What is cosmetic medicine all about? It's not always about beauty enhancement. For some people, it may just be about achieving a fresher look. Read this presentation from The Victorian Cosmetic Institute for a brief, personal introduction to the science and art of cosmetic medicine.

1. Cosmetic Medicine:
Where Science Meets Art

2. Tonight, what we are going to do is, I’m going to introduce
myself, give you an idea of who I am and it will give you an
idea of what some of us are like here at VCI. I will talk about
some of the legalities around cosmetic medicine. So, trying to
help you guys to find a good clinic; of course, we are one of
those. But the things you should be considering are what
differentiates cosmetic clinics, how you can decide who will be
a good injector for you. We will talk a little bit about the aging
process and then I will go into some details about anti-wrinkle
injections, what they are, how they work, dermal fillers. Then
I’m going to get you guys to do a little facial exercise because

3. one of the key questions we are asked is how much do I
need, what do I need and where? So what I’m hoping to do is
empower you so that you can start to detect the signs of aging
occurring on your face which will equip you to find an
experienced enough injector who can help you match your
goals.
Beautification, which is a term we use a lot here at VCI, is not
just rejuvenating your face and helping you look and feel
younger and fresher but also how to enhance your beauty.
That’s not for everyone. Some people just say I want to look

4. exactly the way I am but I just want to look like a fresher
version of myself. Other people will say my chin has always
bugged me or my nose has always bugged me, how can we
enhance my beauty? So we’ll talk about that. At the end, if
you are still around to watch, we are going to do a little filler
demonstration and a little Botox demonstration in case you
have not seen anything done before.
What I’m not going to talk about tonight, I’m not going to
mention brand names of products. It’s not really about that.
We use a number of different brands at VCI and they all have

5. their own merits. I am not here to convert the disinterested, so
if you guys are here it’s because you’re interested in
enhancing your appearance. If you are not interested and you
are happy with the way you are, that’s absolutely fine and
then you’ll come to us when you’re ready. I am not going to
tell you what I think you need. Hopefully, by the end of the
night you are going to be able to tell me what you think you
will need.
So, a little bit about myself. I’m a middle child, a wife, a
daughter, a sister, a very proud auntie, a good friend and a

6. mother to be. So, I’m twenty weeks pregnant. My patients
always ask me, have you had work done? The answer is not
for about two years because I decided I’ll do a big detox
before I tried for a family. But absolutely yes before this, I
have, of course tried most things we have to offer here at VCI;
I’m big advocate of it.
In terms of my professional background, I started off as a
scientist, so I have a Bachelor of Biomedical Science and I
studied at University of Melbourne. I did my Bachelor of
Medicine and Surgery at the University of Melbourne which

7. which made me a doctor. Then I did my general practice
training and my cosmetics training on top of that. I have got a
few other little certificates, things like skin cancer medicine
and Diploma of Pediatrics but this is where my passion is.
This is the fun stuff.
I never thought that I was going to work with needles when I
left the hospital system. As a junior intern, I had a patient who
I had to put a cannula in the back of his hand. He was quite
old and he had lots of needles done before. I got the page to
put it in and I was a nervous junior doctor and I tried to get his

8. drip in and I missed and I missed and I missed. He said to
me, love, you’re the worst doctor here who ever tried to put
my drip in. I felt awful and I had to call for help and eventually
got his drip in.
Anyway, the next week, I was on call again. My pager went
off, same room. I went back in and I stuck my head in the door
and I thought this patient’s going to kill me. Fortunately, I had
not realized it before, he had dementia. So he saw me and
said, hello love, come in. I thought thank you, I got a second
opportunity. So, I remembered how the doctor did it before me

9. and I went straight in and I got it first time. After that he said to
me, that was the best anyone has ever got my drip in since I
have been here in the hospital, so I managed to redeem
myself. Initially, I was very nervous, obviously, doing
procedures but I have a real passion for it now and a very
steady hand. So, I managed to get my skills up quite quickly.
In terms of going down the cosmetic medicine path , it’s not
something that I ever really thought about when I was doing
my medical training. I thought I was going to be a pediatrician
and I got a great job at the Royal Children’s Hospital and then

10. I realized I was just clucky. I liked to be around healthy
children. The sick ones were very, very sad and very, very
challenging. So I left pediatrics and then I didn’t know what I
was going to do with myself. I did my general practice training
which I enjoyed but I felt that something was missing from my
career.
I think I read Power Of Now, I don’t know, one of those self-
help books and I came across a phrase and it said go back to,
look what you were doing when you were young and came
naturally to you, the things that you enjoyed. So, as I was

11. cleaning out the shed at Mum’s house, I found my old school
works and there were colours and drawings and things
everywhere. I thought, I used to love art. Right through
school, I loved art and I won art awards in Year eleven and I
gave it all up to pursue a career in medicine.
So when I came across cosmetic medicine that allowed me to
combine my two passions. You will find many cosmetic
doctors have an aesthetic eye, most them have an artistic
background somewhere. That is something that really
does separate the really successful cosmetic doctors from

12. someone who is just wanting to do a procedure. They cannot
see what looks good and it is very hard to train those doctors
just to improve their skills in some respects. They can’t see a
face properly and what needs to be done to improve its
beauty. So that’s a little bit about me and how I came to be
here.

13. If you need more information about
cosmetic medicine, stop by our website
and check out the services we offer.