How to Become A Plastic Surgeon in 2022: Step by Step Guide And Career Paths

Physicians who conduct surgical and reconstructive procedures on patients are plastic surgeons. These can include optional courses, from rhinoplasty or breast augmentation, a preventive procedure such as 'micro' facial lifts, to retro-operative operations, such as deformity repairs or burning skin accidents. A plastic surgeon needs years of intensive preparation.

The educational journey starts with a four-year bachelor's degree, followed by a medical school that takes another four years to finish, and then an internship that typically lasts around six years. To become a plastic surgeon, you won't require a different undergraduate degree, although some courses are mandatory for you to take during your medical school days.

Some universities have premedical programs that allow students to choose classes to prepare them for medical education according to their major, so you won't have to search for the course out of your university if you aim to become a plastic surgeon.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a plastic surgeon. For example, did you know that they make an average of $177.18 an hour? That's $368,541 a year!

Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 55,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Plastic Surgeon Do

There are certain skills that many plastic surgeons have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, dexterity and leadership skills.

Learn more about what a Plastic Surgeon does

How To Become a Plastic Surgeon

If you're interested in becoming a plastic surgeon, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 33.5% of plastic surgeons have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.0% of plastic surgeons have master's degrees. Even though most plastic surgeons have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a plastic surgeon. When we researched the most common majors for a plastic surgeon, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on plastic surgeon resumes include master's degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a plastic surgeon. In fact, many plastic surgeon jobs require experience in a role such as medical assistant. Meanwhile, many plastic surgeons also have previous career experience in roles such as staff nurse or administrative assistant.

Average Salary for a Plastic Surgeon

Plastic Surgeons in America make an average salary of $368,541 per year or $177 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $624,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $217,000 per year.

Average Plastic Surgeon Salary

$368,541 Yearly

$177.18 hourly

$217,000

10 %

$368,000

Albany, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,140

Enrollment

876

Top Skills For a Plastic Surgeon

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.0% of plastic surgeons listed patient care on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and dexterity are important as well.

Patient Care, 19.0%
Surgery, 16.4%
Medical Records, 12.2%
Private Practice, 10.5%
RN, 7.2%
Other Skills, 34.7%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Plastic Surgeon Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Plastic Surgeon templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Plastic Surgeon resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Plastic Surgeon Demographics

Plastic Surgeon Gender Distribution

Female

76%

Male

24%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among plastic surgeons, 76.4% of them are women, while 23.6% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among plastic surgeons is White, which makes up 81.7% of all plastic surgeons.

The most common foreign language among plastic surgeons is Spanish at 85.7%.

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Best States For a Plastic Surgeon

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a plastic surgeon. The best states for people in this position are Maine, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Plastic surgeons make the most in Maine with an average salary of $256,867. Whereas in New York and Massachusetts, they would average $248,019 and $245,429, respectively. While plastic surgeons would only make an average of $244,565 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Denver Health	$369,837	$177.81	2
2	Merritt Hawkins	$368,541	$177.18	10
3	University at Buffalo	$368,541	$177.18	2
4	Tri-Valley	$368,541	$177.18	2
5	Marc's	$368,541	$177.18	1
6	Sono Bello	$368,541	$177.18	1
7	Rockford Memorial Hospital Association	$368,540	$177.18	1
8	Watson Clinic LLP	$345,203	$165.96	2
9	Enterprise Medical Recruiting	$342,828	$164.82	2
10	Simon	$341,528	$164.20	2

Rank

Company

Average Salary

Hourly Rate

Job Openings

Denver Health

$369,837

$177.81

Merritt Hawkins

$368,541

$177.18

University at Buffalo