Cambridge, England — A British university has added a new degree course aimed at providing doctors with skills and experience in the field of cosmetic surgery.
The course, starting in September 2012 at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, is open to all accredited plastic surgeons based in the U.K.; overseas plastic surgeons will be able to apply starting in 2013, BBC News reports. The university says it hopes the new qualification will ensure quality care and also deter Britons from going abroad for surgery.
The new course was also prompted by the recent scandal over faulty breast implants made by now-defunct French firm Poly Implant Prosthese, the UK Press Association reports.
Professor James Frame, F.R.C.S., a surgeon at the university who will help teach the new practice-based plastic surgery course, says some plastic surgeons still lack expertise. He also says some surgeons don’t have enough experience to carry out cosmetic work because cosmetic surgery is normally done in private practice and not the National Health Service, BBC News reports.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has called the cosmetic surgery program “not necessary for fully qualified plastic surgeons,” according to BBC News. Some plastic surgeons also say the course is unnecessary, noting that all qualified plastic surgeons in the U.K. must complete training approved by the Royal College of Surgeons before they may work for the NHS.
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