In October 2008, The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS) lodged a submission with the Australian Medical Council (AMC) seeking to have Cosmetic Medical Practice recognised as a new medical specialty. This follows the College’s preliminary application which was given approval to proceed by the AMC in accordance with the Council’s guidelines pertaining to the Recognition of Medical Specialties: Policy and Process (2007).
This stage one part of the application is not to have the College or its training program assessed for accreditation. If a case is made for the specialty of Cosmetic Medical Practice to be recognised, then any organisation of doctors or training facility in the country, including the College, will be able to apply to have their training scheme, qualifications and accreditation processes assessed in stage two against the requirements of the specialty as set out by the AMC.
Currently, in the absence of a recognised cosmetic medical specialty, there is no mechanism for this independent assessment by the AMC of any qualifications in cosmetic medicine and cosmetic surgery. The College believes that in this rapidly expanding area of medical practice, recognition of the specialty and the consequent ability of the authorities to assess cosmetic medical and surgical qualifications and training will better protect patients.
This application was prepared by the ACCS Cosmetic Medical Practice Specialty Recognition Working Group. The documents that comprise the ACCS submission to the AMC appear here in full and are available for viewing by all interested parties.