"COSMETIC surgeon" is not a qualification recognised by the Australian Medical Council, but the title is used so often it can cause confusion among consumers.
It has prompted the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) to launch a campaign called "Know The Difference" in a bid to make people more aware of the disparities in training and education.
Dr John Newton, a specialist plastic surgeon based at Warners Bay, said only doctors who have completed an additional eight-to-12 years of training beyond their medical degree could lawfully use the title "plastic surgeon". But a doctor with an "elementary medical degree" and no specialist training could become a cosmetic surgeon.
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"They could be a GP who has done a short course in surgery and call themselves a cosmetic surgeon," he said.
"With cosmetic surgeons, a large number do not have qualifications through the Australian College of Surgeons, which is the basic qualification you should have in Australia."
Dr Newton said there was a critical need for consumers to become better informed on the correct titles and levels of expertise in order to make informed decisions for the best possible surgical outcomes.
"A large number of people don't know how to tell the difference, and it can be very confusing and misleading," he said. "But the simplest way to find out if your surgeon is indeed a plastic surgeon is to ring up ASPS - the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons - and ask."
Dr Newton said the differences typically came down to experience, quality, and safety, and working in regulated circumstances.
They were doctors first, and plastic surgeons second. That meant that sometimes, surgery was not necessarily the best option.
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Dr Newton said a patient had once approached him to do a "tummy tuck" because, despite not having any children and not being pregnant, she had a protruding stomach. She had already had a quote from a surgeon in Sydney.
"I sent her for a CT, as I suspected the problem was actually a tumour in her stomach," he said. "She had a 3.5 litre cyst. You have to have that degree of honesty."
Dr Newton said the Australian College of Surgeons offers a supplementary training program to train country GPs to do procedures such as take out appendixes and gallbladders, and fix broken arms, but it was a "manipulation of the facts" for those doctors to claim they were "surgeons".
"There is a real depth and refinement to the training we do," he said. "You can't learn how to be a surgeon in six months, you just can't, because you have to have a depth of understanding of anatomy, physiology, complications and repercussions of surgery.
"It is much more difficult to fix a problem than it is to do the primary operation."
Patients should look for the terms "FRACS", plastic surgeon, and associations with ASPS, and ASAPS after a doctor's name to ensure they had the qualifications a person might expect before a major, invasive surgery. They also needed to be registered with and recognised by AHPRA and Medicare.
Rob Sheen, the president of ASAPS, said the cosmetic surgery market was "complex and confusing".
"Consumers are overwhelmed by a deluge of information and made-up titles, which are misleading or do not clearly state the recognised skills and training required by law," he said.
"These potentially unsafe, unregulated, and even illegal practices may not have the skills or safety to deliver high-level results.
"Consumers have the right to know the difference."
