As a guide, awarding bodies recommend training centres devote 250 hours of supervised learning, to achieve effective training in Level 4 Laser & Light courses. However, it is only a guide and training centres have trimmed it down to around 40 hours. If the training college covers all the modules and the student passes the exams, then job done. If medical faculties with residency programmes highlight problems with access to machines and practical hours, is it remotely responsible to "trim down."
When we opened Zest, I went looking for an alternative to Phorest; there were many, Versum, SalonHQ, Mind Body Online, Salonlite, Salon Iris, Zenoti, it went on and on. However, none came close to the usability of Phorest. I was almost ready to bite the bullet and give the go ahead on Phorest, but then I discovered Shedul.
As far as we are aware ATAI is the first laser training academy in Ireland that provides models for learners. Leaving it up to the student to find a suitable model is fraught with problems. They turn up with people on medication, the wrong skin type, unable to allow enough time for the treatment, or just cannot find enough models for the course requirements. To us, it just made no sense to put so much pressure on the learners to find models for treatment and often bypassing key criteria's for treatment with laser and light machines, for example, patch tests and the initial skin consultation.
An undeniable fact is worldwide Doctors, Dermatologists, and associated professionals are pressuring governance bodies for more regulation. Let us also not be nieve; it is not just about outcomes for patients that has the medical sector a little rattled, it is also hitting the hip pocket nerve. Compound a loss in revenue with undesirable results in treatment for the general public, and you have a platform easily leveraged. Furthermore, the beauty sector is terrible for not recognising the problems and doing something about it. That is clearly evident with the top down approach across many countries, resulting in some cases with the beauty sector being locked out.
Burns, ineffective treatment, using cookie cutter settings, and a general lack of best practices in occupational health and safety have driven the Dermatologists Association in Ireland to try and spearhead action taking the matter to the EU championing the need for regulatory change. While diploma courses are available by a broad list of awarding bodies, it is quite clear we still have many problems. Quality assured certification system being one and training that better addresses the machines, treatment and technology being another.
