The most important credential in choosing a hair transplant surgeon: Experience

Ten Letter Matter the Most When Choosing A Hair Transplant Surgeon: Experience

I am often asked what patients should look for in choosing a hair transplant surgeon. Should they choose a plastic surgeon? What about a dermatologist? What about credentials? What letters should they have?

The most important factor is experience. The most important factors is the answer to this simple question: Does the physician in question have a long track record of consistently delivering high quality results? Nothing else matters more - in my opinion.

Let’s look at a few points:

1. Credentials.

The credentials of the surgeon matter somewhat but do keep in mind the some credentials can be obtained by physicians simply by paying the dues and membership. The most important factors, by far, are the experience of the surgeon (number of surgeries to date), experience of his or her team (how long he or she has worked with the same team) and the details of the before and after albums he or she can show you. 

2. Patient Recommendations.

Patient recommendations are important but are tricky too as many are solicited from surgeons so these sorts of recommendations carry less weight. It’s not to say these are useless but they need to be taken with a grain of salt (as the expression goes). A physician with 1000 recommendations is not necessarily 10 times better at performing surgery than a surgeon with 100. They just have 10 times more recommendations.

3. Physician Recommendations.

Physician recommendations are helpful but it depends on how much the physician recommending the surgeon really understands the surgery process. Why does the physician refer to this particular surgeon? A physician should ideally be giving a patient several names - rather than just one.

4. Background training

The background training of the surgeon certainly matters. A plastic surgeon has some pretty amazing skills to bring to the field. But do you think that a plastic surgeon who has done 50 surgeries can offer better results than a family doctor who has done 4000 surgeries? In my opinion - not even a chance.

Far too much emphasis is placed on letters. Far too much emphasis is placed on being a plastic surgeon or dermatologist. Yes, it matters but some of the world’s best are not plastic surgeons and they are not dermatologists. Some are. Some aren’t.  It comes down to experience, experience and experience.

So what matters when choosing a surgeon ?

There is absolutely no credential that define vast experience. Zero.  I refer patients to surgeons with a long track record of outstanding surgery results. In some cases, I have no idea what letters they have and what societies they belong to. I used to know but I don’t any more. I do know the surgeon I am referring to has done massive numbers of surgeries. I do know they will reject a patient if they are not truly a candidate for surgery. I do know their team is good. I do know they can handle all the complications that happen after surgery (oh yes complications occur with hair transplant surgery !). I do know they will transplant a reasonable number of grafts and not exhaust the donor area so the patient has no options down the road. It’s all about experience.

There are many societies that exist. There will be more coming.

The 10 letters to focus on are e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e.

A surgeon with 2 years of experience can have the same credentials and letters as one with 20 years of experience.  Has the surgeon with 2 years of experience seen array of complications that can occur? No. Has the surgeon with 2 years of experience seen the vast array of things that can go wrong? No. Has the surgeon with 2 years of experience had disappointing results? Yes - but I guarantee you that the surgeon who has 20 years of experience has way more disappointing results!

My advice for patents is to seek information entered around experience. Ask about past surgeries. How many have they done? How may do they do now each week? Who is on their team (nurses, technicians) ? What sort of before and after photos can they show you? What sort of training to they do each year to stay current with the field? What sort of things to they do differently now than they did 5 years ago?