History of the ABHRS

In June 1995 at the Hair Replacement Surgery Seminar in Chicago, Dr. Shelly Friedman, a seminar speaker and medical advisor to the American Hair Loss Council (AHLC), first proposed the idea of a certifying board for hair restoration surgery.

The American Hair Loss Council invited all of the specialty groups whose physicians performed hair restoration surgery to participate in a meeting to discuss the development of a Board Certification process. The presidents of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery were each invited to send three representatives.

Two significant events stimulated this first meeting. First, the AHLC was receiving many inquiries from the public about how to recognize a competent hair restoration surgeon. Secondly, the AHLC had been contacted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and advised of its plan to conduct an industry audit on both the surgical and non-surgical aspects of hair replacement.

On June 10, 1996, the organizational meeting for a hair replacement surgery certification examination was held at the Hotel Intercontinental in New York City. This meeting heralded a new era in hair restoration: the formation of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. Each of the societies represented at this meeting agreed that their respective organizations would accept and recognize this board as the only board certification focusing on hair restoration surgery.