If you’ve decided surgery is right, the next decision matters more than the procedure itself: who performs it. The same operation done by a senior surgeon and a Turkey-factory technician produces dramatically different outcomes.
1. Years actively performing the technique. Hair restoration is technically demanding. Surgeons who have done thousands of cases over decades produce more consistent results than those who have done dozens over a few years. Ask. The answer should be specific.
2. Board certification and licensure. In Canada, that means CPSO (provincial license) plus ABHRS (American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery diplomate) and/or FISHRS (ISHRS Fellow). Check the public registers — they’re searchable by name.
3. Published research or contributions to the field. Surgeons who have published peer-reviewed work or trained others are demonstrably committed to the discipline beyond their own caseload. PubMed search is free.
4. Independent reviews on third-party platforms. RealSelf, RateMDs, Google. The pattern of reviews over years matters more than any single one. 4.8/5 over 36 reviews tells you much more than 5/5 over 3.
5. Who actually performs the surgery. In some clinics, the named surgeon does the consultation and a technician does the surgery. Ask explicitly: who performs the extraction? Who designs the hairline? Who supervises the implantation?
High-pressure sales tactics. Limited-time offers, “book today and save”, refusal to provide a written assessment. Hair restoration is permanent surgery; legitimate clinics give you time and space to decide.
Promises a single number on a website. Per-graft costs and total ranges depend on your case. A clinic that quotes you a number before seeing photos isn’t basing it on your situation.
Dramatic before-and-afters with no methodology disclosure. Where was it taken? When? With what graft count? Reputable clinics include the case data; marketing operations don’t.
The surgeon doesn’t see you in person. A consultation with a sales coordinator instead of the operating surgeon means you don’t actually know the surgeon’s aesthetic, opinion, or care for your case until you’re on the table.
No honest “you’re not a candidate” track record. Every surgeon should turn away patients who aren’t good candidates. If the answer is always yes, the answer is rarely right.
The patient journey reads in six stages. The fastest way through it is to send photos — Dr. Jones reviews personally and you skip directly to the consultation.