The Australian Association of Cosmetic Surgery was established in 1992 and succeeded by the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery in 1999 having identified a void in Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine training in Australia. It is a not-for-profit, multi- disciplinary fellowship-based body of general surgeons, cosmetic proceduralists, plastic surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, dermatologists, ear nose and throat surgeons, ophthalmologists and other doctors who have trained in and practice cosmetic medicine and surgery.
The College has a medical faculty that trains and accredits cosmetic physicians and a surgical faculty that trains and accredits cosmetic proceduralists.
Our Goals
The primary goal of the ACCSM is to ensure the safe provision of cosmetic medical and cosmetic surgical procedures to the Australian community through the supply of appropriately trained and certified health care practitioners.
The College also seeks to work cooperatively with government and other stakeholders to improve standards and safety and to educate health care consumers. College Fellows spokespeople are regularly quoted in the media and consulted by federal and state health and consumer regulators.
The ACCSM is the only medical college which provides education and training leading to fellowships specifically in cosmetic medicine and surgery. Fellows of the College are medical doctors who have completed post-graduate education and training and demonstrated competency specifically in cosmetic medicine and surgery. To become an ACCSM Surgical Fellow, doctors must typically complete a minimum of 12 years of dedicated surgical education and training. To become an ACCSM Medical Fellow, doctors must typically complete a minimum of 7 years medical education and training.
Medical Practitioners, who wish to practice in a particular field, obtain post graduate training from the learned Colleges. Cosmetic surgery and medicine has emerged as a new practice and thus has not been a significant part of the training of any of the established Colleges. Indeed any doctor wishing to practice in this field had no option but to acquire privately organised training. This training was not subject to any quality controls and varied greatly in its quality. Some doctors obtained adequate appropriate training and others did not.
To fill this vacuum the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine was established as a multi-disciplinary body consisting of general surgeons, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, ear nose and throat surgeons, ophthalmologists and other doctors who were already practicing in cosmetic surgery.
It was the successor to the Australian Association of Cosmetic Surgery, which was formed in 1992. The College has a medical faculty which accredits cosmetic physicians and a surgical faculty which accredits cosmetic proceduralists.