What does it mean to be Board Certified?
In the United States there is a governing body of medical specialties: the American Board of Medical Specialties. There are 24 specialties that have a Board registered with the ABMS. One of those specialties is Plastic Surgery. In order to practice medicine or surgery a doctor simply needs a state license but to be Board Certified in a specialty requires much more training, testing and maintenance of your education.
You can be confident that a Board Certified doctor has achieved the HIGHEST level of training as well as demonstrated the HIGHEST level of ethical integrity. A Board Certified doctor also keeps up with the latest in medical innovation and knowledge because in order to keep their certification they must continue to learn and take tests to meet the demands of the governing Board.
Please take the time to research your doctor regardless of specialty (Plastic Surgery, Internal Medicine, Dermatology, etc.) to be sure they have the best training and ethical reliability by being Board Certified by a specialty that is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. You can check any doctor’s Board Certification status at the following website as well as learn more about the importance of Board Certification:
http://www.certificationmatters.orgThe American Board of Medical Specialties is the ONLY official body that manages specialty boards. There are other bodies that award doctors “Board Certification” but they are not recognized by the ABMS. Ask your doctor by what Board are they certified and if it is a member of the ABMS. If you have any doubts you can always check with the link above and always look for the Starmark logo.
