La Belle Forme Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Richard Clark, MB ChB MRCSGlasg, MD, FRCSGlasg(Plast) has been granted the Intercollegiate Cosmetic Surgery Certificate. 

The new certification provides evidence-based acknowledgement of a surgeon’s work in the cosmetic field

Currently, there is no Royal College of Surgeons sub-faculty which offers specialist cosmetic training as part of a surgeon’s qualifications. A cosmetic surgeon could be a Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon; an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon; an ENT Surgeon: and so on. All of these surgical sub-specialities have faculties dedicated to them within the Royal College of Surgeons. However, theoretically, any surgeon who does “aesthetic surgery” can call themselves a “Cosmetic Surgeon”. The new certification helps to highlight and certificate those surgeons who have considerable experience in the areas of cosmetic surgery.

Cosmetic Surgeon Certificate

The Intercollegiate Cosmetic Surgery Certification Scheme is supported by a process that aims to provide accreditation of competencies (including professional behaviours, clinical skills, knowledge and experience) in defined areas of cosmetic surgery.

It was initially developed by the Royal College of Surgeons of England through a Cosmetic Surgery Interspecialty Committee comprising a wide range of stakeholders including representatives of the surgical colleges in the UK and Ireland, the relevant Surgical Specialty Associations (SSAs), patients, providers and regulators. Its role was to respond to the review into the regulation of cosmetic interventions in 2013, led by the Department of Health, which recommended a more robust regulatory framework that provides protection against the potential risks from cosmetic procedures. The certification process is an important step in this direction by recognising those surgeons who have the appropriate training, qualifications and experience in the area of cosmetic surgery in which they practise, by supporting patient choice and by promoting confidence in the quality of training and practice in cosmetic surgery.

The process and the criteria on which it relies have been reviewed and updated by the Intercollegiate Cosmetic Surgery Oversight Committee.