How I Got Into Aesthetics

One of the most common questions that I field as a Plastic Surgery PA who know does primarily aesthetics is how do you get into injectables as a PA? This episode is the answer to that question. (See the YouTube video here.)

The answer to that question is networking (see this post on why networking is so important) got me in the door. I was the first injector working primarily in aesthetics at our plastic surgery and dermatology office. 

I began as a mix of plastic surgery taking care of post operative plastic surgery patients and supporting our surgeons. Now I primarily take care of aesthetics patients and perform injectable treatments as a physician assistant. 

I had fostered a positive relationship with our local private plastic surgery office, helped them to cover call as a 1099 independent contractor prior to coming on board as a full time employee. 

Watch the YouTube Video Here

What I Do In A Day as an Aesthetics PA

I see anywhere from 8-20 patients a day, depending on the length of the day in the office. Treatments that I perform include botox, hyaluronic acid fillers, biostimulatory fillers, PDO threads

My normal “full” office day starts with my first appointment at 7:30am and last appointment at 4:15pm. I start my day at 4am, workout, do my morning routine, and am out the door by 6:30am to be at the office by 7am. I will see 15-20 patients for consultation and treatment.

The treatments I perform on any given day include neuromodulators (Botox, Jeuveau, Dysport) and hyaluronic acid fillers (Juvederm, Restylane, Voluma, Lyft, etc), thread lifts and biostimulators. 

Things That Surprised Me

Aesthetics is alot more complicated and technically challenging that I anticipated from the outside looking in as a PA. Coming from traditional surgery (General Surgery and Urologic Surgery) going into aesthetics I thought “if I can clamp a renal artery, I can Botox a forehead!” but here’s the thing – every forehead is different, every patient’s desires are different, and there are so many facets to being a great aesthetic injector. 

I have done more research, learning and training in the first 2 years of my career as an aesthetic injector than ever before in my medical career as a surgery PA. There are aspects of my job, skills that I didn’t know; sales, marketing, structuring a consult, keeping patients safe, managing expectations and more. 

My Favorite Part

I have two favorite parts of being an aesthetic injector: 1. Confidence and 2. Relationships with my Patients. 

I do make patients’ foreheads smoother, help with wrinkles, lift and smooth skin, improve youthful face shape and more. But, what I really do as an aesthetic injector is help my patients to feel more confident in themselves. I love partnering with my clients to improve their best features, highlight their natural beauty and help with some of the things they don’t love about their face.

And then there is my relationship with my patients. I have the honor of getting to know my patients over time. I see patients every 3-4 months. We get to know each other. We develop a deep, collaborative relationship and I love it! 

One Hard Thing

Reconciling my identity as a provider who identified as a Surgery PA to become an aesthetics provider. What we do is so deeply engrained in what we do. I was a Surgery PA – it’s how I identified, it’s what I did and it felt like it was who I was.

When I changed to outpatient, when I started focusing on Plastic Surgery and Aesthetics, I had to reconcile that new identity with who I am. This was the hardest part of transitioning from medicine to aesthetics. 

Here’s an important reminder – you are enough, worthwhile, valuable regardless of what specialty you work in, what kind of office, if you are working at all or what you do for work as a PA. 

It’s a journey to be able to embrace yourself, know that you have inherent worth and it doesn’t stem from what you do for work! 

If you enjoyed this episode [Ep. 179 A Day in the Life of an Aesthetics PA] you’ll love this one [Ep. 233 3 Surprising Things I Love About Being a PA Working in Aesthetics] and where I talk about my experience networking my way into Aesthetics here [Ep. 172 Networking 101: The Secret Weapon of Strategic Career Moves].

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