How a surgeon gets on our list
Seven checks, applied to everyone. They are also the questions worth asking of any provider — including the ones that are not us.
- Registration. Current Turkish Ministry of Health registration, verified against the register rather than taken from a CV.
- Specialist training. A completed residency in the relevant specialty, with the training hospital and dates on file.
- Volume in the specific procedure, declared honestly and checkable. A plastic surgeon who performs four rhinoplasties a year is not a rhinoplasty surgeon.
- Who does what. The named clinician performs the parts that determine the result — for a hair transplant, designing the hairline and opening the channels personally.
- Willingness to decline. A surgeon who accepts every case we send is either not assessing properly or is subordinating judgement to the relationship.
- Documentation. Operation note, discharge summary, histology where tissue is removed, implant passport where a device is placed — every patient, without being chased.
- Aftercare. Available to review patient photographs at three, six and twelve months, rather than treating discharge as the end.
What gets someone removed
- Accepting a case the medical board had declined.
- Delegating a part of the procedure they had agreed to perform personally.
- Incomplete or late documentation, repeatedly.
- Being unavailable during the aftercare window.
- Any pressure applied to a patient about proceeding.
How your case is allocated
By the medical board, based on your case — not by a rota, not by who has a free slot, and not by any commercial relationship.
We pay hospitals and clinicians at rates agreed in advance, and our margin is the same whichever surgeon a case goes to. That is the whole reason the arrangement is structured that way, and it is set out in full on our partnerships page.
- Your photographs, history and goals are reviewed before any surgeon is named.
- Several procedures go only to clinicians who perform them regularly — Afro-textured hair transplant, bariatric revision, breast implant revision, secondary rhinoplasty.
- A revision of someone else’s work goes to a surgeon who does revisions, which is a different skill from primary surgery.
- If nobody on our list is right for your case, we say so rather than allocating the nearest fit.
- You are told who it is, with their registration number, before you pay anything.
- A video consultation with that clinician is arranged before any deposit.
- If you would rather see someone else, say so. We will explain the reasoning and, where it is reasonable, change it.
What a surgeon does, and what a technician does
The distinction behind most of the bad outcomes attributed to Turkey, and it is rarely stated plainly.
| Task | Who | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing you and planning the procedure | The surgeon | The plan determines the result |
| Designing a hairline | The surgeon | Angle, irregularity and the transition zone are judgement, not technique |
| Opening recipient channels | The surgeon | Depth, angle and direction decided here. Results are won or lost at this step |
| Placing grafts into open channels | Trained technicians, supervised | Normal practice everywhere, including the best clinics |
| Any incision under general anaesthetic | The surgeon | Non-negotiable |
| Anaesthesia | A consultant anaesthetist, present throughout | Not supervising several theatres remotely |
| Tooth preparation | The dentist | How much enamel comes off is irreversible |
Technicians placing grafts under supervision is standard and entirely appropriate. Technicians performing the surgery is not, and it is widespread enough to have given a whole country a reputation.
Verifying a Turkish surgeon yourself
You do not have to take our word for any of this, and we would rather you did not.
- Ask us for the full name as it appears on the register, and the registration number. We give both in writing before payment.
- Check the name against the Turkish Ministry of Health register, and against the relevant specialist society.
- Confirm the specialty matches the procedure. A dermatologist and a plastic surgeon are not interchangeable for surgery.
- Ask which hospital holds their operating privileges, and check the hospital’s licence is current.
- Search the name independently, not only the clinic’s own pages.
- Ask for procedure volumes, and ask how they are counted.
- If anything does not reconcile, stop and ask us about it directly.
Signs worth taking seriously
- A refusal to name the surgeon before payment.
- A "surgical team" with no individual named anywhere.
- Stock photography of clinicians, or the same photograph on several clinic websites.
- Credentials that cannot be found on any register.
- A specialty that does not match the procedure being sold.
If you find something we missed, tell us. We would far rather hear it from you than have a patient treated by someone who should not be on our list.
Our surgeons: frequently asked questions
Yes — the name and Ministry of Health registration number, in writing, before any deposit, along with the facility and its licence details. A provider unwilling to give you that is telling you something.
Yes. A video consultation with the clinician who would actually treat you is arranged before any payment, and you can ask them anything.
The medical board decides, based on your case. Our margin is the same whichever surgeon it goes to, which is exactly why the arrangement is structured that way.
Technicians place grafts into channels under supervision, which is standard everywhere. The surgeon designs the hairline and opens the channels personally — that is where the result is decided, and we put it in writing.
Because we list the ones whose details we have verified and published. We work with more, and the right one for your case is named to you after a clinician has reviewed it rather than chosen from a page.
You can ask. If they are the right person for your case, yes. If they are not, we will explain why rather than agreeing to keep you happy.
Ask us for the full registered name and registration number, then check them against the Ministry of Health register and the relevant specialist society. Confirm the specialty matches the procedure, and which hospital holds their privileges.
The plan changes or the operation does not happen. You are not committed to an operation because you have travelled, and a deposit does not buy an operation a clinician no longer thinks is right.
No. We are a medical travel company, not a clinic. We assess, select, name and arrange — and we remain accountable to you for the selection. The distinction is set out on our about us page.
No, in either direction. We take no commission and pay none. An intermediary paid per booking has a reason to accept patients who should be declined and to send them where the payment is highest.
The treating surgeon reviews photographs at three, six and twelve months as standard, and the aftercare line reaches a person for twelve months. If something needs attention sooner, we escalate it to them the same day.
Please do. Take our written assessment to another provider or to your own doctor. We would rather be checked than believed, and if someone disagrees with us we would like to know why.
