Vanity and need drive her practice

Dr Jennifer Irvine is a general practitioner who specialises in aesthetic medicine. She tells how an interest in dermatology led to her specialisation

What exactly do you do at work?

I spend most of my day performing aesthetic procedures. Three days a week I do clinical work, which involves a lot of injectable treatments such as Botox and dermal fillers — the so-called liquid face-lift — and laser treatments.

The other two days I work in theatre, performing laser- and radio frequency-assisted liposuction. I’m also a member of the Allergan Medical Aesthetics Academy, which was recently launched by Allergan Pharmaceuticals in South Africa to raise the treatment standards locally and provide a platform for professional learning. I am a trainer at the academy and teach and train doctors in the use of Botox, dermal fillers and assisted liposuction. Did you study medicine with a view to going into aesthetic medicine, or did this come later?

No. I studied medicine because I wanted to be involved in the process of healing. Aesthetics was never on my agenda.

Each time we were exposed to a new field of medicine at medical school, I became more inspired. By the time I graduated it was clear I was going to be a generalist. I became interested in dermatology while I was working in the UK and it was through this exposure that I then developed an interest in aesthetics. Who would be your typical patient?

Our typical clients are trying to improve their physical appearance in one way or another, whether this is by delaying the changes of ageing or treating physical features they don’t like, for example, acne scars, facial veins or fat tummies.

There is still a predominance of women over men, but this is chang- NURTURER: Jennifer Irvine has always had a caring streak in her and remembers having ‘sick’ dolls that needed nursing when she was a child ing with the growth of the metro man. What is your most common procedure and what does it involve?

Our clinic was one of the first in South Africa to perform laser-as- sisted liposuction, and a year ago we added radio frequency-assisted liposuction.

The radio frequency-assisted liposuction procedure involves inserting a probe under the skin to heat and melt the fat while removing the liquefied fat and heat- ing the skin to stimulate collagen and skin tightening. The entire procedure is performed under local anaesthetic, so your downtime is negligible. Do you see patients for the usual GP reasons too, or is your practice only about aesthetic medicine?

Since moving predominantly into aesthetic medicine, the demographic of my GP practice has changed. It is now mostly women and the elderly.

I am also the medical director of Hospice East Rand and a local Alzheimer’s disease facility.

I see it as a great privilege to be involved in palliative care — it is obviously emotionally taxing, but the aesthetics provides a balance to this. When you were a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

I think I always knew I wanted to be involved in a profession that delivers care.

As a child I can remember my dolls were always sick and I looked after them.

I enjoyed books with a similar theme. My mom is a nursing sister and may be responsible for some of my early influences. What qualities do you need to have to do the work you do?

I think first and foremost you need to like and understand people. You also need to have empathy and be a good listener and communicator. What would people find most surprising about your work?

I think there is a perception that, in South Africa, we lag behind the rest of the world in terms of aesthetic skills.

The reality is that we have some of the best injectors and aesthetics doctors in the world. What is the best career advice you have ever been given?

I have received many pearls of wisdom:

When choosing a career, make sure you enjoy what the job entails. You are doing this for the rest of your life and every day you have to get out of bed and follow this path.

Aim as high as you can. It’s easier to climb down a ladder than up.

Don’t be arrogant and think you know it all. Medicine is an everchanging science and so is aesthetics.