Verify before you decide
Use these official databases to check a doctor's license, disciplinary history, board certification, and the accreditation of the exact facility where surgery would take place.
These verification links have been used 23 times to check doctors' credentials and help women make informed decisions.
Official links reviewed July 15, 2026.
Names matter. Search the doctor's full legal name and location. Search the facility by its legal name and street address—not only the marketing name used in an advertisement.
Start with the person providing care
Licensure and board certification answer different questions. Check both, and review every state where the doctor currently practices or previously held a license.
Federation of State Medical Boards
Start with the official medical board for every state where the doctor practices or holds a license. Look for active status, restrictions, public orders, and complaint information.
Some states have separate boards for MD and DO physicians, and each state decides what it publishes.
Federation of State Medical Boards
Search for a physician profile that may include license history and state medical-board disciplinary actions reported to the national system.
Use this as a screening step, then confirm the newest details directly with the state medical board.
American Board of Plastic Surgery
Check whether a surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and review the certification status shown in its public search.
Board certification is voluntary and separate from licensure, disciplinary history, experience, and facility accreditation.
American Board of Medical Specialties
Search current certification through ABMS Member Boards and compare the listed specialty with the procedure being proposed.
A board name in an advertisement is not enough. Confirm the certifying board and the exact specialty in the official record.
An NPI listing, social-media profile, professional membership, or the phrase “board certified” does not by itself confirm an active medical license or certification in the specialty you intend to verify.
The location is a separate safety check
Ask where the procedure will actually occur. Then verify that exact location through the accreditor's official directory and ask about emergency transfer plans.
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care
Search outpatient, ambulatory, and office-based surgical organizations by their exact name and location.
Note: This verifies the facility, not the individual surgeon. A missing result may require a direct call to the accreditor.
Open official resourceThe Joint Commission
Look for accredited U.S. health care organizations, their sites of care, and listed programs.
Note: A facility may use a different recognized accreditor, so one search alone is not conclusive.
Open official resourceQUAD A
Use QUAD A's official verification page for office-based and ambulatory surgery facility accreditation.
Note: Its online directory is currently being rebuilt; the official page explains how to request current verification.
Open official resourceA simple verification routine
Pause if names, addresses, specialties, or license details do not match what you were told.
Write down the doctor's full legal name, license number, practice state, procedure, and exact facility address.
Confirm the license, disciplinary history, relevant board certification, and facility accreditation.
Call the official board or accreditor using contact information from its own website—not a number supplied by an advertisement.
Save the date and results of your searches, ask follow-up questions, and do not let a deadline or discount rush the decision.
Planning surgery outside the United States?
U.S. databases may not cover a doctor or facility abroad. Verify the professional license, specialty credentials, facility authorization, emergency services, and complaint history through that country's official medical and health-facility authorities.