Selecting a Doctor
When selecting a surgeon there are many factors to consider. Subjective factors include recommendations from friends or other doctors, the surgeon’s reputation in the community, and your personal impression of the doctor.
Objective factors to consider include the surgeon’s specialty, training and experience.
- Is the doctor fellowship trained in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery? This subspecialty combines the best of plastic surgery and ophthalmology. The oculoplastic plastic surgeon focuses on both the cosmetic and functional concerns of the eyelids and eyebrows.
- Is he/she also a Board Certified Ophthalmologist and therefore trained to care for the eyes themselves?
- Is the doctor a member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS)? Admission to this exclusive society is restricted to surgeons who are both board certified in ophthalmology and who have done fellowship training in ophthalmic plastic surgery. In addition members must do research, submit a thesis and pass rigorous examinations in this specialized field.
- Has the surgeon done thousands of eyelid operations or does he/she do an occasional eyelid surgery?
- Do his/her cases include routine surgeries as well as complex, unusual, and difficult ones?
- Do patients seek this surgeon out when they are unsatisfied with procedures performed elsewhere?
- Do other doctors hold them in such high regard that they select them to do their eyelid surgery?