Fellowship Route

(Section amended per the Board of Trustees meeting dated August 14, 2008) 

A candidate may be eligible for one or more areas of cosmetic surgery certification via the Fellowship Route based upon the following:

• Initial certification by an approved board;
• Postgraduate surgical training in accordance with the following training summary.

The Fellowship Program must be approved by:

Tier 1: Pre-Application / Petition of Equivalency

Applicant must furnish:

• Experiences must meet minimal guidelines for training fellowship as set forth in GUIDELINES FOR CLINICAL FELLOWSHIP TRAINING IN COSMETIC SURGERY by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery; and

1. Satisfactory completion of specialty residency training for an approved board;
2. Initial certification by an approved board;
3. Recommendation letter from fellowship director attesting to training in the areas being sought for certification or, alternatively, a certificate of completion of fellowship obtained at time of completion of fellowship training identifying training in the area of certification sought;
4. Surgical operative logs during fellowship training;
5. Initial application fee determined by the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.

Upon review by the ABCS Fellowship Review Committee, and the Board of Trustees, candidates that meet this criteria will receive written notification of equivalency of training to that of an AACS approved fellowship program and will then be eligible to pursue ABCS certification via the Fellowship Route.

Potential candidates that are denied equivalency of training will receive notification and will allow 30 days for candidate response, if any.

Tier 2: Standard Application Process

The candidate will then receive all directions and documentation of requirements of the ABCS examination application, and will be subject to all of the regular fees.  The candidate will also be held to the same due process as those of approved fellowship training.