Pamela Hill Institute

Making the career transition from a day spa to a medical spa is a professional move than more and more aestheticians are taking as the popularity of medical spas increases.  Millions of Americans enjoy the services of medical spas now, a unique and rather new phenomenon.  

Spas have been popular in the United States since the 1850’s.  Saratoga Springs in New York was a fashionable retreat for many, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and the author Edgar Allan Poe.  Elizabeth Arden introduced the first day spa in the US in 1910, the Red Door Salon in New York.  Manicures, facials, waxing and other spa treatments we know today were even popular in the early days.  Jane Fonda was introduced to aerobics through a California spa.  Eventually holistic services were offered and in 1997 innovative physicians in the US introduced the medical spa concept, previously popular in Europe.

What are the differences between a medical spa and a traditional day spa?

Traditional spas are concerned with looking good and feeling good, but are limited in the treatments they can offer to clients.  Less invasive treatments and an emphasis cosmetic improvements and feeling great, as well as self-esteem improvement are the watchwords.  A medical spa includes all of the day spa services but in addition has a medical component operated under the strict supervision of a licensed health care professional, usually a medical doctor.  They will combine holistic approaches and the emphasis on comfort with medical modalities.  Use of lasers and intense pulsed light technologies, photo facials, dermabrasion in addition to microdermabrasion, the option of deeper chemical peels, and such products as Botox or Retyline are available at the medical spa.

For the aesthetician transitioning to a medical spa environment, the mind set changes a bit.

The aesthetician is a valued member of the team in a medical spa, and is referred to by other practitioners in the area of expertise of the aesthetician. But, a major advantage is that the physician is available to consult and refer for those clients who may, in the mind of the aesthetician, have a need for more extensive services.

Still relaxing, still somewhat pampering but with a focus on change and improvement, the medical spa expands the options for both the client and the aesthetician.  It allows the aesthetician to gain knowledge not available in the traditional spa environment, and is a professional challenge worth while for any aesthetician.