Mission Statement
The mission of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery (ABCS) is to serve the public by promoting the safe and ethical practice of the specialty of cosmetic surgery. Diplomates of the ABCS shall demonstrate the highest standards of training, knowledge, and expertise, as determined by a process of peer review and standardized examination and certification.
Goals of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery
- To establish training standards
- To achieve and maintain the highest professional standards in cosmetic surgery
- To establish a method for the qualification of specialists in cosmetic surgery and a certification system
- To carry out such goals and objectives in full compliance with all laws and regulations relating to equivalent surgical specialists
The History of ABCS
On March 26, 1979 the American Board of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery was incorporated in the state of Delaware.
The founders dedicated their practices to cosmetic surgery and recognized the interdisciplinary nature of this specialty. They created the Board in the public interest to establish a standard of qualifications. A second corporation was formed in California on March 26, 1982 under the name of the Board of Cosmetic Surgery, Inc. The Delaware corporation and the California corporation subsequently assigned all their rights and obligations in 1990 to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, Inc., a corporation organized under the nonprofit laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery is an independent organization, recognized as a nonprofit entity by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501C-6 of the Internal Revenue Code. The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery has an independent set of officers, a board of trustees, and an executive director who manage, maintain, and set policy for the Board. Today, the ABCS has become the premier board for examining an elite few surgeons across the United States in strictly cosmetic surgery, which no other board does. The Board has evolved over the last few decades to keep up with the latest trends in cosmetic surgery while maintaining the highest standards.
