Aesthetics is largely absent from undergraduate medical, dental and nursing degrees. Further, it is only briefly featured in postgraduate medical specialty training such as dermatology, plastic surgery and oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Training in aesthetics is undertaken with independent providers, alongside a smaller but growing offering from suppliers and pharmaceutical companies. The absence of a widely accepted and formally accredited training pathway in aesthetics creates confusion and presents safety issues for patients and practitioners.
I believe we should be working collaboratively towards the creation and accreditation of a formal training pathway that leads to ‘specialists’ in aesthetics, in the same way that my specialist training in the NHS will lead me to become a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon via a nationally recognised training pathway.
My argument is founded on my experience of working as a full-time NHS oral and maxillofacial specialist registrar, an aesthetic practitioner and trainer. I see both sides of the debate: on the one…
