Ethics & Compliance Resources
All American Society of Plastic Surgeons ("ASPS" or "Society") members and affiliated members as outlined in the ASPS Bylaws are required to comply with the Society's and The Plastic Surgery Foundation's (The "PSF" or "Foundation") Bylaws.
Active and Life Active members and Candidates for Active membership are required to comply with the Society's Code of Ethics.
- ASPS Bylaws
- The PSF Bylaws
- Code of Ethics
- Summary of Code Changes 2012-2017
- How to File an Ethics Complaint
- ASPS Disciplinary Procedural Rules
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Code of Ethics
- Ethics Advertiser Guidelines
- Expert Witness Affirmation Form
- The Symbol of Excellence in Plastic Surgery
- Conflict of Interest Resources
Social Media and Ethics Resources
ASPS Social Media Toolkit: Course 1 – What You Need to Know
Ethics in Social Media by Burke (Host), Bajaj, and Vercler. ASPS University: Enhance Your Practice Podcast. Season 10. Episode 48. 2021.
"What's in a Name? Implicit Bias Affects Patient Perception of Surgeon Skill. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery" by Bhat, Kollu, Ricci, and Patel. Plast. Reconst Surg. 2021;147(6):948e-956e.
"Framework for the Creation of Ethical and Professional Social Media Content" by Schoenbrunner, Gosman, and Bajaj. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019;144(1):118e-125e.
Proposed Sample Social Media Informed Consent (from "Framework for the Creation of Ethical and Professional Social Media Content")*
*Please note ASPS has not reviewed or approved the contents of this form, and makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracies or compliance with law. You should always consult legal counsel in the jurisdiction of your practice as to the compliance of legal forms with local law.
"Consider This Before You Share Your Post on Social Media" by Bajaj, Anu. Plastic Surgery News. April/May 2019.
To Bot or Not? Challenging the Top Social Media Influencers in #PlasticSurgery by Fan, Economides, and Song. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019;143(1):337-343
The Public's Preferences on Plastic Surgery Social Media Engagement and Professionalism: Demystifying the Impact of Demographics by Fan, Graziano, Economides, Black, and Song. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019;143(2):619-630
The Plastic Surgery Social Media Influencer: Ethical Considerations and a Literature Review by Gupta, Dorfman, Saadat and Roostaeian. Aesthet Surg J. 2020 May 16;40(6):691-699
The Ethics of Sharing Plastic Surgery Videos on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review, Ethical Analysis, and Proposed Guidelines by Dorfman, Vaca, Fine and Schierle. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017 Oct;140(4):825-836
Social Media and Plastic Surgery Practice Building: A Thin Line Between Efficient Marketing, Professionalism, and Ethics by Atiyeh, Chahine and Abou Ghanem. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2020 Sep 22
Insta-grated Plastic Surgery Residencies: The Rise of Social Media Use by Trainees and Responsible Guidelines for Use by Chandawarkar, Gould and Stevens. Aesthet Surg J. 2018 Sep 14;38(10):1145-1152
The Ethical and Professional Use of Social Media in Surgery: A Systematic Review of the Literature by Bennett, Berlin, MacEachern, Buchman, Preminger and Vercler. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018 Sep;142(3):388e-398e
Can Plastic Surgeons Maintain Professionalism within Social Media? by Gutierrez and Johnson. AMA J Ethics. 2018 Apr 1;20(4):379-383
When Is Advertising a Plastic Surgeon's Individual "Brand" Unethical? by Smith and George. AMA J Ethics. 2018 Apr 1;20(4):372-378
When Is Posting about Patients on Social Media Unethical "Medutainment"? by Bennett and Vercler. AMA J Ethics. 2018 Apr 1;20(4):328-335.
Electronic Communication in Plastic Surgery: Guiding Principles from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Health Policy Committee by Eberlin, Perdikis, Damitz, Krochmal, Kalliainen, Bonawitz and ASPS Health Policy Committee. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018 Feb;141(2):500-505
The Divergence of Ethics and Professionalism in the Social Media Arena by Preminger, Hansen, Reid and Gosman. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018 Apr;141(4):1071-1072
Guidelines for Ethical and Professional Use of Social Media in a Hand Surgery Practice by Lifchez, McKee, Raven, Shafritz, Tueting. J Hand Surg Am. 2012 Dec;37(12):2636-41
Questions
Please direct compliance-related questions to any of the email addresses below:
Other Resources
Please visit the Health Policy or Advocacy pages for additional resources that are not addressed above.