how to become a plastic surgeon us

Last Updated on December 28, 2022

Plastic surgeons perform surgery that corrects defects or damage to visible parts of the body. The procedures they perform range from elective liposuction to skin grafts and repair of facial damage after burns and accidents. Plastic surgeons need excellent manual dexterity to perform delicate operations. Before earning board certification from the American Board of Plastic Surgery, plastic surgeons must complete eight years of training after medical school.

Medical School

A plastic surgeon must hold a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy degree before pursuing post-graduate plastic surgeon training. The M.D. or D.O. program entails four years of study after obtaining a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college. Though there is no formal requirement for an undergraduate major, it’s important to take classes that prepare a student for the rigors of medical school, including biological and physical sciences, mathematics, psychology and English.

General Surgery Training

A candidate for board certification in plastic surgery must complete a five-year residency program in general surgery before beginning specific training in plastic surgery. An approved general-surgery residency must include hands-on experience with specific types of surgery, including cancer surgery, abdominal surgery, breast surgery and pediatric surgery. The American Board of Plastic Surgery also highly recommends experience with burn treatment, anesthesia, eye and facial surgery, and orthopedic surgery during general-surgery residency training.

The five-year requirement can be reduced to three years if general-surgery training is obtained as part of a specially approved six-year integrated general- and plastic-surgery residency program.

Plastic Surgeon Training

Three years of specialized training in a plastic surgery residency program are required before a trained general surgeon can qualify to take the board certification exams in plastic surgery. This training must cover burn, facial and head and neck surgery, plastic microsurgery techniques, skin grafting and surgery, and cosmetic surgery of the head, neck and breast. Plastic-surgery residency programs must also cover emergency care, wound healing, fluid replacement and the relation of basic science to surgical techniques.

Board Certification

The American Board of Plastic Surgery administers written and oral exams, and candidates for board certification must pass both. They must also obtain valid state medical licenses. In addition, candidates for board certification must submit five case reports for procedures they performed during their training, with photographs of the results. Board examiners evaluate and grade test performance as well as case reports before granting a candidate board certification, and a board-certified plastic surgeon is formally known as a Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Plastic Surgeon Education Cost

The plastic surgeon education cost is considerable when you consider the amount of schooling and specialized training required. According to EducationData.org, the average price for tuition, fees and room and board for the 2019-2020 school year was $30,500. The average price for a four-year degree at a public institution, paying in-state rates, was estimated to be $87,000, while a four-year degree from a private institution was estimated to be an average of $199,500.

Costs of four years of medical school are comparable and vary widely. At Columbia University, for example, costs for the 2019-2020 school year were $68,886. By contrast, the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University was tuition-free, with students in this highly competitive program paying just $3,950 for fees, reported U.S. News and World Report.

Plastic surgeon training during residency is paid. The jobs website PayScale listed the average resident’s pay as $52,323 per year in 2019, with a reported range from $39,000 to $60,000.

Plastic Surgeon Salary

The high plastic surgeon education cost is offset by the average plastic surgeon salary, among the highest in the medical profession. Medscape reported the average plastic surgeon salary as $471,000 in 2019, a figure surpassed only by the average earnings of an orthopedic surgeon ($482,000).

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