How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon
Five checks worth making before you book: certification, experience with the specific operation, results in comparable patients, the questions you ask at consultation, and whether you can talk to them.
The choice of surgeon has more influence on the outcome than the choice of technique. These are the five things worth establishing, in the order they are worth establishing them.
1. Board certification
Confirm the surgeon’s certification before the first consultation, not after it.
In Europe the relevant body is the European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery — EBOPRAS. Membership of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons requires board certification, a minimum of six years of surgical training after medical school including at least three years of plastic surgery residency, comprehensive written and oral examinations, graduation from an accredited medical school, annual continuing medical education with a patient safety component, and operating only in accredited facilities.
That is what certification represents. It is verifiable through the certifying body’s own register.
It is also worth asking whether the surgeon is involved in research, publication or teaching — an indication of engagement with the specialty beyond their own list.
2. Experience with your operation
Not experience in general. Rhinoplasty and breast lift are different technical problems, and a surgeon who performs one regularly is not thereby experienced in the other.
Ask directly how often they perform the specific procedure you are considering — per week or per month. Ask how many years they have been performing it.
3. Photographs of their own patients
Most surgeons maintain a library of before and after images, often on their website or social media. Look for patients whose starting anatomy resembles yours, and look at the range rather than the best two.
4. Questions at the consultation
Worth asking, and worth writing down beforehand:
- What are your qualifications and training?
- How often do you perform this procedure?
- Which professional associations are you a member of?
- Who provides my aftercare, and how do I reach them?
- What technique will you use, and why that one?
- Where will the surgery be performed?
- How long does it take?
- What are the common complications?
- How long will the result last?
- What does recovery involve, week by week?
5. Whether you can talk to them
This is not a soft criterion. You will need to raise concerns during recovery, possibly at inconvenient times, and possibly about something that feels trivial. If you would hesitate to do that, it is the wrong surgeon regardless of their credentials.
About Dr. Stavrou
Dr. Demetris Stavrou graduated from the University of Athens Medical School and completed his plastic surgery residency in Israel, followed by a fellowship in advanced aesthetic surgery at the Melbourne Institute of Plastic Surgery, Monash University.
He is a Fellow of EBOPRAS, an International Member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and an ATLS instructor. He holds an MSc with Distinction in Wound Healing and Tissue Repair from the University of Cardiff, is an Honorary Tutor at the University of Cardiff School of Medicine and an Assistant Professor at St George’s University of London / University of Nicosia.
His practice covers blepharoplasty, brow lift, chin augmentation, facelift, facial skin cancer, neck lift, otoplasty and rhinoplasty.
Before you act on this
Everything here is general. What applies to you depends on your anatomy, your history and what you are trying to achieve, and none of that can be assessed from a page. If a question here is yours, bring it to a consultation.