Useful Criteria For Choosing A Physician For Cosmetic Procedures
There is no set method to choosing a physician. First and foremost, you must be comfortable with the person to whom you are trusting your face or other body part. The rest of the suggestions provided should be taken together as a whole to make your decision. No one factor is more important than another in determining a competent physician. Taken as a whole, they provide a good starting point to get the best results possible.
Board Certification
Training
Teach Faculty Appointment
Study Publications and Presentations
Hospital Credentialing
Ask another physician
Board certification can be a very tricky criteria. There are many boards which certify physicians. These can require rigid criteria for inclusion and retesting or may simply require a yearly enrollment. In addition, just because a doctor is board certified does not mean that they are up to date on the current trends in medicine. The main board certification comes from one of the member boards of the ABMS. These boards require both written and oral testing as well as some form of competency evaluation for surgeons. Recredentialing is required every 10 years. Other boards which are not members can also provide top rate credentialing.
First and foremost, be sure that your physician is trained in the procedure you are seeking. Having a facelift done by an emergency room physician is probably not the best option available. Training should include a formal program, not just a weekend lecture given by a commercial company.
Teaching appointments at medical schools can be a good way to find physicians who are dedicated to staying abreast of the latest in technology and trends. Some faculty are full time members of the medical school teaching system while others donate their time from their private practice to teach young doctors without pay.
Articles and presentations in peer reviewed journals and at national and international meetings can indicate a physician who has an interest in continuing education. For an article to be published in a peer reviewed journal, it must be approved by other medical doctors. These articles are of scientific value and indicate both a volume of patients necessary for a study and the effort of the physician to maintain timely techniques.
The ability to admit patients to the hospital is vital for any physician. Though not a criteria for obtaining a medical license, hospital admissions may be necessary if something untoward happens during a medical treatment. If your physician does not have admitting privileges at a local hospital, you may be forced to travel a long distance and be under the care of a physician you did not choose.
Obtaining a second opinion is never a bad idea. If you do not feel comfortable with the doctor you choose, consider obtaining a second consultation. There are very few if any procedures which are performed by only one surgeon.
These few criteria are meant as a starting point for selecting a physician. There are many other factors, both tangible and intangible, which go into the decision. The decision is not an easy one to make – but it is yours to make.
Dr. D.J. Verret is a facial plastic surgeon in Plano, Texas. Nothing here is to be construed as a substitute for evaluation by a physician. For a listing of web sites with best doctors and best doctors list .
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!