Newport Beach Plastic Surgery | Dr. Hendrick's Blog

This week was a tough week for Board Certified Plastic Surgeons everywhere.

Two main news items took place:

The first, was Govenor Schwarzenegger signing legislation to allow oral surgeons to perform facelifts, rhinoplasty, brow-lifts and other cosmetic surgery procedures.

The second was a ruling by a judge in California to force the California Medical Board to grant equivalency to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. The ABCS is a group that has not been recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. The ABMS is the agency that regulates and certifies the different medical specialties, such as Psychiatry and Internal Medicine.

These groups have not been able to qualify through the traditional route of recognition through the American Medical Association and therefore have sought legal or legislative action to allow them selves to be considered "board-certified" and equal to true board-certified Plastic Surgeons.

Individuals that have chosen to pursue the training to become Board Certified plastic surgeons have chosen to be "The best of the best" and their training is typically as lengthy as neurosurgeons and cardiac surgeons. These other specialties, such as oral surgeons, that wish to claim equivalency have simply not spent the same amount of time dedicated to being the best.

Unfortunately for the public who seek someone with the best training, the term "Board Certification" has come to mean less and less, due in part, to these rulings.

I encourage every patient that expects experience, training and skill from their doctor, to look closely at the credentials before "signing-up".