Power Couple Building a Practice in Medical Aesthetics
Meet Dr. Kelley Wright and her husband Michael Peirone, medical aesthetics professionals and competitive bodybuilders who appreciate the merits of top training and high standards. A Q-and-A with a true ‘power couple’!
I knew pretty quickly that Kelley and Michael were a dynamic couple. They came into our training with experience under their belt but wanting to learn everything they could. They eagerly soaked up knowledge, asked a lot of questions and left with greater confidence in their abilities.
Kelley is a medical doctor and has been working in long-term and geriatric care for almost 10 years. Like Kelley, Michael also graduated from McMaster University. He a Canadian Certified Physician Assistant with a background in commercial design. When not working and managing their 413 Medical Aesthetics clinic in Barrie, they lead an active lifestyle that includes competitive bodybuilding. It’s that youth-driven energy, plus their commitment to patient care, ethics and high standards, that makes me sure they will be very successful as medical aesthetics practitioners.
Both Kelley and Michael took the THMA Consulting Foundation Courses. Kelley also completed Supplementary Course training in PRP Treatments, Deoxycholic Treatments and Medical Director/AOL Role and Responsibilities.
“This was the best decision we ever made!” – Dr. Kelley Wright
In this Q-and-A, we first asked Kelley about her decision to go into medical aesthetics.
Kelley: I was always intrigued with the profession and kept in close contact with a colleague who went into that field right out of medical school. I eventually thought it would be good for both of us.
I like that it’s a different way to challenge me medically, since medical aesthetics is an art as well as a science. I get to use both sides of my brain, so to speak.
THMAC: How has meeting that challenge been satisfactory?
Kelley: It’s excellent medicine. Like in other medical fields, there are risks and benefits. But this is happy medicine, for the most part. We enjoy that therapeutic relationship with a patient.
Michael: I like the totally different scientific approach to patient care in medical aesthetics. Rather than disease management, this is more relationship-based care. It’s very rewarding.
THMAC: How did the THMA Consulting training program come to your attention?
Kelley: A couple pharmaceutical companies recommended Tracey. So did a nurse injector I know and am now her Medical Director. She trained at THMA Consulting and told us we had to go there, too. We had already done some training but hearing what THMA Consulting had to offer we decided to do all over again right from the beginning.
THMAC: You trained somewhere else before coming to us?
Kelley: Our original training was with a physician and we didn’t find it helpful at all. We really just dabbled at it, and didn’t get in-depth on product knowledge or on safety and anatomy. Where THMA Consulting goes into risks and complications, there was none of that in the physician’s training.
Michael: The other course was just training us to put needles in skin. It was like starting a book at Chapter 3. THMA Consulting took us back to Chapter 1 with an extensive review of relevant topics and areas of knowledge before moving into the actual hands-on training.
Kelley: You have to go to an experienced injector!
THMAC: What are your lasting impressions of the THMA Consulting program and trainers?
Michael: The training was very professional and I think the focus on anatomy and ethics and patient safety is unique to THMA Consulting. I also loved the training environment where we had a doctor, nurses, a nurse practitioner and a PA in the same class. I was made comfortable fitting in and training with the others. We were like a community of medical professionals.
Kelley: The ease with which Tracey and Jeanine teach the courses. They make it so easy to understand, because it is a complex area of medicine. I like that they are intricately involved with the regulatory bodies and the industry, and we can get constant updates either through emails or at the Professional Development Symposiums.
Michael: They are always there to help us with any questions and lend us support.
Kelley: They also bring a certain sense of respect to the industry that’s well deserved and long overdue. They help de-stigmatize some of myths about cosmetic medicine. That it’s just about Botox, for example. THMA Consulting focuses on the therapeutic approach to patients with respect to these injectables. That was a breath of fresh air, treating it like other respected areas of medicine.
THMAC: How is your medical aesthetics practice in Barrie going now?
Kelley: What’s interesting is we are seeing a lot of younger patients. They’re coming in for preventative care, something people don’t always take advantage of in other aspects of medicine. Right now, we’re working out of our home-based office part-time, but our goal is to transition that into a full-time practice sometime soon. Training at THMA Consulting was the best decision we ever made!