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American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS)


Our Opinion: The American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS) is one of the few boards there exists within the United States for hair transplant surgery. We believe that an ABHRS certification ads crediability to a hair transplant surgeon, as to be ABHRS certified the doctor has to take an exam as well as continuing education to keep his or hers certification valid.



General Information: As there are no  American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) recognition for hair restoration. Therefore, it is not possible to get regnocition from ABMS. However, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), the worlds biggest hair restoration and transplant educational organization, only recognizes certification from the ABHRS. Besides the ISHRS, the ABHRS works closely together with  and runs the ABHRS website.

Useful Services:
Addresses:

Email: Click here to email the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery
Website: Click here to open the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery's website (opens a new window)

18525 South Torrence Avenue
Lansing
Illinois (IL)
60438
USA
Phone: +1 708 474 2600
Fax: +1 708 474 6260

About the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS)

Source: The American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery

Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives

Mission: To act for the benefit of the public, to establish specialty standards and to examine surgeons' skill, knowledge and aesthetic judgment in the field of hair restoration surgery.

Goals: To grant certification to candidates who meet the highest standards of the medical profession in the field of hair restoration surgery with the express provision that the Board will not act as a business, vocational or post-secondary school.

Objectives: To establish requirements for qualification of applicants for certification by the Board in the field of hair restoration surgery.

History

The need for the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS) first surfaced in June 1995 at a Hair Replacement Surgery Seminar in Chicago. A group of speakers began discussing the need for a certifying board in hair replacement surgery. The discussion during the subsequent twelve months became more resolute as the press began to focus on hair replacement surgery, due to the many sensational stories on television and in print. In 1996, the American Hair Loss Council (AHLC) invited all of the specialty groups whose physicians performed hair restoration surgery to participate in a meeting to discuss the development of a Board Certification process for hair restoration surgery. The presidents of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery were each invited to send three representatives to a meeting to discuss the development of a certification process.

Two significant events stimulated this first meeting. First, the AHLC was receiving many inquiries from the public about how to recognize a competent hair restoration surgeon. Secondly, the AHLC had been contacted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and advised of its plan to conduct an industry audit, on both the surgical and non-surgical aspects of hair replacement. This audit precipitated a discussion about self-regulation within the AHLC that led to that organization's invitation to its professional peers to discuss the development of a certification process.

These representatives met twice. They recommended that an independent examining body be organized to develop a credentialing and examination process, the successful competition of which would assure the public of the individual's educational ability to perform safe, aesthetically sensitive hair replacement surgery.

On June 10, 1996, the organizational meeting for a hair replacement surgery certification examination was held in New York City. This meeting heralded a new era in hair restoration: the formation of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. Each of the societies represented at this meeting agreed that their respective organizations would accept and recognize this board as the only board certification focusing on hair restoration surgery.

The first formal board meeting was held in Nashville on September 20, 1996. Officers were elected and committee chairpersons were appointed. They embarked on the development of a written and oral examination, each of which is statistically validated with regard to their ability to discriminate between those whose practice habits were consistent with safe, aesthetically sensitive hair restoration surgery.

The ABHRS recently was recognized internationally. In 2000, at the request of the president of the European Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the ABHRS began to offer its international candidates the option of having their certificates read "International Board of Hair Restoration Surgery." A certificate with this designation certifies successful completion of the same credentialing and examination process as the Diplomates of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. Now with five examinations administered, the ABHRS exam stands as the only psychometrically and statistically validated examination dedicated to the specialty of hair restoration surgery.







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