I am a board certified plastic surgeon by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
What does that mean? You can read my prior blogs on the subject here,and here, and here. But what I found newsworthy in my latest communication from them was the chart of how many people fail the written or oral board exams. These are doctors who have gone through 4 years of medical school, 5+-8 years of residency, and done a plastic surgery accredited fellowship. (Yes, this is not a slacker group).
Failure rates? My first year when I sat for my oral boards (in 2001), 22.9% of those taking the oral boards failed. (!!) These are doctors who did all of the above AND had already passed the written test.
Written exam failure rates went from 14-23% , Oral exam failure rates 13.5-22.9%. The average over the past decade was about 18% fail. One out of every 5 -6 surgeons doesn’t pass.
The Board is maintaining high standards. Know this when you are looking for a board certified plastic surgeon.
Board certification by the ABPS means something. To see if your surgeon is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, click on the link here.
