What Type of Training is Required to Perform Liposuction?
By George Solomon | Published on April 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Dr. George Solomon a cosmetic surgeon in practice at AgeLess MediSpa in Port Orange, Florida. Thanks to his previous experience as an aviation medical doctor, Solomon has gained enough expertise and skill to be admitted to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, the International Medical Spa Association, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, among other organizations. Here, he explains what type of training a physician needs to perform liposuction and other cosmetic procedures.
Unlike a number of other medical fields, the American Board of Medical Specialty has yet to recognize a specific board that governs the field of cosmetic surgery.
Of course, we do have organizations for plastic surgeons and we have organizations for dermatologists, but neither of those groups is specifically focused on the cosmetic aspects of those specialties.
The group that governs the specialty of dermatology has focused most of its resources on dealing with medical dermatology conditions — things like psoriasis, basal cell carcinoma, and other types of skin cancer — rather than the cosmetic procedures that many dermatologists now perform.
At the same time, the organization that certifies plastic surgeons isn’t entirely focused on the cosmetic industry, either, since that organization deals mostly with reconstructive surgery on patients who have gotten second-degree burns and need skin grafting, or surgeries for people who have cancer and need to have that cancer removed, or even if a woman needs to have breast reconstruction or facial reconstruction due to an accident. These are all the types of things that the American Board of Plastic Surgery is concerned with.
But as you’ll notice, none of those things I mentioned above have much, if anything, to do with the cosmetic procedures that most men and women are looking to have done these days. With the wave of cosmetic procedures — and especially with the invention of injections, fillers, collagen, and all these other new techniques that are available — the medical boards have struggled to keep up.
People don’t realize it, but the field of cosmetic medicine is still fairly new, and it didn’t really take off until 2002. From the years 2002 until around 2007, each medical specialty group was trying to claim the cosmetic medicine or cosmetic surgery fields as their own. However, even now there is still really no approved board for cosmetic surgery that all qualified cosmetic surgeons fall under and belong to.
There is the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons, of course, and there is the American Society of Aesthetic Medicine, as well. There are a handful of these groups, and some of them are respectable and good organizations. However, none of these groups has a board examination that is approved by the ABMS (the American Board of Medical Specialties) for physicians to take before gaining admittance to the specialty.
Because of that, it can be tricky for patients who are looking for a qualified doctor to perform their basic cosmetic procedures such as liposuction or breast augmentation.
If I were a patient looking for a surgeon to handle this for me, I would probably be looking for a person who at least belongs to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, even though he doesn’t have a board certification that is approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties.
The reason I say this is because even at the very least, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery provides extensive training for most of their physicians, and in order to become a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery you have to have performed at least a minimum number of these procedures before. The organization also offers many workshops and preceptorships that serve as a way for its members to gain new skills and learn new techniques.
Additionally, another respected group that exists is called the American Academy of Liposuction Surgery. This is a similar organization to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, and once again it is a reputable organization that I recommend patients look for their surgeon to belong to. Basically, patients should look for a doctor who belongs to at least one reputable organization, because that is a signal that this physician has done a number of these types of cosmetic procedures previously. It also never hurts to ask to see some before and after photos of the surgeon’s work, because these pictures will give you an idea of just how many cases the surgeon has done and how good his work appears to be. After looking through the photos, I finally recommend that patients ask their surgeons specifically how many liposuction procedures they have done, whether they have any previous patients whose results they can see, and other questions like that — all of which are intended to dig down and just make sure that the surgeon you are speaking to has the right amount of knowledge and experience performing the procedure you are planning to undergo.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Tags: liposuction, training
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