Here at the Derma Institute, we welcome talented and experienced prescribing nurses to our training courses, providing them with new opportunities to expand their knowledge and boost their career options. We recently sat down with one of our past delegates who shares her experience of moving into the field of aesthetic medicine.

Why did you decide to train in facial injectables, aesthetic medicine?

I absolutely love what I do; I love working with different people every day, I love treating them, and I love being a problem solver. But I’d arrived at a point in my career where I felt that there wasn’t really a logical next step in nursing that allowed me to extend my knowledge base so significantly. I’d already experienced that leap when I moved into a prescribing role, but there wasn’t really an opportunity to experience that again if I carried on along a linear career path. I had opportunities for future promotions, but for me specifically that just meant performing the same procedures at a higher grade.

I’d started to look into options that allowed me to diversify from nursing but which still had me working on the floor alongside patients and still doing all the things that I really love to do. Facial injectables seemed like the natural next step for my career to take.

What did you think of this aesthetic medicine course?

Challenging! Of course it was challenging. A huge amount of the syllabus covered aspects that either weren’t included as part of my nursing degree, or which were only touched upon briefly to give me a basic level of knowledge that would allow me to conduct my role exactly in the way that would be expected of me. For example, there was obviously a much greater focus on facial anatomy, and I hadn’t quite realised exactly how unusual some of the muscle placements in the face really are when looking at it with such precision! Botulinum toxin and tissue fillers were also new to me.

But at the same time I immediately felt that this was the right step because I already had a lot of the base skills that aesthetic practitioners need to succeed. I’d already developed my own injection technique, I knew about patient care, and I was aware of the hidden aspects to look out for when determining eligibility for a procedure. And even when I did feel challenged, I was never on my own, so I always had one of the course leaders with me to answer my questions and calm my nerves during practicals!

Has a Level 7 qualification changed your career path?

It has! But it wasn’t until a little later after I’d completed training that I actually decided to move into aesthetic medicine full time. And I think that’s really one of the best things about facial injectables. I took the course, and I became qualified, but there was absolutely no need for me to switch careers unless I wanted to. At first, it was just nice to know that I had that option available to me if I ever wanted to take up the offer.

As it happened I did decide to leave my nursing role and move into a clinical setting as I found that the hours and the flexibility in the clinic better suited where I am right now. But that’s just me! I know people that have become Level 7 qualified and straight away worked to build up their own practice, and I know others that have decided to stay in nursing. I don’t think there’s any right or wrong, it’s just about having those doors open.

Why did you choose the Derma Institute?

I think that no matter how long you’ve been in nursing, it’s still nerve wracking the first time you perform a new procedure on a real person, so for me that’s something that I felt was hugely important to conquer during my training, when I knew I had the support and supervision of experts that had been doing this for years and were widely considered to be amongst some of the very best in the field. So when I was searching for facial injectable courses, one of the most important aspects for me was a big focus on practical training, hands on experiences, and interactions with real patients.

The Derma Institute course had what I believe to be the perfect blend of practical and theoretical training, and I’d choose this course over and over given the opportunity.