How to hire an esthetician for your medspa or laser clinic.

Aestheticians are probably the most commonly used staff member in medical spas to perform treatments. (Although I have seen medical assistants and 18 year old girls off the street, aestheticians tend to be the first pick.)

Surface Medical Spas exclusively uses master aestheticians. (In Utah we have what is called a master aesthetician license which is an extra 600 hours of education. Basically, doubling the usual aesthetician license of 600 hours.) Legally, aestheticians are not necessary or able to perform treatments. Staff members in most states are operating under the medical supervision of a physician and it is the physicians medical license that allows treatments to be legally performed. Read Medspa legal how to...

Medical Estheticians: There are those calling themselves ‘medical estheticians’. There is no such license in any state. Medical estheticians are a nonsense term being used to denote some kind of training and licensure where there is none.

So, how do you hire an aesthetician? Read Estheticians and the doctors who love/hate them parts1, part 2.

There are two reasons that I hire master aestheticians in order to perform treatments at Surface:

One is that they are highly attracted to this industry. Aestheticians want to be providing the very most advanced care that they possibly can, and this is a way for them to get into the medical field or be using lasers and other treatments that they could not have access to on their own or in day spas. Motivation and fit are prime ingredients for any hire.
Number two is that aestheticians have some "sense" of patient care. There is nothing worse than having a laser or IPL treatment where you just feel zap, zap, zap and there is no sense of nurturing or comfort or touch. Aestheticians tend to have a better than average sense of patient comfort and care.

That’s the good part. Now let's talk about what potential problems you'll face.

Aestheticians typically were desi/the-blog/2006/8/18/how-to-hire-estheticiangned to operate in day spas, about the worst business situation imaginable. While they have a minor amount of education, usually between 600 and 1,200 hours, the way they are educated is such that they feel often end with a high degree of confidence. This over-confidence is something that can get you into trouble. In fact, many aestheticians feel that they are very nearly on par with the physician as a provider. This can of course cause problems. Worse, aestheticians come from a day spa environment where they either rent a space and are dealing exclusively with their own clients (they therefore view the business as just a support mechanism but the clients as their own), or they do a commission split, which a lot of physicians offer as well in an attempt to keep their costs down. Day spas are rife with employee problems since every there is working for themselves in a competitive environment. Coming from either booth rent or a commission structure, it’s common for estheticians to think of patients as ‘theirs’. Not good.

(Surface never pays commissions: First, it unethical in my opinion. Second; it promotes a hard aggressive sell and treatment which detracts from patient care and service while over-promising and under-delivering. Third; it’s no way to run a real business.)

Read: How to hire estheticians for your medical spa or clinic, Part 2