Cosmetic Procedures - Certification for GP

[GrAYthaiBOY]

Hello peeps, I'm a 2nd year student and I'm planning to be a GP when I grad. I've recently seen a lot of GP clinics in Ontario offering simple derm. procedures (like laser hair removal, botox, Leg/facial varicose vein treatments), circumcisions or vasectomies. I was wondering If anyone know where I can find more info on how to get certification for those procedures?

 

ty for your help in advance guys,

 

[ZBL]

There’s no official certification. You hang a sign and call yourself a “skin expert” and that’s all ....and of course manage any complications that come along with it. 

Of note, if cosmetics is the primary thing you want, you could also just become a nurse since it’s all unregulated.

[GrAYthaiBOY]

On 8/19/2020 at 7:40 AM, ZBL said:

There’s no official certification. You hang a sign and call yourself a “skin expert” and that’s all ....and of course manage any complications that come along with it. 

Of note, if cosmetics is the primary thing you want, you could also just become a nurse since it’s all unregulated.

Sorry should of clarified, I was a 2nd year MD student when I wrote that. 

I find that there are a lot of procedures GP's can do with a long wait from the public system ranging from joint injections to vasectomies. Anyone else thinking of doing minor procedures privately ?

[Snowmen]

20 hours ago, GrAYthaiBOY said:

Sorry should of clarified, I was a 2nd year MD student when I wrote that. 

I find that there are a lot of procedures GP's can do with a long wait from the public system ranging from joint injections to vasectomies. Anyone else thinking of doing minor procedures privately ?

For joint injections, family doctors will typically do the easy ones themselves (knees and the likes) while the harder ones require ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance so that's pretty much only accessible to radiologists, PM&R or anesthesia (rheumatology too but they tend to keep it in house, i.e. the group has one rheumatologist that's trained in US and does the US-guided injections for everyone in the group). All in all, there isn't a huge market for doing specialty injection clinics since the aforementioned specialties will hog these procedures because they can bill a consultation on top of the procedure itself which ends up being very lucrative.

For example, a PM&R doc doing a single site facet joint injection in his private office in QC will bill the RAMQ (OHIP equivalent) 386,60$ (that's the cheapest axial procedure) for a new patient and an US-guided injection comes out to 262,20$. As a FM doc, you don't get the "good" codes so the equipment isn't worth it (an outpatient fluoroscopy suite is 300 000$ or so and an US machine is 50-100 000$ or so).

[Edict]

To answer your question, I've heard people complete PGDips in the UK. No idea if they are necessary for practice in Canada though. 

https://www.bad.org.uk/healthcare-professionals/education/gps/diplomas--courses-for-general-practitioners

https://pcdsc.ca/about-us/ - seems like the Cardiff PGDip is the most popular one for Canadians. 

 

[Gordonhoj]

It's great that you're considering adding additional procedures to your practice as a GP. While it may not be necessary to get an official certification, it's always a good idea to ensure you have the proper training and education to safely and effectively perform these procedures. The UK's PGDips in general practice is definitely worth looking into, and the Cardiff PGDip seems to be a popular choice among Canadians. Alternatively, you could also consider getting hands-on training through a program like OnSite Med Spa Mobile Concierge Service. They offer training and certification in a variety of cosmetic procedures, and the convenience of a mobile service means you can learn at your own pace and on your own schedule. Good luck on your journey to becoming a well-rounded GP!