<p>do u hav to go to medical school to study plastic surgery, what major do u hav to do in order to do that</p>
<p>You must complete an undergrad degree (any major), just meet prereqs. for medical school. Attend medical school (4 yrs.), secure a surgical residency (5 yrs), then do a fellowship in plastic surgery (not sure on length).</p>
<p>yo, check it. i hear all ya'll gots to do is open a practice and advertize in tha paper. dem patientz be linin' up right away and there u go, youz a certified plastic surgin</p>
<p>Plastics is one of the hardest residencies to obtain.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>that made me laugh. haha, thanks for the comic break dude.</p>
<p>nice one. That was pretty funny.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, there are many non-plastic surgeons performing cosmetic procedures including facelifts, laser skin treatments, blepharoplasty and BOTOX injections. A plastic surgeon completes a plastics fellowship.</p>
<p>See <a href="http://www.facialart.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.facialart.com/</a> and <a href="http://www.dermacareusa.com/franchise/doctorsofdermacare.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dermacareusa.com/franchise/doctorsofdermacare.html</a> for examples.</p>
<p>$0.02: Are you sure it's a fellowship and not a residency? I feel like I've seen match lists with plastics on there.</p>
<p>yea, i think plastics IS a separate residency program from general surgery. Although i believe there is a plastics fellowship for gen surgery as well. Not sure about this though.</p>
<p>BDM, you are right -- plastics can be a free standing residency.</p>
<p>Plastics training is not a single path and just about any doc may perform plastics procedures.</p>
<p>At the ASPS (not to be confused with the AAPS, ASAPS, ASOPRS, or AAFPRS) site:</p>
<p>
[quote]
What Makes ASPS Members Uniquely Qualified?
In most states, a licensed physician may perform plastic surgery without being board-certified in plastic surgery. Just because a doctor is board-certified does not mean he or she is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS).</p>
<p>All members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons are certified by the ABPS or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The ABPS is the only one of the 24 boards approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties that certifies physicians in plastic surgery of the face and all areas of the body.</p>
<p>To be ABPS board-certified, a physician must meet these rigid requirements:</p>
<p>Graduate from an accredited medical school
Complete a combination of at least five years of general surgery and plastic surgery residency training
Pass comprehensive oral and written exams
Besides certification, membership in ASPS requires a plastic surgeon to regularly attend continuing medical education courses and to adhere to a strict code of ethics. All ASPS members are required to perform surgery in accredited surgical facilities.
[/quote]
<p>The ASPS site has a nice diagram entitled "Training of the plastic surgeon" which describes two basic training models:
[quote]
Training Models
The Residency Review Committee for Plastic Surgery recognizes two training models: Independent and Integrated.</p>
<ol>
<li>Independent model:</li>
</ol>
<p>In the independent model of training, residents complete two or three years of concentrated plastic surgery training, with no less than 12 months of senior/chief responsibility, after successful completion of one of the following prerequisite curricula:</p>
<p>A minimum of three years of clinical training with progressive responsibility in the same program in general surgery. Transitional year or rotating internships may not be used to fulfill this requirement.</p>
<p>A complete neurological surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology or urology residency.</p>
<p>Satisfactory completion of a residency program in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery approved by the American Dental Association is an alternate path way for prerequisite training prior to a plastic surgery residency. This pathway is available only to those individuals holding D.M.D./M.D. or D.D.S./M.D. degree. Training must also include a minimum of 24 months of progressive responsibility on surgical rotations under the direction of the general surgery program director after receipt of the M.D. degree. Rotations in general surgery during medical school, prior to the M.D. degree, will not be considered as fulfilling any part of the 24-month minimum requirement.
2. Integrated model:</p>
<p>In the integrated model, residents complete five or six years of ACGME-accredited plastic surgery training following receipt of an M.D. or D.O. degree from an institution accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association.</p>
<p>The integrated curriculum must contain no less than five years of clinical surgical training under the authority and direction of the plastic surgery program director.</p>
<p>Of these, no less than 24 months must be concentrated plastic surgery training with no less than 12 months of senior/chief responsibility on the clinical service of plastic surgery.</p>
<p>Additional clinical experiences appropriate to the training if a plastic surgeon should be provided in anesthesiology, burn management, critical care medicine, emergency medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurological surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolarynology, pediatric surgery and trauma management.
[/quote]
<p>This diagram at the AAFPRS shows two routes to Facial Plastic Surgery Board Certification: <a href="http://www.aafprs.org/patient/about_us/fps_vs_gs.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.aafprs.org/patient/about_us/fps_vs_gs.html</a></p>
<p>"Five years ago, cosmetic medicine was primarily the domain of plastic surgeons, facial surgeons and dermatologists medical school graduates who undergo several years of training in facial skin and its underlying anatomy. But now obstetricians, family practitioners and emergency room physicians are gravitating to the beauty business, lured by lucrative cosmetic treatments that require same-day payments because they are not covered by insurance and by a medical practice without bothersome midnight emergency calls."</p>
<p>Notice that all the people mentioned are still physicians and had to go to medical school.</p>
<p>See the humorous article in Time magazine.</p>
<p>Was this meant to be humorous? McKinsey comes to our medical school multiple times a year with a team of former-physicians-and-now-consultants throwing around money in an attempt to recruit us into their ranks.</p>
<p>And, sometimes, the offer is a little bit tempting.</p>
<p>I really don't find that humorous at all. I think it falls under the category of "sad but true". My father is a general surgeon and when you get paid less for performing an emergency abdominal surgery than you would get for lasering unwanted hair, you know there is a problem. That being said, I feel that there are many people with the innate desire to help, regardless of their salaries. I call them doctors, and I would like to be one.</p>
<p>You have to get an undergraduate degree in any field that you want. You do not have to major in science to become a doctor. However, you do have to take pre-med classes, such as biology, chemistry, organic chem, physics, etc. Specific requirements vary by medical school. So, for example, you could be an art major, but you would have to take pre-med classes on top of your art classes.</p>
<p>After getting your undergraduate degree, you have to go to medical school. Medical school is 4 years long. Typically the first 2 years are spent in lectures, labs, etc., while the next 2 years are spent in the hospitals doing rotations. </p>
<p>After medical school, you choose a specialty (i.e. surgery, pediatrics, etc.) and must complete a residency in that specialty. Residency may be anywhere from 3-7+ years, depending on specialty. After residency, you can become even more specialized by completing a fellowship, which is basically further study in a specific area of your specialty. There seems to be some debate on the board about whether plastic surgery is a residency by itself, or whether you do a surgery residency and then a plastics fellowship. Maybe it varies by institution? I'm not sure.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You must complete an undergrad degree (any major),
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
You have to get an undergraduate degree in any field that you want.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Strictly speaking, you don't even have to do that, at least for some medical schools.</p>
<p>Here is what UCSF Medical School has to say about that.</p>
<p>*
"We strongly recommend that premedical students pursue a four-year undergraduate curriculum and obtain a baccalaureate degree before entering medical school.</p>
<p>However, we only require completion of three years (135 quarter units or 90 semester units) of acceptable transfer college credit from an accredited institution, including the required college-level courses listed below. Only 105 acceptable quarter units can be transferred from a junior or community college.</p>
<p>Students who enter the School of Medicine without a bachelor's degree may receive a bachelor of science degree in medical sciences after satisfactorily completing the first three terms of the curriculum leading to the doctor of medicine degree. " *</p>
<p>
[quote]
New York Times article </p>
<hr>
<p>"Five years ago, cosmetic medicine was primarily the domain of plastic surgeons, facial surgeons and dermatologists medical school graduates who undergo several years of training in facial skin and its underlying anatomy. But now obstetricians, family practitioners and emergency room physicians are gravitating to the beauty business, lured by lucrative cosmetic treatments that require same-day payments because they are not covered by insurance and by a medical practice without bothersome midnight emergency calls."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Personally, I think that if there is any medical specialty that is primed for outsourcing/offshoring, it's plastic surgery. After all, nobody "needs" plastic surgery. You can choose to get it anytime you want. Furthermore, insurance almost never pays for it, so it pays to shop around. So why not fly to a cheaper foreign country for your procedures? </p>
<p><a href="http://healthbase-blog.blogspot.com/2006/11/offshore-medical-surgery-cost.html%5B/url%5D">http://healthbase-blog.blogspot.com/2006/11/offshore-medical-surgery-cost.html</a>
<a href="http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/16469307.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/living/16469307.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/8545103p-8438855c.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/8545103p-8438855c.html</a></p>