What's the qualifications for being a hair transplant technician?

[Charlie Brown]

And are there any docs that do the whole procedure themselves?

The reason I ask is that I've been on quite a few consults, looked at photos of the "team" and was even taken into the room where a procedure was being done while I was on one of the consults. And it seems like 90% of the hair transplant techs (of the clinics I've visited anyways) are young, attractive females. So it makes me wonder if these docs just like having pretty girls around or do they have a criteria? Is any sort of formal training, education, degree or certification required to be a technician?

I've spoken to someone who had a transplant and he told me he was very disappointed by how little the doctor actually had to do with the procedure. He made it sound like he would be doing the bulk of the work but on the day of the actual surgery the doctor was more of a supervisor popping in and out of the room. And the girls seemed very distracted, chatting, gossiping and even ordered a pizza in the middle of the surgery and were going to and from the pizza box which was in the operating room. These are the kinds of stories that make me really worried about having a transplant done. I understand the demand is high and there's lots of money to be made so doctors need as much help as they can get.

I was just wondering if there is anyone who is a control freak perfectionist that views hair transplantation more as an art so they sacrifice the money that comes with having more patients. Probably doesn't exist but I thought I'd ask.

 

[shookwun]

The ones I had were very disciplined, and safety conscious to my sense of well being.

Constantly re-assuring me during the process, and assisting me with any additional concerns I had during the procedure.

They must of double checked my progress, and final result hundreds of times over.


only discussions they had among each other were graft, and patient related(ME). No personal, and outside matters.


(Dr Rahal)

 

[arfy]

The ones I had were very disciplined, and safety conscious to my sense of well being.

Constantly re-assuring me during the process, and assisting me with any additional concerns I had during the procedure.

They must of double checked my progress, and final result hundreds of times over.


only discussions they had among each other were graft, and patient related(ME). No personal, and outside matters.


(Dr Rahal)

I'm glad you are satisfied with your experience, but nothing that you just said is beyond the ordinary, the for clinics who rely heavily on techs. They all "appear concerned" etc. That means nothing.

I think the training for a medical tech is 2 years of technical school. Here's one school that claims "Achieve a new career in as few as 12 Months"

http://www.concorde.edu/program/sur...rceID=GO1107&gclid=CIyGwP75mMsCFVRbhgodZYUCNw

If you're a doctor doing hair transplant, getting low-paid surgical techs to perform the surgery is an ingenious and devious idea. Why work so hard?

The median salary for surgical technologists is $41,790 annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This equates to about $20.09 per hour for a full-time schedule, which most surg techs work. However, some of the higher earners earn from $46,000 to about $60,240 annually.

http://healthcareers.about.com/od/alliedmedicalprofiles/p/How-To-Become-A-Surgical-Technologist.htm?utm_term=medical%20tech%20certification&utm_content=p1-main-1-title&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=adid-e0461e8c-3514-4c74-b327-18428cb224e9-0-ab_gsb_ocode-22818&ad=semD&an=google_s&am=broad&q=medical%20tech%20certification&dqi=&o=22818&l=sem&qsrc=999&askid=e0461e8c-3514-4c74-b327-18428cb224e9-0-ab_gsb

The only doctors (that I am aware of) who don't use medical techs are Dr Woods & Campbell in Sydney, and (from what I'm hearing) Dr de Vroye in Belgium.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I'm glad you are satisfied with your experience, but nothing that you just said is beyond the ordinary, the for clinics who rely heavily on techs. They all "appear concerned" etc. That means nothing.

I think the training for a medical tech is 2 years of technical school. Here's one school that claims "Achieve a new career in as few as 12 Months"

http://www.concorde.edu/program/sur...rceID=GO1107&gclid=CIyGwP75mMsCFVRbhgodZYUCNw

If you're a doctor doing hair transplant, getting low-paid surgical techs to perform the surgery is an ingenious and devious idea. Why work so hard?



http://healthcareers.about.com/od/alliedmedicalprofiles/p/How-To-Become-A-Surgical-Technologist.htm?utm_term=medical%20tech%20certification&utm_content=p1-main-1-title&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=adid-e0461e8c-3514-4c74-b327-18428cb224e9-0-ab_gsb_ocode-22818&ad=semD&an=google_s&am=broad&q=medical%20tech%20certification&dqi=&o=22818&l=sem&qsrc=999&askid=e0461e8c-3514-4c74-b327-18428cb224e9-0-ab_gsb

The only doctors (that I am aware of) who don't use medical techs are Dr Woods & Campbell in Sydney, and (from what I'm hearing) Dr de Vroye in Belgium.

I read through some of Dr. Woods website just now and was impressed on how much knowledge he shares of how FUE actually works. But then I looked at his before and after gallery and I am disappointed to say I was not impressed. Not a lot of density and looking very transplanty. Maybe he's the only honest doctor and all the others use tricks in their before and after pics? But if these results in Woods' gallery are the best I can expect from the inventor of FUE, I may have to wait until a better method comes along. I like his passion but the results are not the best I've seen. I also looked at Dr de Vroye's gallery and it's a little better.

 

[Deadman1]

From the places I have been, no experience is necessary. It is all on the job training and usually on repair patients because the doctor figures the guy is messed up anyway. That's why they are called technicians and not nurses. There is no standard for what a technician is. There is also a high turn over rate, possibly due to the tediousness of the job. Look at a hair transplant website showing a picture of the team and then go there and see that no one in that picture is there.