SHADOWING OPPORTUNITIES
In Australia, any nurse, doctor or dentist can inject - regardless of their skill set or qualifications. Dr Jake believes that it's our personal duty as medical professionals to continually improve our consultation skills, technical ability, complications knowledge and expand our pool of knowledge every year.
Unlike generic courses, Dr Jake is offering a unique opportunity to shadow him, observe his consultations, better understand clinical photography, listen to his discussions with his patients and observe his injecting techniques.
Why might you want to shadow him?
The Australian injectable market is quite unique and whether we like it or not, it's been shaped by the chain clinics. Competition is fierce, prices are low and the playing field is rapidly evolving. If injectors don't continually up-skill, challenge themselves and seek out new knowledge, they risk being left behind and it risks their businesses and livelihoods.
But it is difficult to progress or do more advanced treatments when also trying to balance making a living and not putting your patients at risk. This is where a lot of injectors get stuck in a rut and carry on doing their 'tried and tested' treatments. Many injectors limit their typical treatments to only doing anti-wrinkle treatments, cheek and lip fillers. This is a problem for both the injectors and their patients - treatments aren't tailored to patients need and this is where poorer results creep in. At the same time, injecting becomes boring and burn out can become a real issue.
Dr Jake's background
Reputation
Dr Jake has become known as a leading injector in Australia and is an international key opinion leader and speaker.
He's injected for 15 years and is respected in the industry for his anatomical approach to deliver stunning and natural looking-results.
He co-founded his own podcast 'Inside Aesthetics' that has had over 1,000,000 listens in over 100 countries.
Anatomy + Surgery
Dr Jake completed an Anatomy degree before going to Medical School. He then trained as a surgeon in the UK & Australia for over a decade.
He taught at the Royal College of Surgeons England, training doctors in surgical techniques and supervised junior doctor to learn how to operate in theatre. With this background he has a unique skill set and understanding of how to teach hands on skills.
Injecting philosophy
Dr Jake's philosophy is to approach each face with a bespoke methodology. Patients often have a list of wants and photos from Instagram that they want to achieve - but at the end of the day they aren't the experts, injectors are.
He promotes full face treatments and utilises the a wide range of techniques. He believes in restoring the optimal anatomical foundations of the face and maximising someone's individual features.
Allergan trainer & KOL
In 2018 Dr Jake become a trainer and key opinion leader for the Allergan Medical Institute. In this role he trains doctors and nurses in theory, hands on injecting and the latest anti-wrinkle and filler techniques.
He gets access to the latest training from world experts and also sits on Allergan advisory boards when new products are launched.
Fat dissolving KOL
Dr Jake is recognised as a national key opinion leader in using Allergan's fat dissolving injections. In 2019, Professor Greg Goodman invited Dr Jake to teach fat dissolving masterclasses for FaceCoachLive.
Since 2021, Dr Jake has been the fat dissolving expert panel member for Aesthetic Medical Emergency Team (AMET)
MD Codes™ Mentorship
In January 2020, Dr Jake was selected in a global application process as one of only 55 injectors in the world to undertake a two year mentorship under Dr Mauricio De Maio.
Having completed this Dr Jake is one of only 2 doctors in the world to also then be invited on to the 'MD Codes Train The Trainer' programme from 2022-2023.
Mentorship and self-development
Every professional needs ongoing development and no-one is perfect. When Dr Jake was a surgical trainee, every operation he did was observed, scrutinised, graded and documented in an online logbook that he had to present to the surgical college each year. This proved his experience and competency for practical skills that were learnt only through experience and time. But this type of accountability will probably never exist for injectors.
However the best injectors can choose to differentiate themselves from the rest by deliberately seeking out opportunities to be better in everything that they do. Having been mentored by Mauricio de Maio, Dr Jake has himself been observed and critiqued by a master injector. He's improved his own technique over time, has had to submit complex injecting video cases for assessment against his global peers and has had to prove his level of injecting to be that of an elite injector as well as a trainer and communicator.
Why do you need mentoring?
Sadly, injectables are often treated by both patients and other medical professionals as 'beauty treatments'. But in Dr Jake's opinion, this is unacceptable. Medical professionals have a special relationship with their patients (they are not 'clients') and as such we need to elevate everything that we do to give them the very best outcomes.
Our patients should never be injected unless there is a clear and logical plan. Far too often, injectors simply do what they are asked or told by their patients and this needs to stop for the betterment of our industry and for injectors to be taken seriously as a speciality.
Dr Jake aims to help injectors as a teacher, as a confidant, as a mentor and as someone who you can trust in the professional environment. Whilst the shadowing day will be an enjoyable and relaxed experience, Jake will aim to push you further and you shouldn't see this experience as a one-off.
Things to think about before booking a shadowing session
To get the most out of your shadowing session, it's important to be honest about what your current level is. To help plan the session, have a think about the typical patients that you currently see:
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Who are they?
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What demographic are you attracting?
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Do you treat men too?
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Does this demographic suit your own aesthetic and skill set?
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Do you enjoy working wth these patients?
Then have a think about what you're maybe not so good at and try to clarify what you'll most benefit from in a session being with Dr Jake. It's best to be brutally honest with yourself and think about your last year or two of injecting including:
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Do you resort to cookie cutter patterns with toxins?
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Do you stick to doing lip and cheeks because they are easy?
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What have you struggled with that perhaps now makes you anxious?
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Are you getting any bad outcomes that you can't easily explain?
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What areas do you avoid injecting?
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Do you get frequently find that you have tricky consultations?
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Do you frequently have unhappy patients?
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Are you anxious about injecting?
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Do you feel out of your depth sometimes?
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Have you had many complications?
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What have you learnt from your complications to help avoid them again?
There's also the business and professional side of things to consider:
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How many complaints have you had in the last 12 month?
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What did you do about these complaints?
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Do you have frequent issues like patients cancelling last minute, not wanting to pay deposits, etc?
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What friction points keep cropping up that are making your life difficult?
What a shadowing session might include:
These sessions will be in Dr Jake's clinic with his own patients. Each day will be different and no guarantee can be made for what patients come in for!But you'll definitely see a mixture of:
- Anti-wrinkle treatments patients (new and returning)
- Fillers treatments (new and returning)
- Bio-remodelling patients (new and returning)
- Fat dissolving patients (new and returning)
What you might focus on:
The day won't be formal and you can get whatever you want out of it. The day will start by meeting Dr Jake before
the clinic to have a coffee and discuss your background, your clinic, your current level and what your needs are.
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See how Dr Jake set's up his room, what needles and syringes he uses, etc
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See what booking system and explore how it functions
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Revise Botox reconstitution, dosing, facial assessment, sex differences and treatments
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Learn to fine tune consultations
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Understand the purpose and basics of consistent clinical photography
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How to do a detailed assessment of your patient's needs vs their wants
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Understand filler treatment planning, total face treatment planning
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How to treat patients emotions and the 'messages' of their face
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Get confidence in discussing and treating the entire face
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Look at how Dr Jake does his notes
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Business & social media tips
After completing the shadowing day, you can check in with Dr Jake by text for one month with any follow up questions that you might have.
Dr Jake will send you a payment link after receiving your application form. Once this is received you'll be added to a private 'IA Patron Shadowing days' Whatapp group for easy communication about these days.