A plaque in a waiting room proves that some organization handed the surgeon something. It does not tell you who decided, on what evidence, or whether the surgeon had to apply.
Awards and rankings vary in rigor, in medicine as in business. Some rest on exams and peer review. Others rest on reader votes, patient reviews or participation in a program. For a patient sorting through a surgeon’s list of honors, the useful skill is reading each item for what it measures. A published list of board-certified plastic surgery credentials in Houston makes a good practice text.
Three tiers of recognition
Not every line on a biography carries the same weight. Sorting them into tiers helps.
Credentials earned by examination
Board certification sits at the top. A certifying board sets training requirements and examinations, and a patient can verify the result with the certifying board. These credentials answer the most basic question: did this surgeon complete the training and testing for this specialty?
Roles conferred by peers
Hospital department leadership, society offices and professional fellowships come next. Colleagues grant these, and they tend to reflect standing among other surgeons who know the person’s work. They say less about a specific procedure, but they rest on the judgment of colleagues.
Recognitions from publications, platforms and programs
This tier covers magazine lists, review-site badges, manufacturer programs and awards from independent organizations. Methods differ from one to the next. Some use peer nominations, some reader polls, some patient reviews, and some depend on a practice enrolling or applying. A recognition in this tier can reflect patient goodwill or local visibility, and patients should read it as one signal among several.
Five questions to ask about any award
- Who grants it, and what is that organization’s main business?
- What criteria did the organization publish, and do they involve outcomes, reviews, votes or applications?
- Did the surgeon or practice have to apply, enroll or pay?
- How recent is it, and has it repeated across years?
- Does it relate to the procedure you are considering?
Many organizations publish their methods. If you cannot find them, ask the practice; a confident office will tell you what each recognition involved.
One surgeon’s list, sorted
Leo Lapuerta, MD, FACS, practices in the Houston area and has more than 30 years of experience. His credentials fall into all three tiers.
Examination-based: triple board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, the American Board of Surgery and in Surgery of the Hand.
Peer-conferred: Chairman of Plastic Surgery at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston; past President of the Houston Society of Plastic Surgeons; Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons. He also serves on the teaching faculty for UT-Houston Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Recognitions:
- RealSelf Top Doctor
- Named a Top Houston Plastic Surgeon by Houstonia Magazine, in multiple years
- Allergan Gold Member practice
- Living Magazine Best Plastic Surgeon and Best Place for Botox, in multiple years, in the Houston and Pearland/Friendswood editions
- American Institute of Plastic Surgeons 10 Best Patient Satisfaction Award
- National Academy of Plastic Surgeons Top 10 Plastic Surgeons Award
Run the five questions against each item in that last group, as you would for any surgeon, and you will learn what each one measured. None of them, on its own, settles whether a surgeon is right for your procedure.
Evidence that outweighs a trophy
Dr. Lapuerta’s own view points patients past the trophy shelf. In his opinion, a surgeon’s experience with the procedure in question, counted in cases and years, together with board certification, best predicts an outcome patients are happy with. By that measure, his more than 30,000 surgical and non-surgical procedures and more than 3,000 before-and-after images available for review carry more information than any single plaque.
Operational facts belong on the scorecard too. He owns and operates a QuadA (AAAASF) accredited surgical facility and works with physician anesthesiologists, and he holds hospital privileges that include the Memorial Hermann network and St. Luke’s Houston Medical Center. No operation is free of risk, and those details describe how a practice prepares for it.
Ask to see before-and-after photos of the exact procedure you want, from patients with a build like yours. That request will tell you more than an afternoon of reading award criteria.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Results vary from patient to patient. Consult a board-certified plastic surgeon or your physician about your own situation. Written in partnership with Joseph Lambert, a publicist working with Leo Lapuerta, MD Plastic Surgery.