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Cosmetic Surgery Board Certification

The scheme, supported by all surgical royal colleges and relevant specialty associations, is time-saving and user-friendly. This certification provides accreditation for your competencies as a cosmetic surgeon, demonstrating your expertise to patients and ultimately making the cosmetic surgery industry safer.

What do you know about the Cosmetic Surgery Board Certification Scheme?

Cosmetic Surgery Board Certification is not designed to judge; rather, it aims to support support eligible surgeons in meeting the certification scheme standards for practicing aesthetic surgery in the private sector. With new regulations and legislations anticipated, now is the time to future-proof your practice.

Did you know?

  • You can apply for certificates that reflect your practice - certification is open to all surgeons on the GMC/IMC specialist register, under the relevant surgical specialty.
  • After applying, if you do not quite meet the requirements, you can pause your application for two years, increase your experience, and re-submit new evidence, at no extra cost.
  • Surgeons whose specialty is plastic surgery, do not have to apply for the ‘Cosmetic Surgery’ certificate - you can apply for individual certificates.
  • After certifying, you can apply for additional certificates at no extra cost, providing you meet the requirements for any new additional certificates. 

Application process

Certification consists of Part A, the online certification application, and Part B, the Professional Behaviours in Aesthetic Surgery (PBAS) course. You must complete both parts to receive certification.

Certification fees:

  • Certification application fee: £650
  • PBAS course*: £475 

*The Professional Behaviours in Aesthetic Surgery (PBAS) course is only one component of the application process for certification and does not certify an individual under the Cosmetic Surgery Certification Scheme.

How to certify

Certification is available to all surgeons on the General Medical Council (GMC) or the Irish Medical Council (IMC) specialist register, who perform cosmetic surgery and are in a relevant surgical specialty (see FAQs).

You will need to complete Part A and Part B to certify:

Part A: Registering for the Cosmetic Surgery Certification Scheme

To register for certification, follow these simple steps:

  • check your eligibility and register for certification: www.certify-cosmeticsurgery.org.uk;
  • select the traditional route or the established practitioner route;
  • pay your application fee for certification - £650.

How applications are assessed: 

  • An evaluation team will review your evidence.
  • We will contact you if the evaluation team requires clarification and/or further evidence.
  • You will receive an email regarding the outcome of your application.

Review the certification guidelines

Part B: Completing the Professional Behaviours in Aesthetic Surgery (PBAS) course

All applicants must complete the PBAS course (£475). This is a mandatory requirement of the application process for certification. 

The Royal College of Surgeons of England developed the course in collaboration with the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons and the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. 

The aim of the PBAS course is to ensure that surgeons understand the appropriate professional skills and behaviours to perform cosmetic surgery. 

Contact: education@rcseng.ac.uk 

 

Start your certification today at certify-cosmeticsurgery.org.uk

 

FAQs

What is the application response time?

Once you have submitted your application, we will review it and send an initial response usually within 28 working days.

What areas of surgery are eligible for certification?

There are nine areas in surgery that are available for certification:

Area of certification   GMC/IMC Specialist Registration
Cosmetic breast surgery                                  
  • General surgery with a declared interest in breast surgery
  • Plastic surgery
Cosmetic nasal surgery
  • Plastic surgery
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • Otolaryngology
Cosmetic surgery of the periorbital region
  • Plastic surgery
  • Ophthalmology with a declared interest in oculoplastic surgery
  • Otolaryngology
 Cosmetic surgery of the ear
  • Plastic surgery
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • Otolaryngology
 Cosmetic surgery of the face
  • Plastic surgery
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • Otolaryngology
 Cosmetic body contouring surgery
  • Plastic surgery
Massive weight loss surgery (MWL) - Supplementary certificate in body contouring following massive weight
  • Plastic surgery
 Cosmetic surgery
  • Plastic surgery
 Non-surgical cosmetic procedures
  • General surgery with a declared interest in breast surgery
  • Plastic surgery
  • Ophthalmology with a declared interest in oculoplastic surgery
  • Oral and maxillofacial surgery
  • Otolaryngology

 

What are the requirements for certification?

To apply for certification, surgeons must be on the GMC/IMC specialist register in a specialty that demonstrates training and experience in the chosen area of practice. Surgeons can apply for certification in one or more groups of closely related cosmetic surgical procedures.

Certification validity:

  • If you are a UK applicant, certification is only valid for working in the UK.
  • If you are a Republic of Ireland applicant, certification is only valid for working in the Republic of Ireland.

Certificates only apply to the jurisdiction for which they are issued and are not interchangeable. To apply for certification in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, both sets of criteria will need to be fulfilled. To facilitate this, we have categorised procedures anatomically into groups of closely related operations. Further information is available in the certification guidelines.

We recognise the high level of surgical training already proven by individuals with a relevant Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or Completion of Core Surgical Training (CCST) and that surgeons will have been introduced to many of the skills required to perform cosmetic surgery during surgical training. However, as there are complex issues for cosmetic surgery in the private sector, surgeons will need to provide additional information over and above the CCT/CCST or equivalent to gain certification.

The system builds primarily on existing training and regulatory frameworks and evidence, which are, for the most part, already collected.

To obtain certification, surgeons will need to provide evidence of the following:

Category Evidence
Training
  •  Registration on the GMC or IMC specialist register or with the Irish Medical Council in a relevant specialty.
Clinical skills and experience
  • Successful revalidation. All doctors are required to bring evidence of their whole practice to all their appraisals. For certification you would need to provide evidence of at least one appraisal that has taken into account your cosmetic practice and to confirm that you will include your cosmetic practice in all your future appraisals
  • relevant Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities;
  • case reviews of complex cases;
  • clinical outcomes in line with the requirements of the Competition and Markets Authority with reflection on results;
  • operative exposure in the certification area(s) applied for. This involves carrying out a requisite minimum number of procedures in the area of certification;
  • references.
Professional skills and behaviours

Certification is voluntary, but we expect all eligible surgeons who want to carry out cosmetic surgery in the private sector to certify so they can demonstrate high professional and clinical standards in their area of practice.

What can surgeons do to prepare for certification?

You should:

  • include evidence of your cosmetic practice in your next appraisal discussion;
  • familiarise yourself with your and your provider’s obligations under the CMA's requirements in relation to information about performance and submit your data in line with local governance arrangements; 
  • ensure that your indemnity insurance covers your cosmetic practice in the UK/Republic of Ireland.

How much does certification cost?

The application for the Cosmetic Surgery Certification Scheme costs £650, and the Professional Behaviours in Aesthetic Surgery (PBAS) course costs £475. Applicants must complete both the application and the PBAS course to be certified. Please email us for further details.

When do I need to renew my certification?

Applicants must apply for renewal every five years. The date of the first renewal will be set at the point of successful certification.

Applicants will not have to repeat the original certification process or re-submit the same portfolio of evidence to maintain certification. They will be required to confirm that their details have not changed and that they continue to comply with the order of the Competition and Markets Authority for the collection and publication of clinical outcomes data. They will also be required to confirm that they have been contributing evidence about their cosmetic practice to their annual appraisal discussion as part of the existing requirement for whole practice appraisal for the purposes of revalidation. This includes relevant Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities about clinical and professional aspects of their practice, multi-source feedback and a regular audit of outcomes data.

Please be advised that if you wish to apply for additional/new certificate(s), you will be required to complete the Operation Numbers Credit Counter spreadsheet and complete the relevant tabs for the additional/new certificate(s) that you wish to include in your application for re-certification.

To apply for re-certification, please complete your application by selecting 're-certification application' once you have logged into your account via the Cosmetic Surgery Certification website.

The re-certification application fee is £250.

Further information or questions...

Email

Telephone

0207 869 6119

 

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