Aesthetic Growth: Putting the NEW in Happy New Year
It’s the beginning of another New Year, and I’m very excited about 2025. Aesthetic medicine will continue to be a viable career option for nurses in Canada. With that expected growth, THMA is putting even more emphasis on developing and fostering safe, successful practices.
Forecast 2025
A lot has changed in aesthetic medicine since I started THMA Consulting as a national training program eight years ago. Most notably, providers are better trained and more aware of their roles as medical professionals. We are so much more than just Botox injectors. Caring for our patients means doing more than applying needle to skin.

THMA's training mission from Day One has been to provide a solid foundation of knowledge so providers understand why they are doing the treatments and not just how to do them. Those critical thinking skills lead to safer injections and better patient outcomes.
Patients are getting smarter. They want their provider to be professional and well trained. That’s going to continue in 2025 and shape the future of aesthetic medicine.
Related: Patients today are more informed and discerning than ever before.
Providers know this. They are asking us for more and better training, as well as increased networking and support. In response, our THMA training programs will be even better as we also respond to demands and new trends.
High standards of practice and critical thinking outside the box: that’s what first set THMA training apart from the competition when launched in 2016. With 35 years of aesthetics experience, I knew then that 'Botox training' had to focus on medical professionals providing medical services in a medical facility.
Education in facial anatomy became a priority then and is still a priority today. So are patient assessments and the understanding of the risks and management of adverse events. The importance of patient safety can never be understated.
We also teach new providers about how to work within their scope of practice and how to develop a practice. Accompanying that is THMA’s commitment to ongoing education, networking and continuous support. New injectors have invested a lot into their aesthetic education, so we will continue to provide them with high-quality education and support at a minimal cost.
That’s not just a New Year’s resolution; that is THMA’s mandate!

We are proud of who we are as aesthetic medicine trainers in Canada. We are honoured to earn Canadian Nurses Association accreditation in recognition of our program’s research-based education and professional integrity.
But we are not sitting on our laurels. Here’s what we are doing to raise the training bar even higher in 2025.

Expanded Foundation Program
The CNA-accredited Foundation Program is designed to provide the educational and technical skills for safe and skilled aesthetic medicine treatments. The THMA Foundation Program now includes five Virtual Courses and one in-person Hands-on Training Course. The complete program, as follows, quite literally gives providers a solid foundation of knowledge and training.
- Facial Anatomy for Aesthetic Medicine
- Facial Assessment and Consultation Skills
- Botulinum Toxin A (Botox)
- Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Fillers
- Business Development and Professional Standards
- Hands-on Training
Program participants are encouraged to register for additional mentoring with their Hands-on Training instructor to hone skills and gain confidence in the ‘how and why’ of injecting. CNA accreditation gives 40 credit hours to nurses who complete the Foundation Program. The Virtual Courses are also offered individually.

Advanced Workshops
Basic Supplementary Course and Advanced Workshops give providers great opportunities to pad their professional portfolios. That includes all-important education in the risks, management and prevention of Aesthetic Injection Adverse Events. We also have in-depth virtual training in Energy-based Treatments, Therapeutic Uses of Botulinum Toxin A (Botox), IV Vitamin Infusions, and the Role and Responsibilities of Authorized Prescribers.
Two of our Advanced Workshops (Biostimulator Treatments and Lip Enhancements will now be offered in virtual formats with optional in-person mentoring to follow. The virtual component includes in-depth didactic learning plus a study guide and research articles.
With close attention to patient safety, individual one-on-one training with a THMA clinical instructor will now be standard in all in-person Advanced Workshops that require injections in risk areas such as temples and tear troughs.

More Networking Workshops
We love our Networking Workshops. Feedback from these workshops in 2024 was especially positive from aesthetic providers looking for work or without contacts in their area. Here's where they can network with other professionals, collaborating and sharing information and getting to know one another.
The workshops feature interactive discussions and live demonstrations. The THMA clinical trainers allow everyone to observe and ask questions. Participants will then work together, doing assessments and treatments on each other. This gets everyone to think beyond needle to skin and consider desired outcomes, best treatments, what filler to use and where to place it.
Skills and techniques are central to Networking Workshops, but the opportunity to become part of a community is just as fulfilling.

Three Symposiums
THMA will host Professional Development Symposiums in 2025 in Winnipeg (April 13), Toronto (May 9-10), and Halifax (November 14-15). The education event in Toronto will be a Learners and Legacies Conference, an aesthetic mentorship learning event specially developed for newer injectors. The Atlantic Symposium in Halifax will include a Facial Anatomy Lab on November 13 with lead instructor Julie Bass Kaplan.
THMA Symposiums have international experts presenting on new products and trends in aesthetic medicine. They are also networking opportunities where we put community over competition and share the challenges and joys of aesthetic medicine. New and seasoned injectors will exchange perspectives on their own experiences with practices, patient safety and more.
We love getting industry exhibitors involved in the events, providing them with opportunities to share their product knowledge and expertise. Lunches and refreshments are kindly included.

New THMA Trainers
We are very excited to add these two aesthetic medicine professionals to our national THMA Training Team. Marissa Dennis NP will join us in Kelowna BC. A nurse since 2007 and a respected aesthetic practitioner since 2015, Marissa is a strong advocate for safety and training in aesthetic medicine.
Kate Spellen NP is a member of our formidable clinical training team in Ottawa. A nurse with 14 years experience, Kate now works full-time in aesthetic medicine. She also brings a firm commitment to delivering education with high standards of care and patient safety. Both Kate and Marissa will be instructing Foundation Program’s Hands-on Training Course. As with all THMA clinical trainers, they will encourage trainees to return for One-on-One Mentoring in preparation for a career in aesthetic medicine.
Announcements will be coming soon on new THMA trainers in Calgary and other Canadian cities.

Big Picture Mission
It has always been a THMA goal to elevate education in aesthetic medicine and to work collaboratively with like-minded professionals to promote high standards in this speciality.
To that end, we have put together a clinical research committee to examine the ways and means for nurses to build safe and successful careers in aesthetic medicine. Educator and aesthetic professional Jennifer Splane NP PhDc leads the committee’s commitment to excellence as director of the team. The committee has three articles in development now: the motivations for going into aesthetic medicine; facility recommendations for independent practices, and; the benefits and risks of social media use by aesthetic professionals. This last research article will emphasize our absolute need to be taken seriously as medical professionals.
Look for more on the clinical research committee, its members and goals in an upcoming Blog.
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For the above reasons and more, I really am really pumped about this New Year.
Aesthetic medicine and independent practices are continuing to grow. Patients are educating themselves and demanding more from providers. This is good. In response, nurses and physicians are more eager than ever to absorb as much knowledge as possible and to reach for the top in this profession.
We all share patient desires for safe and satisfactory treatment outcomes.
We are proud of our top-quality training program at THMA, and equally proud of every person who we train and support and develop into successful providers. Bring on 2015. It’s going to be another banner year!