What’s Wrong With Today’s Plastic Surgery Residencies?

Cosmetic plastic surgery has a dilemma in that most of the training programs in plastic surgery are not spending enough time in the training and maturation of competent cosmetic surgeons. 

Unfortunately, almost all the residencies of plastic surgery are conducted at universities where the emphasis is on reconstructive – not cosmetic – surgery.  University budgets are not adequate to support residency training for procedures where there is no insurance reimbursement.  And patients are reluctant to go to universities because they understand that surgeries are done by surgeons -in -training and not by experienced practitioners. 

The answer is that doctors who wish to practice cosmetic surgery must take additional training after the residencies and even after achieving board certification.  Because most of the residencies emphasize the reconstructive arm of cosmetic surgery and not the cosmetic arm of cosmetic surgery, it behooves those who wish to practice solely cosmetic surgery to take additional training in the form of a fellowship which is an apprenticeship beside an experienced practitioner.

 A  wonderful way to learn and well worth the extra time and effort.