AMY BIRD

“THE ALL KNOWING PRACTITIONER”

Amy Bird discusses the importance of collaboration, and why understanding your expertise must come before chasing the latest hot topic

Here’s my thought: there is a growing expectation within aesthetic medicine that practitioners should be experts in all areas of care. Feel it? I do. As the scope of the specialty expands, so too does the pressure to keep pace with every emerging topic, trend and clinical conversation. While this breadth of awareness can be valuable, it also carries risk, particularly when awareness is mistaken for expertise. I like to take myself back to – ‘Mrs Bird, please evidence how this falls into your scope of practice given your qualifications, experience and credentials.’ Sorry NMC your right, it does not. That is exactly how I work backwards to what I offer in clinic and credential myself with.

This is especially relevant as menopause and women’s health rightly take a more prominent place in clinical and societal discussion. Menopause is not a trend, nor should it be treated as a commercial opportunity. It is a complex, multifactorial physiological transition that affects women in profoundly individual ways. It deserves careful, respectful handling and an honest appraisal of where aesthetic medicine fits within that landscape. Hot topic indeed, no pun intended.

Menopause can influence skin quality, tissue integrity, hair, confidence, and well-being. Aesthetic practitioners are often well placed to notice these changes, particularly when women present regularly for treatment. In many cases, we may be among the few clinicians a woman feels comfortable speaking openly to. That position of trust matters.

However, it is precisely because menopause is complex that caution is required. Awareness does not equate to clinical mastery. Attendance at short courses, brand-led education, or exposure to online content, while valuable, absolutely does not confer the depth of knowledge required to diagnose, manage, or treat menopause in its entirety. Especially in the eyes of a regulator. Simples. There is a growing risk that enthusiasm, coupled with commercial messaging, encourages practitioners to position themselves as ‘menopause experts’ without the appropriate training, scope, or governance to do so safely. And that my gentle reader (yes I am in the midst of the new Bridgerton), is absolutely not ok, on so many levels.

This is not about discouraging learning or engagement. It is about recognising limits and anchoring down back to the core requirements. In any speciality, expert positions are earnt with experience and credentials. Not commercial drivers, including social media.

This takes me to one of the most concerning shifts in independent aesthetic practice – the gradual loss of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) principle. In traditional healthcare settings, MDT working is fundamental. No clinician operates in isolation. Decisions are shared, challenged, escalated, and reviewed within a structured framework designed to protect patients and practitioners alike. In aesthetic medicine, that mindset has eroded. The MDT does not need to disappear simply because practice becomes independent. In fact, it becomes more important. MDT working can and should exist both internally and externally.

Internally, this may include collaboration between nurses, doctors, therapists, administrators, and clinical leadership. It involves shared responsibility, clear escalation pathways, and a culture where questioning and reflection are encouraged rather than avoided.

Externally, MDT working is essential when addressing complex areas such as menopause and women’s health. GPs, menopause specialists, gynaecologists, endocrinologists and mental health professionals all have defined roles. Aesthetic medicine does not replace these disciplines, nor should it attempt to compete with them. The safest practitioners are not those who attempt to “do it all”, but those who know when to involve others.

This is where the role of the aesthetic practitioner is most clearly defined.

Our contribution lies in observation, support, and signposting. We can recognise changes in skin, tissue quality, and presentation. We can listen to women who may feel unheard elsewhere. We can provide treatments that support confidence and well-being within our scope of practice. Crucially, we can identify when a presentation requires broader medical input and guide patients appropriately.

Knowing when to say “this is outside my remit” is not a weakness. It is a professional strength. Go get strong.

Clear boundaries protect patients, practitioners and the credibility of the specialty. And unfortunately, we make the latter far harder with this kind of behaviour. Boundaries reinforce trust, demonstrate integrity, and align aesthetic medicine with the wider medical profession rather than positioning it in opposition to it.

The drive to be everything to everyone is understandable in a competitive, commercially driven environment. However, breadth without depth serves neither patients nor practitioners. Expertise is built through focused practice, robust education, qualification, reflective governance, and collaboration. Not through expansion alone.

Menopause does not require aesthetic practitioners to become experts in all aspects of women’s health. It requires us to practise with humility, clarity, and respect for complexity. It requires the rebuilding of multidisciplinary thinking in both internal and external forms. Above all, it requires honesty about what we do well, and where others are better placed to lead.

It is collaboration, not overreach that will continue to define truly professional aesthetic practice.

Bird’s THE WORD

Every issue, Amy Bird, our aesthetic nurse on the inside, reflects on life within the sector

AMY BIRD

Amy Bird RGN NMP is an award-winning nurse prescriber, speaker, trainer and KOL with more than a decade of full time experience in medical aesthetics. She is lead nurse at her practice, KAST Medical Aesthetics in Cheshire and recently became chair at BAMAN. She is a passionate advocate for best practice, standards and patient safety.