Licensure
Remember high school Driver’s Ed? What made you eligible to learn how to drive a car with 2 of your obnoxious classmates in the back seat? It was because you turned 16 and had a license to drive (or a permit that would eventually become a license). Driver’s Ed. then allowed you to use that license and become a good driver. Over time, experience made you a great driver.
The same is true for aesthetic
medicine procedures. They are not taught and mastered as part of any basic licensure training. Not in medical school, dental school, nursing school, or physician assistant training programs. Yet, despite not being taught, nobody can just skip the licensure process and learn aesthetic procedures. Moreover, programs that train in aesthetic procedures do not grant licensure in anything even if their name sounds big and fancy like “American Academy of…” and “International Board of …”.
Aesthetic Procedures all involve facets of licensed training.
Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers are actually prescription pharmaceutical substances. They require prescribing rights like any other prescription medication. One needs a license to prescribe or administer a prescription agent under a protocol. Procedures like PRP involve processing of body fluids and returning them back to the patient. All of the procedures involve injecting the skin to levels below the epidermis using sterile needles. All of these services require licensure to make one eligible to perform it. It is the practice of medicine. Doing any of these services without the proper license could cause one to be charged with “Practicing Medicine without a License”.
Who Can Perform Aesthetic Procedures like Botox, Fillers, and Medical Microneedling?
Licenses that make you eligible to perform aesthetic injection procedures include MD (Medical Doctor), DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine), Advanced Nursing Licensure like NP (Nurse Practitioner), PA (Physician Assistant), and RN (Registered Nurse). With the exception of the MD and DO’s, the others may also have additional constraints or supervisory requirements to practice certain procedures. These vary from state to state. Do not trust a training program to give you legal advice here. Contact your state licensure board, and if they don’t have the answer, write them and ask for a ruling on your potential practice situation before you start your aesthetic services.
Dentists (DDS and DMD), and Naturopaths (NMD, ND) are eligible to perform certain cosmetic procedures in some states, but not all.
All other people who may be called “Doctor” like Chiropractors, Pharmacists, Optometrists, Podiatrists, and PhD’s do not have these procedures in their legal scope of practice in any state. LPN, Nursing Assistants, Phlebotomists, Estheticians, and Massage Therapists are also not eligible.
Finally, your licensure should be current and active in any state you choose to practice.
Eligibility
Conversely, it is unwise to get one’s learners permit and skip Driver’s Ed completely. You may not be able to get car insurance, and you could end up in a serious wreck before you even have enough driving experience to pass your road test. While licensure is necessary to learn aesthetic procedures, it is not sufficient. The skills of these aesthetic procedures are not taught and mastered in any core licensure training.
Eligibility to practice any aesthetic procedure on patients in a clinical setting requires 3 elements in addition to active licensure….
- CME or CEU — Accredited Training: This is the focus of our website. How to choose the best training program to make you eligible to practice these procedures safely and confidently. This requires taking training that is complete and fully accredited. More on accreditation later.
- Supervisory or Collaborative Requirements: In the case of RN’s (all states) and NP’s or PA’s (some states) proper supervisory and/or collaborative arrangements in compliance with state licensing board rules and regulations need to be in place. MD’s and DO’s do not have this step as they have unrestricted rights once #1 and #3 (below) are in place. Rules also vary for Dentists and Naturopaths. It is impossible for any website to accurately summarize these requirements for every state and remain current. Therefore, we will not attempt to. It is your responsibility to contact your state licensing board for the latest details on Supervisory Requirements.
- Insurance: One then needs to acquire sufficient professional liability insurance to practice the procedure(s) desired. This will require completing and showing proof of the accredited training first. Here you must show your business location and all collaborative agreements to make you legal to practice in your state. In some cases, you can easily add on these additional services with your current liability insurance provider. In others, you may need to shop for an “Aesthetics-Only” policy.
