Aesthetician Education
If you think being an aesthetician is just about “rubbing faces”, think again. Aesthetics is an exploding career path. Consider the prospects for aestheticians; cruise ships, day spas, luxury spas, resort spas, destination spas, medical spas, hospital positions not to mention consulting, education, marketing and spa design. The opportunities are really quite endless. But all of this opportunity requires preparation and where does one go for the proper preparation i.e. education these days?
Education for aestheticians is really in its infancy, having only recently broken away from cosmetology as an identified certificate. Once thought of as a job for those who were not “college material”, aesthetic students now range from high school graduates to college graduates and those in middle age seeking a career change. But, as the business sector expands, so must the education. No longer can we accept the concept that a 300 hour or even a 600 hour course fully arms a potential aesthetician with the knowledge they need to be a successful clinician in the current business environment. Furthermore, we can not depend on product vendors and equipment manufacturers to provide quality, unbiased advanced education.
Those successful aesthetic schools with a clear future are racing to build a new model, a method of education that will produce bright, talented and ambitious aestheticians. But there are some challenges in the development of a new model among them; confusion about what advanced aesthetic education may mean, a shortage of qualified instructors, staying abreast of new technology and procedures, advance techniques for which there is not an educational base and a lack of resources both financial and otherwise.
To attract students, schools must respond to the demand of advanced education and all of the challenges that it holds. So what might a new model of aesthetic education look like? The best model would have several levels to the educational opportunity; one level built on-to- the next. To begin with, a baseline of knowledge is necessary. This would be the traditional education currently found for basic licensure. A perfect model would provide a national licensure with a minimum of 800 hours to achieve a license, but this is a separate discussion altogether. The baseline would include information on anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, safety, bacteriology, sterilization and sanitation as well as the beginning skills for treatments such as waxing, facials and elementary microdermabrasion treatments.
The next level be titled the “Advanced Spa Treatments” providing education on resort, cruise ship and destination spa treatments. Included in this curriculum would be body wraps, advanced waxing techniques, massage to enhance treatments and exfoliation treatments. Since this section would be focused on high end resort treatments an in depth course on customer service would be necessary.
The final level would cover all of the medical treatments found in the aesthetic world today. This section would cover advanced microdermabrasion, acne treatments, advanced chemical peeling and all the newest technology associated with these treatments. Additionally, courses on equipment safety in the medical facility and HIPPA would be on the menu.
Finally, continuing education is a key to the ongoing success of a professional. Those schools that have Saturday classes or on-line continuing education stay close to their students. This is good for the student and the school. It allows the student to feel confident about the ongoing education opportunities and the school has an opportunity to stay close to the business environment.
Schools that have vision are headed in this direction recognizing that a broad offering to students is absolutely necessary in this competitive business environment. Moreover, schools that offer a layered approach to educating their students have an opportunity to retain their students and increase their student population. As student population increases so does school revenue.
While changing a business model is never easy, the reality is that aesthetic education is at a cross roads. The business environment is hungry for more qualified graduates and students are anxious to learn more. The schools are in “the squeeze”. Beginning a step at a time, schools should add educational courses that make sense and will improve the quality of the graduating aesthetic student. In the end, the student, the school and the consumer will win.
