The TST Score

What goes into the score

The components below are combined with the weights shown, on a fixed 100% scale. Verified credentials are meant to differentiate: a surgeon without a given certification simply scores 0 on that axis — nothing is redistributed. A score is only published once the measured signals (reviews, and experience/academic title while weighted) are known.

A worked example

Each component is scored from 0 to 10, multiplied by its weight above and summed — that is the score. A missing certification contributes 0 to its row; the measured components must be present for a score to be published at all. The sub-scores below are for illustration; the weights are the live values shown above.

Contribution = weight × sub-score. The contributions add up to the score. The example is rounded to one decimal for readability; real scores carry two decimals.

Patient reviews

Public ratings are combined across platforms using a Bayesian-weighted average: a rating earns full weight only as the number of reviews grows, so a handful of five-star ratings cannot outrank a long, consistent track record. Where multiple platforms are present, each is weighted by its reliability and its review volume. In addition, when the total number of reviews is low, a separate confidence multiplier pulls the whole review sub-score toward a floor; it reaches full weight only past a sufficient volume.

The review component primarily uses public Google ratings; where available, reputation signals from platforms such as RealSelf and Trustpilot are also weighed.

For a platform (Google, Trustpilot, RealSelf) to count toward the score it must carry a public rating and at least 1 reviews; a source below that is left out of the blend entirely. Where a thin source does enter the blend, the confidence multiplier above is what keeps its low volume from carrying the score.

Board exam

The European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (EBOPRAS) is an examined qualification, not a paid membership. It is weighted equal to patient reviews: a registry-verified EBOPRAS diploma earns the full board score.

Society memberships

Verified memberships in professional societies are weighted by selectivity; the current points for each are in the table below. Only registry-confirmed memberships count.

Credentials show diminishing returns: the first verified credential counts in full, and each additional one adds progressively less, up to a cap. Stacking memberships cannot manufacture a high score.

These memberships can be verified by searching the surgeon's name in the societies' public member directories.

Experience

Years of experience are converted to a 0–10 score on a curve that rewards early years most and levels off after about twenty years (twenty years or more earns full marks), so seniority contributes without dominating the score. If a surgeon is also an academic, the experience contribution is trimmed by title so that seniority is not rewarded twice.

Years of experience are derived from the year of the surgeon's “Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery” specialty thesis in Turkey's YÖK National Thesis Center: experience = (current year − thesis year) + 5. The 5 counts the roughly five-year plastic-surgery residency served before the thesis is defended. For example, a surgeon whose thesis is from 2014 has (2026 − 2014) + 5 = 17 years in 2026. If the name or branch match is ambiguous, no experience is assigned; surgeons trained abroad whose thesis is not indexed keep their existing value. The source is fully public and can be checked below.

Academic level

A surgeon's academic title adds a small weight. The specialist title (Uzm. Dr. / Op. Dr.) is the baseline every listed surgeon holds, so it adds no extra points; an academic appointment — Associate Professor (Doçent) or Professor — adds on top.

When no score is shown

We withhold a TST Score until the measured signals exist: at least one review source that counts toward the score and — while these components are weighted — verified experience years and the academic title. If even one of the three is missing, the surgeon is marked “insufficient data” rather than given a misleading number. Missing certifications never hide a score; they simply earn 0 points.

Score bands

For quick reading, each score maps to a band: