who performs breast surgery?

Who Performs Breast Surgery?

Incredibly, cosmetic breast surgery can be carried out by virtually any medical doctor irrespective of specialty. A physician or health care provider doesn’t have to be trained in cosmetic breast augmentation surgery or even plastic surgery to be able to offer these types of procedures to individuals. For instance, any physician can buy breast implants and put them into a woman’s body, if they have access to the required equipment and facility in order to do this.


Unfortunately, there is at present no legal way to restrict doctors from undertaking certain kinds of medical surgical procedures, irrespective of expertise or training. As a patient, you should know who is qualified to carry out cosmetic breast surgery and plastic surgical procedures of the breast. You need to take the initiative to check and understand the levels of experience, satisfactory training and board-certification credentials that directly relate to the operation you are thinking of having or perhaps that will have been recommended by your doctor, for you. Then, and only then should you start to consider a medical physician who is qualified to perform your breast augmentation surgery.


Generally speaking, there are two groups of board-certified doctors who conduct cosmetic breast surgery: general surgeons and plastic surgeons. Board certification* is actually recognized by no only, nationally but also internationally, accepted specifications. In America, the presiding organization is the American Board of Medical Specialties To attain these credentials, physicians are required to go through very complex and thorough training processes in a field that can take many years following graduation from the school of medicine, and entails both written and spoken examinations, plus to hours of further education after certification.


In the USA, the American Board of Medical Specialties (www.abms.org) is the parent organization associated with 24 accredited medical specialty boards, including both surgery as well as plastic surgery. The purpose of the (ABMS) certification of medical professionals is to give assurance and confidence to the general public that those doctors certified by an ABMS Member Board have completed an recognized training course, successfully along with an assessment process evaluating their ability to offer good quality patient treatment in their specific niche. In Canada, board-certification is identified and granted by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada (www.rcpsc.medical.org).


Board-Certified Plastic Surgeons

Virtually any surgical treatment or procedure to the breast, with the exception of those carried out purely to identify breast disease, is performed appropriately and correctly by a board-certified plastic surgeon. Breast augmentation surgery, lift, reduction, and also reconstruction, in addition to any medical procedure to reinstate or improve the shape or look of the breast must only be carried out by a board-certified plastic surgeon. Plastic surgery is actually the only medical specialty which requires training in accredited surgical residency specific to surgical treatments that may bring back or improve the breast shapet.


Just one board recognized by the ABMS can certify a plastic surgeon, and that is The American Board of Plastic Surgery (www.abplsurg. Org). Medical physicians holding ABPS certification are, exclusively, the only physicians to hold the title “plastic surgeon” appropriately, and as such they can carry out plastic surgery, no only to the face, but to the entire body,which includes the breasts.. Doctors with board certification in other areas of expertise are not usually accredited to perform all forms of breast surgery procedures, specifically plastic surgery procedures to the breasts.


Board-Licensed Surgeons

Qualified suppliers of those particular busts surgery procedures which are restricted to diagnosing or managing breast disease are usually “general” surgeons certified from the American Board of Surgery (www.absurgery.org). The board defines these physicians as having:

“the training, knowledge, and experience related to the diagnosis, preoperative, operative, and postoperative management, including the management of complications, in the essential content areas.”

Board certification within surgery is composed of experience and knowledge, as well as training in:


  • Surgical oncology (surgery aimed at treating cancer)
  • Biopsy processes for breast cancer
  • Diagnostic ultrasonography for the breast
  • Stereotactic breast biopsy strategies including advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI)
  • Core needle biopsy and mammotome methods


* Board-eligible providers who have not completed their written and spoken examinations, can be considered to be qualified providers of cosmetic breast surgery. If and when you consult with a physician who has not yet been board certified, you should ask that physician when his or her board certification is due. You should also question a physician if he or she has finished their training some time (even years) earlier, and is not yet board-certified. Or just simply, choose another physician.


Are these the only credentials to consider when choosing a physician?

Looking at board certification is a great place to begin; nevertheless, in no way is board certification the only qualification to consider. Beyond board certification, you should consider the surgeon’s particular specialized training and knowledge as well as experience in undertaking a given surgical procedure.


In addition, even though an operation or procedure may be carried out within a physician’s office-based surgical clinic or an outpatient medical center, you have to make sure that a medical doctor is authorised to do that exact same procedure or operation in a nearby, accredited hospital or even within a full-service medical facility.


Any Doctor who works on the staff of a hospital or medical facility, and who has rights, also known as ‘privileges’ to perform particular plastic surgery procedures as well as breast surgery procedures, at an accredited medical center, has had their training, qualifications and credentials reviewed by that hospital’s or medical center’s board of medical specialists prior to being given such privileges.


Useful Websites to Access Important Information Relating to Breast Surgery:

The following internet sites offer definitions associated with board certification. All websites, other than the American Board of Surgery can help to verify a physician’s board accreditation within the relevant field of expertise.


American Board of Medical Specialties: www.abms.org

American Board of Plastic Surgery: www.abplsurg.org

Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada: www.rcpsc medicine.org

American Board of Surgery: www.absurgery.org