By Eric Atienza, Assistant Director of Digital Marketing and Marketing Technology

Quality, credible injector training is one of the biggest needs in a medical aesthetics industry that has such a high demand for dermal fillers, Botox and other neuromodulators. Patient safety should be a primary focus for all aesthetic injectors, but without a national standard the training marketplace is full of options, and providers need to wade through an ocean of private training courses of varying quality and dependability.

LexRx is partnering with the Boston College Connell School of Nursing to change all of that with the first university-level aesthetic injector training program, including a Clinical Aesthetics Injectable Certificate course. This injector training program welcomes BC nursing students, but also practicing physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses.

"Our first class was in August of last year and as of our latest course we've trained over 300 providers through this Boston College partnership," said Alexa Nicholls Costa, NP, co-founder of LexRx.

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Listen to LexRx co-founders talk about launching this university-level training program with Boston College on the Medical Spa Insider podcast.

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What does certification in aesthetic injecting mean?

Injector training is one of the top priorities among leading practitioners and practice owners in medical aesthetics. Additionally, state boards often have competence requirements to practice aesthetic medicine, generally looking for “appropriate education, training and skill,” though few states spell out these requirements concretely.

Aesthetic injectors looking for training courses often have to rely on word-of-mouth, reviews and their own research to find reputable training options, and while many courses out there claim that they are “certification courses,” the value of those certifications doesn’t necessarily mean much.

“Instead, certifications achieve their value through what other people think of them,” said Patrick O’Brien, JD, general counsel for AmSpa. “A training ‘certification’ is merely a piece of paper saying you attended the training—it does not speak to what you learned. Part of the value of any training comes from the reputation of the instructor or the company that is offering the course.”

In an industry that is often still struggling for legitimacy among other medical specialties – and amid salacious news stories regarding adverse outcomes – this pioneering program with an institution like Boston College speaks volumes.

For their part, the LexRx team is led by a pair of board-certified nurse practitioners in Costa and co-founder Alexandra Rogers. Costa’s history before medical aesthetics includes clinical work in both emergency medicine and plastic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Rogers’ background also includes experience in emergency/urgent care both at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and later managing her own urgent care clinic. The pair have been teaching aesthetic injectors since 2018 and have been speakers at medical aesthetic conferences across the country, including AmSpa’s Medical Spa Show.

Boston College aesthetic injection training options

Boston College is offering four courses including two certificate programs:

Clinical Aesthetics Injectable Certificate

Learners must complete coursework in neurotoxins (9 contact hours), biostimulators (9 contact hours) and HA dermal fillers (10 contact hours) to receive their certificate. These courses include both online didactic and in-person, hands-on training, with additional hands-on training sessions available for each. Learn more >>

Accelerated Clinical Aesthetics Injectables Certificate

The accelerated certificate also offers a mix of online didactic and in-person, hands-on training. Its 21 total contact hours include instruction in neurotoxins, biostimulators, HA dermal fillers and microneedling. Learn more >>

Clinical Aesthetics Business Building

This new course is focused on practice management, business building and legal compliance. The session offers 2 contact hours, insight into how Costa and Rogers built their practice, connections with actual industry professionals and time to network with their medical aesthetic peers. AmSpa is participating in the compliance education, and all attendees will receive a one-year AmSpa membership, which includes a legal summary of med spa laws in their state. Learn more >>

Clinical Aesthetics Microneedling / Collagen Induction Therapy Training

This course offering 3 contact hours is a standalone, in-person session with both live lecture and hands-on training. It is designed for the aesthetic provider who is interested in offering a high-satisfaction, minimally invasive skin care treatment with proven clinical outcomes – namely, improvement in fine lines and wrinkles, acne scarring, appearance of pores, as well as overall improvement in the skin's texture and tone. Learn more >>

Building reliable, credible injector training programs

Injector training is more than taking a single one-time course and when choosing between the myriad options available it’s important to consider the faculty involved as well as the coursework being covered. AmSpa’s Academy for Injection Anatomy (AIA) Advanced Cadaver Course, for example, was developed by Chris Surek, DO, FACS, who is one of the foremost anatomists in medical aesthetics. In this hands-on cadaver dissection course, learners will inject dyed product into a cadaver and dissect – cross-sectionally – to get a 3D look at the planes of the face and where exactly product interacts with facial structures. Additionally, the course includes an introduction to the use of ultrasound for injections with Steven F. Weiner, MD, one of the pioneers in using this technology to increase patient safety with injectable procedures.

The future of medical aesthetics must center on patient safety and legal compliance. Standardization of training is a big step forward for patients and for credibility in the world at large and programs like this set of courses with Boston College can point the direction toward a safer future. The LexRx team has already used this foundation to teach a similar program in partnership with Columbia University in New York in early 2024, and hint at more opportunities with other such institutions moving forward.

It's imperative that every injector in medical aesthetics trains relentlessly to be the safest practitioner they can be. At the end of the day, medical spas are medical practices and have a responsibility to put the patient first. When providers invest in themselves and their growth, choosing clinical training opportunities that put medicine first will provide the best outcomes for them, their patients, and the entire medical aesthetics industry.