For the first time aesthetic practitioners in Ireland and Northern Ireland came together to learn about the latest in complication prevention, diagnosis and management on June 16.
Held in Dublin and organised by The A List, the inaugural Conquering Complications conference welcomed 100 attendees and almost 20 aesthetic companies for a day of education and networking.
The event, hosted by Aesthetics editor Shannon Kilgariff, gave industry professionals the chance to learn best practices for confidently managing complications in aesthetic procedures.
Some of the industry’s leading practitioners, including Dr Patrick Treacy, Dr Steven Harris, Gillian Murray, Dr Steven Land and Dr Lee Walker, shared their top tips and advice at the event.
Among the key takeaways were to:
- Justify your approach: It’s important that you question why you are treating in a particular way and be able to justify everything you do. For example, consider why are you using a needle over a cannula? Or doing one technique over another?
- Assess your risks: Take a bespoke approach to consultation and assessment to every patient and consider the differing factors which might increase your risk for adverse events. Will a particular treatment/technique or disease interrupt or impact a dermal filler treatment result?
- Build yourself a community: Aesthetic practitioners often work in isolation, so attending face-to-face events is vital for building a network of like-minded individuals who can help support you should something occur. Events like Conquering Complications, as well as others in the UK like ACE and CCR, are perfect opportunities to meet new people to connect and build your own community.
Speaking after the conference, co-director of The A List, registered nurse Lisa Waring, said, “As aesthetics practitioners, myself and The A List team are hugely passionate about supporting and helping to educate our industry. That was our motivation behind the event. Complications can arise during treatments at any stage, so practitioners need to be prepared and know what to do should it ever happen and Conquering Complications has achieved this.”
The conference had a fantastic response from delegates, Waring added, who said she was proud of her fellow conference directors, registered nurses Elisha Milligan and Kate McClean, as well as Stephanie Toal and Geri Duffy. “The feedback showed that it didn’t matter what stage you are in of your career, every single person in the room got so much out of it,” she said, adding, “The atmosphere on the day was electric and it was a great opportunity for people to catch up with peers and network. We are passionate about encouraging collaboration over competition in the industry and that was exactly what the event was about.”
Dr Linda Simpson, founder of Fine Line Clinical, attended the event as a delegate. She said of her experience, “This was an excellent complications conference! The attention to detail was superb and thank you to the speakers for sharing their knowledge and evidence-based approach to complication management. In addition to learning, I got to spend time with all my friends and aesthetic colleagues.”
The A List has started preparations for another event to take place in the autumn with more details to be released soon.
