Plastic surgeons perform various types of procedures for various reasons. While some procedures are performed mainly for cosmetic reasons to enhance one’s looks, others are performed to reconstruct any badly injured or deformed parts of patients. Many a time, the surgery performed by a plastic surgeon helps the person who had undergone some major trauma return to living a normal life.
All this is possible because of the extensive education and training a plastic surgeon Houston undergoes. So though it may look that they are earning a substantial income, it’s only to compensate for the many years, and money invested in their rigorous training and education.
Undergraduate studies
The undergraduate studies a plastic surgeon undergoes is similar to the studies of any other physician. The course starts with an undergraduate science degree containing coursework that meets the medical colleges’ prerequisites. The coursework centers more on mathematics, sciences and written communication.
Doctoral programs
Once the plastic surgeon earns their bachelor degree, they next move on to enroll in a four-year doctoral program in a medical or osteopathic college. These programs are based on the pre-med degree’s hard sciences basics and moves on to the more advanced coursework in anatomy and human physiology, medical law and ethics and pharmacology. It is during the clinical rotations students go through during their third and fourth years of college that they get their first hands-on experience with patients.
Residency and Certification
On graduating from a doctor of osteopathy or medical doctor college, the budding plastic surgeon has to next complete six years of surgical residency. They spend the first three years here studying general surgical rotations to learn about various surgical techniques and procedures under an expired surgeon’s supervision.
The last three years of the training concentrates on providing the plastic surgeon with specialized training in plastic surgery. This training gives new surgeons some direct experience with both the traditional and latest trends and techniques in the field. The plastic surgeon Houston can next test for a certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery once they complete their residency and fulfill all the necessary requirements.
Fellowships and sub-specialties
While plastic surgeons can start practicing on completing their accredited residency or even after their board certification, some prefer spending an additional year in a fellowship so that they can learn some plastic surgery sub-specialties and thus specialize in certain surgeries.
An example of such a specialization is hand surgery where the plastic surgeon learns all about restoring the hand’s normal appearance and function. Another example is craniofacial surgery where the surgeon is taught how to reconstruct the normal facial features of those victims of accidents or some physical violence, victims who have congenital defects and even patients who need to undergo skull base surgery to remove dangerous tumors.
Whatever the sub-specialty may be, each of them has its own certification process which the plastic surgeon Houston has to pass besides the basic plastic surgery certification. It is only after passing this last certification process can the surgeon start practicing as a certified and specialist plastic surgeon Houston.
