HEE compliant …
Level 4 to 7, it should not have taken a scandal
Regardless if you are a business owner looking to expand your services into Laser & Light Treatments or a Therapist wanting to grow your career options. One thing is constant, the need for training that instils the confidence and knowledge required to perform safe and effective treatments.
Laser training courses, the most sought-after qualification in the industry. Allowing therapists to perform, laser hair removal, thread vein removal, pigmented lesion treatment and many other procedures. Treatments that clients are looking for and the average training college is unable to provide adequate training. Sure they can give you a piece of paper saying you can perform the procedure, even though learners were never actually practically trained in how to perform the treatments.
How is that possible?
The average training college facilitates learning on IPL machines. An IPL is an invaluable piece of kit for the aesthetics clinic, but it is not a laser device. The learner can only practically learn within the confines of the capabilities of the IPL machine.
In a recent study; “Practice and Educational Gaps in Light, Laser, and Energy Treatments.” It cited the problems that exist in the residency programmes for Dermatologists. “There are gaps in knowledge and skill. Barriers include limited time to train residents in laser procedures, as well as a dearth of full-time laser dermatology faculty in dermatology departments to support residency programs.”
As we can see, problems with access to equipment and time spent to provide training are not just affecting the aesthetician’s sector. Dermatologists have residency programmes, regardless if it too has barriers to learning, practical knowledge is fundamental to the discipline.
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.”
The ability to pass an exam is far removed, from having the knowledge and hands-on experience to treat the general public, safely and adequately.
How do we see it?
The industry has to elevate, with just reading the three parts of this series you can see ineffective treatment, burns, and unwanted pigmentation changes, are far too common. With the medical sector also highlighting their challenges; it is just ethical to provide a better training model.
- Learners should have access to multiple platform Laser devices.
- Learners should have a shadowing a practitioner period in the clinical environment.
- Case studies should be performed on a variety of skin types with the correct treatment protocols and machines.
- Course duration should be extended or returned to the suggested best practices to facilitate a quality educational experience.
If there is a comment we have often heard, it is training has become a business model first and training second. While all business needs to be profitable to well, stay in business. Your core capability has to the primary focus. If you are a college responsible for learners using Class 4 Laser Machines and IPL on the general public, then providing the best possible learning experience, should be the priority.
If this sounds like a better way to learn Laser & Light treatments, send us an email, text: 08 3890 1511 or call: 01 524 1511.
Alam, Murad, et al. “Practice and Educational Gaps in Light, Laser, and Energy Treatments.” Dermatologic Clinics 34.3 (2016): 347-352.
Gallagher, Joppe, et al. “The Need to Professionalise Aestheticians: Training and High Tech Equipment Pose A Serious Risk To The Public.”
