American board of certified plastic surgeons

[Danielkiwi]

Does any body have any information about the doctos listed on this site. Looks like there is some certification process here in an otherwise unregulated industry.

[NickD]

Hi, you're correct in that hair restoration in the US is largely an unregulated industry. See this very helpful and informative page on the American Hair Loss web site:

 

http://www.americanhairloss.org/surgical_hair_restorati...inding_a_surgeon.asp

 

Directly from that page:

 

"Currently in the United States the field of surgical hair restoration is completely unregulated by both the government and the medical community. In the US any licensed physician can legally perform hair transplant surgery without any prior surgical training or accreditation of any kind."

 

Reputations of hair restoration surgeons are largely spread word-of-mouth. Your coming onto this board was one of the best things you could've done. I must say that this community is *the* most effective resource for researching hair transplantation, and doctors that do top-notch h/t work (and those that don't), that I've found. Spend some more time here and you'll get a pretty good idea who to consider for your h/t (if you want one), and who you should steer away from.

 

There's also this page on h/t credentialing, from the American Hair Loss web site again:

 

http://www.americanhairloss.org/surgical_hair_restoration/credentials.asp

 

Good luck in your search!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Daniel,

 

Welcome to our community.

 

Nick is correct.

 

In my opinion, it is a sad reality that hair restoration has been unreguluated in the medical community. This is why a lot of research is vital to ensure that you select a quality hair restoration surgeon who has a consistent proven track record of quality hair transplant results.

 

Communities such as ours give the patient a voice and an outlet to express their opinions and experiences that will ultimately benefit others seeking. Over 5 years of patient posted experiences and photos can be found using the find feature of our forum.

 

Additionally, we recommend physicians here based on a proven track record of consistent results. See our physician membership standards here.

 

Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

 

Bill

[Danielkiwi]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

 

However, i have a question for Bill. I have read your posts and really appreciate the efforts you have taken to educate readers such as me on Hair transplant procedures. However, there is still a grey area here.

 

When you say that these physicians are carefully selected,what do you exactly mean by that. Is this a body that is recognised by any board or is it just a word of mouth publcity. Without offense to anyone, any doctor can make fictitious patients and make them post on this website. Atleast, the american board is a body that certifies plastic surgeons. so there is some organized certification process. I am not trying ti undermine your efforts here but just trying to understand the process so that i can get my procedure done with any hiccups. i hope you understand.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Daniel,

 

There is no formal certification process however; physicians must prove a high level of competency in hair restoration by providing a number of photo examples of their recent work.

 

Additionally, Pat Hennessy, our Publisher, visits these hair restoration clinics to observe surgery before considering them for recommendation on our network. Often times, he is able to meet some of their hair transplant patients face to face in order to evaluate the results in person.

 

You can view Pat's detailed reports on his clinical visitations on the "Visits to Leading Hair Transplant Clinics" section of our forum.

 

Those clinics that do not meet our standards are not recommended and you will not find a detailed report on them. This is because we believe in focusing our attention on the hair restoration clinics that are worth recognizing for their quality work.

 

Before a physician is admitted into recommendation, our community forum members are asked to give their feedback about a particular clinic. Once all the evidence is considered, a decision will be made as to whether or not to recommend them on our network.

 

No hair transplant physician receives tenure however. Patient posted feedback is taken seriously and physicians have been removed as a result of patient posted negative feedback and photos. Pat and I will seek to gather all the facts about a case before making a decision whether to remove a physician.

 

Additionally, Pat will occasionally visit these hair restoration clinics to ensure they are continuing to meet our membership standards.

 

Bill