How do I choose the right plastic surgeon?

Choosing the right surgeon is a very individual decision but an important one that needs careful research and consideration. Not only is it essential that your surgeon is fully trained, qualified and registered as a plastic surgeon, but you feel comfortable with them, they thoroughly assess you, explain everything in detail, understand what your goals and expectations are, they are available for you at all times during the surgical journey and ultimately, care about you and achieving the best outcome possible for you.

A surgeon is someone who is qualified to perform invasive surgical procedures. They have studied specialist surgery for a minimum of five years and have at least twelve years of total medical and surgical education. Surgeons are Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) or equivalent, and have undergone intensive training to perform invasive surgical procedures. A FRACS (Plast) member has studied and trained in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for a minimum of five years after medical school. FRACS is the standard qualification required in Australia to perform surgery in private and public hospitals.Doctors with only a MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery) degree are not surgeons. They are not trained for invasive surgical procedures. However in Australia surgically unqualified doctors are also allowed to perform cosmetic surgery. To ensure your surgeon is fully qualified and has extensive surgical training, patients should make sure their surgeon is a FRACS. All Australian Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) members are FRACS and uphold the highest standard in plastic surgery.All Members of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons are distinguished by these unique attributes:

• Members are bona fide specialist plastic surgeons who are in full-time plastic surgery practice.
  
• Members have undertaken a minimum of 12 years education and training.
  
• Members have undertaken at least 7 years of training after the completion of medical school.
  
• The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery training program requires a minimum of 5 years specialist Surgical Education and Training.
  
• Members hold a Fellowship of the  Royal Australasian College of Surgeons(FRACS Plast) or its equivalent.
  
• The Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) is an award, fully accredited by the Australian Medical Council which is the only body authorised by the Commonwealth Government to certify all medical training.
  
• ASPS is authorised by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to administer post graduate surgical training programs for the specialty of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
  
• ASPS promotes research in the specialty of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
  
• Medicare Australia recognises all ASPS members as specialist plastic surgeons. 
  

The internet can be a good source of information, but can also be fraught with danger, so my advice is to seek out a few surgeons from reliable sources such as the websites of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons www.plasticsurgery.org.au

I would also recommend that you go to as many consultations as you can and see how thorough the surgeon is with their assessment of you and how much time they put into explaining the surgery to you in detail and answering all of your questions. You should ask them if they are a plastic surgeon and what their qualifications are, who they are registered with, which hospital are they accredited at for performing the surgery and how much experience they have and examine their preoperative and postoperative pictures. Where possible, ask the surgeon for patients who they can speak to who have had surgery with the surgeon to find out for yourself from the patient a true testimonial.

At the end of the day, deciding to have cosmetic surgery is a significant decision and it is so important you are happy with the choice of surgeon.

Dr Nguyen has provided a very detailed answer centred around surgical training, and the safety that comes with selecting a Specialist Plastic Surgeon.

I'd like to add particular emphasis to a point that was brought up in her first paragraph - you should feel comfortable with the surgeon. After checking their training, and speaking to a patient or two, you need to get to know the surgeon at your first consultation.

You need to feel that they know what they are doing, they care about your outcome, and will be there to sort out any problems that can occur (which do happen from time to time). “The World's Best Surgeon” that has the personality of an ant might be a good choice for a horrendous cancer that needs treating, but is a poor choice for a plastic surgeon whom will be performing cosmetic procedures on you.

This is an interesting quesion and one that is not as clear for non medical people to discern through various "cosmetic surgeons" without fomral surgical training, qualification or self proclaimed experts.

It is pretty simple however, a look into their training and background usually calrifies the issues. 

Plastic surgery requires surgical training, and obtaining FRACS(Plast) from the Royal Australian College of Surgeons after training and examination. 

Beyond this basic training if you are considering any procedures, you should look into your sugeon's background and inquire if they have had specific post training fellwoships for in various subspcialty fields for example, cosmetic, microsurgery, paediatric, craniofacial or other related fields.  

I hope this has helped.