Short answer: In Turkey, the equivalent of being a board certified plastic surgeon is the state specialty certificate: the title is protected by law and is granted by the Ministry of Health after six years of medical school and five years of plastic surgery residency.
“Are you board certified?” is one of the first questions international patients ask, and it is a fair one. The two systems really are built differently. Below I explain both.
Why the question exists in the United States
In the United States, the terms “plastic surgeon” and “cosmetic surgeon” are not protected titles. Any licensed physician may use them, whatever field they actually trained in.
Board certification closes that gap. The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) is the only board recognised in this field by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Certification requires at least six years of accredited plastic surgery training after medical school, followed by written and oral examinations.
This is where the confusion starts: other organisations also carry “board” in their name without ABMS recognition. That is why American patients have learned to ask not only whether a surgeon is board certified, but which board issued the certificate.
How board certification works in Turkey
In Turkey the filter sits at the entrance. “Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery” is a recognised specialty and the title is protected by law. To hold it, a doctor must complete six years of medical school, pass the national specialty examination, and complete five years of full-time plastic surgery residency. Eleven years in total.
The Ministry of Health then issues the specialty certificate. Without it, performing these operations is prohibited — it is not an optional distinction but the condition of entry to the field.
There is no specialty called “facial plastic surgery” or “oculoplastic surgery” in Turkey. The name of the specialty is Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.
What a plastic surgeon in Turkey trains in over those eleven years
The training is long, demanding and deliberately broad. The three words in the name of the specialty — plastic, reconstructive, aesthetic — describe its three pillars. Over five years of residency all three are learned, across every region of the body:
- Congenital anomalies such as cleft lip and palate
- Burn care and post-burn reconstruction
- Facial fractures and trauma reconstruction
- Hand surgery and nerve repair
- Microsurgery — vessel anastomosis and free tissue transfer under the microscope
- Reconstruction after cancer — breast, head and neck, skin tumours
- Chronic wounds and tissue loss
- The whole of aesthetic surgery — eyelid surgery and genital aesthetic surgery included
- The whole of non-surgical aesthetic practice — botulinum toxin, fillers, device-based treatments
That list bears directly on aesthetic results. A surgeon who has repaired a facial fracture, rebuilt a breast after cancer and sutured vessels under a microscope learns anatomy differently. Aesthetic surgery is built on that foundation; it is not a separate skill.
Residency takes place in university and teaching hospitals, and covers all of these areas — none is chosen while the rest are skipped. By the end, the surgeon has learned not only how to refine, but first how to rebuild.
Is there a Turkish board?
There is, but it works differently. The board examination of the Turkish Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (TPRECD) consists of a written paper and an objective structured clinical examination. It is voluntary, and it adds no legal authority on top of the specialty certificate, because the right to operate already comes from that certificate. It carries academic weight within the field.
There is also EBOPRAS, the examination of the European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, which TPRECD recognises.
Not holding this board certificate is not a deficiency. In Turkey, the requirement for standing in an operating theatre is the state specialty certificate.
The equivalent in your country
Every country names the credential differently, but all of them answer the same question: did this doctor complete specialty training in this field?
- United States — American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS); the only board recognised by ABMS in this field.
- United Kingdom — entry on the GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery, via CCT.
- Germany — Facharzt für Plastische, Rekonstruktive und Ästhetische Chirurgie; 72 months of training.
- France — DES de chirurgie plastique, reconstructrice et esthétique.
- Spain — Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reparadora; five years through the MIR system.
- Russia — «Пластическая хирургия»; accreditation is compulsory and renewed every five years.
- Saudi Arabia and the Gulf — Saudi Board of Plastic Surgery (SCFHS); 72 months of training.
- Turkey — the specialty certificate in Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery; six years of medical school and five years of residency.
“Cosmetic surgeon” is not a protected title in the United Kingdom either, so British patients run the same check at home. The GMC register is public and can be searched by name.
How to verify your surgeon
Wherever you are writing from, the questions are the same:
- “May I see your specialty certificate?” Do not hesitate to ask; if it is not shared, that is an answer in itself.
- “Which specialty is written on it?” The wording you are looking for is Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.
- “Who will perform the operation?” Is the person you consulted the person who will operate? Get the name in writing.
- “Where will the operation take place?” Find out the name of the hospital.
- Professional memberships. International societies such as ISAPS require a specialty certificate for membership.
None of these are difficult questions, and none will offend a surgeon. If they are avoided, that is the information you needed.
In brief
In the United States, board certification is a safeguard added afterwards, because the title itself is open to anyone. In Turkey the same safeguard sits inside the title and is granted by the state. The two systems look different and answer the same question: did this doctor actually train for this?
References
- American Board of Plastic Surgery
- American Board of Medical Specialties
- General Medical Council
- Bundesärztekammer
- Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins
- Boletín Oficial del Estado
- Saudi Commission for Health Specialties
- Türk Plastik Rekonstrüktif ve Estetik Cerrahi Derneği
- T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı Tıpta Uzmanlık Kurulu
This article is for information only; it is not diagnostic or treatment advice. Consult your doctor about your own decisions.