As a Board Certified Facial Plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills I am often asked to describe the difference between a Plastic Surgeon and a Facial Plastic Surgeon. The main difference is as follows. A Facial Plastic surgeon does 5 years of residency doing nothing but Head and Neck Surgery which includes Cancer surgery and reconstructions as well as cosmetic surgery of the face. This is then followed by a 1 or 2 year fellowship where only cosmetic surgery of the face is performed. A Plastic surgeon does a 5 year residency in general surgery which is mainly surgery of the abdomen including appendix, hernia repairs, gallbladder surgery etc. They then do a 2 year fellowship where they learn cosmetic surgery of the entire body, of which facial surgery is small percentage of the training. There are excellent Plastic surgeons and Facial Plastic surgeons and the converse is also true, so the most important factor in choosing your surgeon for facial work is to make sure that they have a great reputation for the procedure you are interested in. If all else is equal, a Facial Plastic surgeon has more exposure and experience dealing with and working with the face than a Plastic surgeon does coming right out of their training.