How to Become a Plastic Surgeon

Plastic surgeons are the Hollywood stars of surgical specialists. However, becoming a plastic surgeon is a long and challenging process. But if you put in the hard work, you will be rewarded handsomely in one of the highest paid surgical specialities around.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Preparing for a Medical Career

1. Investigate medicine as a career. Be sure that you are passionate about the field and that you are willing to put in long hours.

2. Discuss a medical career with counselors at your high school as well as advisors at colleges and universities where you plan to apply.

3. Find out what college courses are a prerequisite for medical school. Include them in your 4-year college curriculum.

4. Take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

5. Investigate medical schools. Include schools of osteopathic medicine. Doctors of osteopathy (DOs) have all the same rights and privileges as doctors of medicine (MDs).

6. In your senior year of college, apply for admission to the medical school of your choice and secure funding.

Becoming a Plastic Surgeon

7. Complete your third year clinical rotations before choosing a specialty.

8. Investigate plastic surgery through its governing board, the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

9. Consider serving a rotation or externship with a plastic surgeon.

10. Investigate the two different pathways for becoming a plastic surgeon. Decide if you want to pursue the independent model, a 3-year general surgical residency followed by another 3-year plastic surgery residency, or the integrated model, a 6- or 7-year residency that includes all of your surgical training.

11. Enter the residency matching program for 3-year general surgery residencies if you have chosen the independent model. Enter the residency matching program for 6-year integrated plastic surgery residencies if you have chosen the integrated model.

12. Firm up job opportunities early in the last or next to last year of your plastic surgery residency.

13. Comply with the requirements for board certification. These requirements are defined by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Tips & Warnings

• While in training, it is possible to develop a network that will assist you in securing employment. This network should include attending physicians, residents that preceded you in the training program and contacts gained through conferences and meetings.
• It is always possible that in the first or second year of training you will discover that plastic surgery is not as interesting as another specialty area. It is easier to make midcourse changes with the independent model than the integrated model of plastic surgery training.
• Plastic surgery is unique in that there are a number of administrative bodies that certify surgeons as being board-certified cosmetic surgeons. While the American Board of Plastic Surgeons is the oldest certifying body, there are others, such as the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. Developing an understanding of the differences between these organizations is important if entering the field.

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