They are the new kids on the education block.
Vanstone Scott College, a new school located on Torbay Road in St. John’s, will open its doors on Sept. 9 to a small group of students who wish to learn the fundamentals of esthetics along with the advanced medical esthetic therapies.
These include areas such as microdermabrasion, chemical peels, laser hair removal, photo rejuvenation, acne treatments, laser tattoo removal, skin tightening/body contouring and other medical esthetic therapies and modalities used in the medical spa environment.
They have ordered equipment that will help them to do each of these functions.
“We offer a variety of programs including having our students trained to look after cancer patients, both pre-and post-treatments,’’ Lee-Ann Fleming, principal at Vanstone Scott, said earlier this week.
“What we do here, and the products we use, have been designed to be safe to use on cancer patients,’’ she added.
The school, which has developed its own line of products (Ossetera) to be used in house and sold to the public, has made the steps to ensure they are as good as you would get in high-end spas.
Vanstone is the first school to gain accreditation in Newfoundland and Labrador in more than a decade and the founders are determined to make it a great experience.
“We are only accepting eight students, so the student/teacher ratio is small, hopefully making the education component more intimate and successful,’’ vice-principal Darlene McCarthy said.
Fleming added, “We want to put out students that are trained to work in clinics with dermatologists, using advanced machines, something that there is a lack of right now,’’ she said.
The program, 62 weeks in duration and approved by the Department of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour (AESL), will see the eight students work on a variety of disciplines throughout the four-semester program.
Fleming and McCarthy have been friends since their teen years and have worked in the industry for more than 30 years, bringing with them a wealth of experience to the classroom. They have travelled across North America to a variety of trade shows during those years, carefully looking at what works and what is needed in the industry.
The students will learn an in-depth understanding and practical application of client consultations in addition to sanitization/sterilization practices will be stressed throughout the program, they said.
The pair started planning for the program four years ago.
When they chatted with people about the program there was doubt, which only fuelled their fire to branch out and see where they could take their ideas.
“They told us we couldn’t do it, so we did it,’’ McCarthy said.
“There are other programs out there that do these disciplines, but they don’t get the additional things we offer here,’’ Fleming said.
They both agreed there is no reason Newfoundland has to be behind in these areas, areas such as skin care products going natural, proper training in all of these areas or even the administration of rules and regulations across the industry.
