Medical Aesthetics Training: What’s Everyone Doing?
There are a lot of training options out there for aesthetic practitioners. Even when you’ve narrowed down your choices to those courses that only accept medically-qualified practitioners, the options are vast. How much should you spend? What’s everyone else doing?
Glowday is often asked for recommendations for training courses. We love data and facts, so we decided to survey all of the practitioners who follow us on GlowdayPRO. Here’s some of the responses they gave us.
Where Do Practitioners Train?
There was a real mixed bag of responses with some choosing long, established large training providers and others choosing newer, boutique academies. It’s fair to say that training academies will attract different practitioners for different reasons and it won’t just be the type of training they offer. It will be type of people they are, the values they display and who else they train. Some will attract more doctors than nurses, some will appeal to aesthetic veterans, some will feel more suited to complete newbies. It’s different strokes for different folks, just like it is for patients choosing practitioners.
Harley Academy: 23%
Acquisition Aesthetics: 16%
Cosmetic Courses: 14%
Skin Viva: 12%
Derma Medical: 9%
Aesthetics Hub: 5%
Avanti Aesthetics: 5%
Other mentions: LAAM, MATA, Pharamaesthetics, Totally Aesthetics, Bob Khanna, Interface Aesthetics, Medics Direct
How Much Are Practitioners Spending?
Spending varied and obviously the longer a person has been in the business, the more they will have spent. But, there’s certainly some hefty spending going on from practitioners who are really serious about pursuing an aesthetics career.
Under £2,500: 10%
£2,500-£5,000: 12%
£5,000-£10,000: 17%
£10,000-£25,000: 52%
£25,000-£50,000: 10%
Over £50,000 5%
The average spend on training is £12k
The maximum spend on training was £150k
One-to-one training is most valued by aesthetic practitioners who are looking to sharpen up their skills.
What Features Do Practitioners Look For?
Without doubt, there are three top three features which signal a course is great. Size, materials and application:
96% of respondents stated that one-to-one or very small courses made for the best training
92% of respondents deemed the quality of course materials that were made available prior to and following the training as very important
81% told us that hands-on training and experience was critical
Other features that were highlighted:
Post-course support
Experienced and knowledgeable trainers
Up-to-date techniques
Focus on consultation and consent
Complications management
Not covering too much in one course
Tailored to medics
The Best Training They’ve Received
We asked practitioners for examples of some of the best training they’ve experienced. Time and time again, one-to-one training and mentoring is really valued.
“The LAAM plenty of hands-on experience by far more than any other course I’ve been to, they don’t let you leave until you’re feeling 100% confident. Highly recommend - the teaching atmosphere is incredible for nervous newbies!”
“1-2-1 with Caroline Hall, we saw 11 patients together”
“Level 7 with Cosmetic Courses- excellent support!”
“Dr MJs training style and course structure is really good”
“Lee Walker - he knows what he’s doing”
“Cosmetic Courses - safe, thorough, excellent support after the course”
“Acquisition Aesthetics - the BEST trainers”
“Mentoring at Harley Academy”
“1-2-1 mentorship at Avanti Aesthetics”
“The LAAM was a game changer for my career, the support after you finish is immense and they’re always there to help with advice and tips. A great course too with plenty of hands on experience, extremely approachable”
“Recommend Dr Marcus Mehta at the Harley Academy”
“I can definitely vouch for Avanti Academy”
“Recommend Skin Viva”
What Should Practitioners Avoid ? What Makes For A Bad Training Course?
Unfortunately, not everyone has a good experience and there are some bad training courses out there. From ambiguity regarding what is actually included in the course, to one practitioner telling us that they attended a course where one singular patient had her lips injected by multiple trainees!
Unfortunately, as with all things aesthetics, the lack of statutory standards regarding training courses, it’s down to you to do your research. Don’t just put your faith in the marketing literature, ask the questions!
Other poor experiences…
Limited/no patient interaction
When it’s not made clear it’s online only
Not comprehensive enough to make you feel confident to inject
Foundation days which are just theory and observing
Dirty treatment rooms
Inexperienced trainers
Unsuitable models
Sharing patients
Being rushed
Advice From Other Practitioners.
Finally, we asked practitioners to tell us the things they wish they had known at the start of their aesthetics career.
“Injecting is only part one of your business, make sure you learn about the other 80%”
“Don’t go for the training schools with the biggest PR/marketing budget”
“You can have the best clinical skills but to be successful you need to have good business sense”
“Despite all of your NHS experience, this will be the most challenging field of nursing”
“Research courses, find practitioners who have trained with them and speak to them”
“It’s HARD! Don’t expect to be up and running straight away”
“Foundation training is not enough!”
“You won’t make a profit for a long time, you have to invest in your business”
“Read the small print!”
“Apply the theory that ‘mates rates’ only applies to someone who buys you birthday presents - everyone else is full price! It’s taken me three years to learn this!”
Level 7
As we’re talking about training, there is a fair amount of buzz around Level 7 being the qualification that will be required if/when regulation happens. How much truth there is in that, who knows. But if you’re keen to find out more and if you can fast track your way to it,, check out this article.
For more information on how GlowdayPRO can help you set up your business and automate your admin, freeing your time up for more training, head here.