Job duties
The job responsibilities of a medical aesthetician is to care for those who have undergone facial surgery or suffered injury by providing them with skin care consultations.
Your duties will include performing non-surgical facial treatments like massage on your patients, helping them choose the right makeup and skin care regimen, sterilize equipment for use on a patient and maintain medical records.
Medical aestheticians are licensed skin care specialists who are affiliated to physicians, dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Your patients could include people who have undergone chemotherapy and lost their hair, eyebrows and lashes.
Education
To undergo formal training, you will need to enroll in a cosmetology school that has the state sanction of the board of cosmetology. Usually, the time for training of a cosmetology program is around nine months.
You can also opt for a certificate or associate’s degree programs in general aesthetics in your local community college or vocational school. After that, you might have to undertake specialized training in medical aesthetics. In certain cases, this may be an on-job training. Certificate and associate’s degree programs in medical aesthetics are not as common as programs in general aesthetics.
Your classes will include salon management, physiology, aesthetician laboratory, skin disorders and diseases, advanced aromatherapy and aesthetics, and cosmetic chemistry. You could also consider taking supplementary science course on anatomy and biology to prepare for a medical career.
Obtaining licensure
While licensing requirements may vary state-wise, you must be licensed in order to practice professionally. Some states allow you to work with a licensed physician or hospital even if you have earned a general aesthetician’s license.
A general aesthetician’s license is issued to individuals who have graduated from a state-approved aesthetics program and are at least 16 years of age. You will to clear a state-administered licensing examination to obtain your license. This license may need renewal after a specific period of time.
