Dr. Malcolm Z. Roth, the president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), doesn't mince words when responding to persons who are considering undergoing cosmetic surgery from doctors who are not board certified. His advice and strong view, in a nutshell: Don't do it.

"The public needs to be protected from doctors who are not upfront about what board certifications they have," says Roth.

The reason why is firmly grounded in the growing number of reports spotlighting medical malpractice outcomes in surgeries that were botched because doctors were operating outside their specialty.

Think of an ear, nose and throat doctor performing face-lift surgery. Or perhaps a gynecologist who does breast implants.

There are no laws in any state, including Arizona, that bar doctors from practicing only in the field in which they originally trained. Although the ASPS proudly points to itself as the only organization in the country for training and licensing certified plastic surgeons, certification is not often required to practice cosmetic surgery. A rival of Roth's organization -- the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) -- confers a specialty certification on doctors that freely enables them to do surgery across a wide range of areas.

The public can grow confused by the plethora of specialty board certifications that are available to doctors. The AACS says that its doctors are just as qualified as certified plastic surgeons, while the ASPS says its members routinely perform revisionary surgery on patients to undo the damage that was done to them by non-certified doctors.

Dr. John Santa, the director of Consumer Reports' Health Ratings Center, has weighed into the melee and confusion with an opinion that stresses common sense.

"I would be suspicious of anyone who is operating way outside his or her specialty, and always get a second opinion," he says.

Source: New York Times, "Ear doctors performing face-lifts? It happens" Kate Murphy, Jan. 30, 2012