Let's face it; there are a lot of plastic surgeons out there, with a lot of strange letters after their last names. Thus, making it hard for the average person to decipher the alphabet soup that is supposed to be their credentials. Fortunately, there is an organization that can help you figure it out. The Association for Plastic Surgery Awareness (APSA) officially launched this month to educate the consumer population on who's legit and who's not.

John J. Corey, MD, APSA founder and an American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) and American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) board certified surgeon, said this is important because many procedures done each day are performed by doctors who have received little to no formal training in those areas. This can increase the likelihood of errors on the operating table. "The advertisement may say 'board certified,' but it may not tell you in what area. A doctor's certification may be in a field totally unrelated to plastic surgery," wrote Dr. Corey on the APSA web site.

For example, there have been a growing number of recent reports of doctors such as oral surgeons, podiatrists and gynecologists, performing plastic surgery procedures they have no medical training or certification for. Take Andrea F. for instance. She sought out Dr. Corey's help after post-operative complications from a liposuction and tummy tuck procedure done by oral surgeons, not plastic surgeons. Unfortunately, she was unaware of that then. Now, the doctors are nowhere to be found and Andrea must obtain additional surgeries to correct their mistakes. Sadly, many states do not require the additional certifications in plastic surgery, explained ASPA.

"The association we've started is to try to give patients the education they need to find out who's doing my surgery, how were they trained, what is their experience, what was their residency in - then patients can decide if they want to carry on with that doctor," said APSA founder John J. Corey, MD, in a recent interview. To help patients, APSA has created a variety of user-friendly sections on its web site for easy navigation.

The web site starts with the basics, exploring what is a doctor and the training entailed. The next section, "Are they Board Certified," helps potential patients navigate through the various governing bodies in the medical field. There is also a section that explains the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) certification process. ABMS is a not-for-profit organization that oversees 24 approved medical specialty boards. Also detailed is the difference between plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery, as well as office surgery and hospital surgery. There is even an audio interview with Dr. Corey called, "Not all Plastic Surgeons are What They Seem."

"On our web site you will be able to find ...tools to check a doctor's credentials and training, and free assistance with this research," explained Dr. Corey. "We can even perform phone calls to those doctors on behalf of the patient to find out what their training and background is."

Patients can also talk about their surgical experiences on the site's discussion board. An added bonus, potential patients may also ask Dr. Corey questions. For more information log onto: www.apsaworldwide.org.