. cosmetic surgery is primarily taught during plastic surgery residencies and some cosmetic surgical procedures may be taught in other residencies including ear nose and throat and dermatology.There is no monopoly on starting an organization and the right to congregate and form groups is protected by the constitution.The American Board of cosmetic surgery has no affiliation with any academic institution or recognized formal residency program.It simply requires board certification in any specialty and paying your annual dues and you get a fancy big diploma that looks very official.You would think the majority of the members of the American Board of cosmetic surgery it would be plastic surgeons but that is not true. I don’t think the organization has a single board-certified plastic surgeon in their membership. All of the doctors in the organization called the American Board of cosmetic surgery did their training in fields unrelated to plastic surgery. This includes the full gamut such as emergency medicine, OB/GYN, anesthesiology, pathology etc. etc. it is not illegal so who am I to call it a fake board.It is not recognized by any university or formal residency training program.It is only recognized by its owner members who want a piece of the action of non-insurance cash surgery and are willing to forgo the training necessary to become competent and instead decided it’s OK to just experiment on people until you figure it out. medicine cannot be limited in terms of scope of practice because of anti-competition laws.It is therefore legal for any doctor to perform any operation. This means that pediatricians can do heart transplant surgeries legally.I would highly recommend sticking exclusively to doctors were board-certified by the American Board of plastic surgery only.Other things to look for is if the doctor has privileges in a local hospital to perform the procedure they are offering you there. typically these doctors cannot get privileges in a hospital because they lack formal residency training in cosmetic surgery.Getting hospital privileges requires that you have formal proper education in the procedures you are requesting to perform.Delivering consistent high-quality liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe in this is true for both patients and plastic surgeons. Most plastic surgeons think they are better at liposuction than they actually are. Liposuction and fat transfer has more variance or difference in outcome purely based on who does the procedure than any other surgical procedure I’ve ever seen. Being board-certified in plastic surgery with an overall good reputation is not sufficient to guarantee that somebody has mastered body contouring with liposuction and fat transfer. Personally I view the torso as a single anatomic unit and either treated the entire torso or don’t do Liposuction. There are of course exceptions but for the most part I believe in treating the entire torso. A full torso includes upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles all the way down to the hip dips, waist, the entire back and under arm area all the way to the side of the breast. this leaves people with a natural thin fat distribution without transition zones between treated and entrteded areas. I’ve viewed the BBL as an enhancement to body contouring creating an ideal feminine S-curve that goes from the armpit to the knee. I did not emphasize a large buttocks with liposuction of the outer thigh creating a big round butt on the small leg which I sometimes called the “lollipop look”. Instead I emphasize long smooth harmonious curves creating a slightly hyper feminized balanced figure. To find the most talented and experienced provider in your community I suggest having multiple in person consultations. I do not recommend patients travel for elective surgical procedures and I recommend patients whenever possible avoid virtual consultations. During in person consultations ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures of BBL results. Always confirm that after pictures were taken at least three months from the time of surgery. anybody who shows early postoperative pictures such as pictures with patients still showing surgical drawings on them, being in the operating room or any evidence of recently having had surgery should be immediately discounted as showing “.fake news”. Early fat transfer results can look very impressive but do not at all represent final results. Ask the provider to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes. Specifically ask each provider to show as many pictures as possible‘s of patients who have similar body characteristics to your own. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you a minimum of 50+ sets of before and after pictures. Simply seeing a handful of pre-selected sample pictures which in reality most likely represent the best results of that providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like for that provider. Highly experienced providers will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures and should be willing to give you access during the consultation to see as many pictures as possible. If somebody claims to of done a lot of surgery but doesn’t have a lot of before and after pictures then you should ask yourself why? Do not commit to surgery or pay a down payment during the time of consultation until you’ve finished all your consultations and have given yourself plenty of time to think about your decision. The results from these procedures are permanent and irreversible. When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations. Finally I recommend patients read all reviews on all various physician review websites avoiding providers for any significant number of justified negative reviews. The absence of justified negative reviews is more important and more telling and having an abundance of positive reviews. Plastic surgeons with the biggest social media profiles are not necessarily any more talented than those who have no websites at all. Famous or likable does not equal talented. Find the right plastic surgeon and everything falls into place. Good luck, Mats Hagstrom MD