Educational Requirements for a Plastic Surgeon

In addition to the undergraduate education that a potential plastic surgeon must complete, a candidate in this field faces grueling work to become certified as a plastic surgeon. While the field can be very lucrative, it requires significant focus and dedication to complete the educational requirements.

Medical School

• A plastic surgeon must be admitted to--and successfully complete--a four-year medical school from an accredited program. The school grants either an M.D. (Medical Doctor) or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine).

Residency

• After medical school, a candidate needs to complete five or six additional years of training. Typically this training involves three years of general surgical training followed by either two or three years of specialized training in plastic surgery.

Fellowship

• Upon completion of a residency, a candidate may choose to pursue a fellowship. This fellowship provides intense focus on a specialty in the field, such as hand surgery, aesthetic surgery, craniofacial surgery, and surgery that focuses on minimizing damage from cancer.

Serving Abroad

• Some surgeons choose to forgo a specific fellowship, and they take the time to provide their skills overseas. This time abroad is often spent volunteering and handling cases that local doctors do not have the time or skill to resolve, such as cases involving cleft palates.

Board Certification

• To practice as a plastic surgeon, the candidate must pass a certification exam by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS).