School is okay.. they are truly after your money..!!! Promise more than they ever intend on delivering.. So just don't go in expecting too much.. lot of money and they don't even use professional name badges etcc. No formal graduation just a stand in the lobby and call out names.. They definately don't spend any money in return by offering any type of presentable certificates.. looks lke a Michaels craft store certificate of completion. I was somewhat disappointed due to the unprofessionalism of the school and their instructors. It's all a money thing for them.. No service after the sell or any job placement assistance. They offered to help me and 2 months later I've haven't heard a word.. Not holding my breath any longer.. :(

Have you ever thought about doing a type of internship with one of these Medispas in your area to learn about the lasers they are using? The reason I am asking this is we had an employee about a year ago that quit to take these type of classes to do laser hair removal, etc. She came back to us to see if we would be interested in selling laser hair removal packages. We have one laser that we use specifically for our cosmetic vein treatments where the doctor incorporates the laser with sclerotherapy. This laser has an attachment to do laser hair removal. To make an already long story short, she had never used our type of laser and was clueless about how this laser operated. We didn't think it was a good idea for us to offer any type of Medispa services anyway beyond body contouring and cosmetic vein treatments since every Medispa in our town already offers this service (and there are many) and more importantly the doctor did not want to use up time on his laser for this. We politely told her no but I was thinking how if she would have stayed on instead of spending thousands to take these classes, she would have learned far more about lasers than any class curriculum I have researched. Further, I doubt these classes are accredited in any way so what does it really mean to have graduated? (other than you are leaving with a lighter wallet). Also, I would think it would look good to a physicians office that you are very interested in lasers and are taking the initiative to intern with them to learn all about the type of lasers they are using. If they like your work ethic and are good with people, they will most likely offer you a job.

If you are dead set on going to this school to learn about lasers, ask about the percentage of graduates who get jobs within six months and if you can talk to a few former students that went there. This might help you make a better decision for yourself.

Good luck with your future in lasers!

-Wendy Hovorka

Hi I know a school who does 1 on 1 training located in Arizona as well. You will receive your Laser certificate. Arizona Laser Lipolysis Institute, 602-843-5438. She has allowed students to hang around after your coarse is finished to follow her a learn about the business. Good Luck!!

I am a graduate of NLI. I, too, am still looking. I thought the school was after the money as well. Some of the modalities were very helpful; however, I am not sure it is worth the money they are charging. And, the certificates do look like "Staples" bought certificates. A total mislead about the placement services, as well! If you can find this training in ILL, I would suggest that. I am sorry to admit that I think I blew $8,000.00. Although it has only been 5 weeks,I am not feeling very good about the prospects. Think about it before you jump in.

Good luck with your search!!

PDH

I am in the KC area if you need to talk or have a professional dialogue. I took Louis' class in 2007....definitely a money operation, but I worked in a skin treatment center out in Scottsdale performing laser treatments, medical grade peels etc.....I now have my own skin shop in Overland Park, Kansas and am not currently working with a physician so I am not using or performing any medical treatments at this time. I would love to collaborate though and find new contacts and professionals in the midwest.

I m not live in America and not know the answer but $ 30 per hour would be good I think:)

DO any of you know if the Laser treatments there are safe? I was considering going there for the treatments. I can't really afford what they charge in the Plastic Surgeons office here in NY/NJ. It would be cheaper for me to fly there and have the treatments done and fly home?

I went to NLI a year ago (4/09), and looked for a job in the laser field for 6 months (while unemployed). I went to the school because I thought it would be a fun job while helping people feel better about themselves. I didn't want to return to the legal field. I enjoyed the classes, but they are WAY overpriced for what you get. They say there are many jobs for laser techs. Maybe if you have an aesthetician license, but not without. No doctor (which you have to work under) will hire someone without it. I lived in Arizona at the time, and I finally came back to California and went back to legal (;p). I will be paying on this school loan for another year and a half!! Wish I'd done more homework on it, had some treatments myself first (as I probably wouldn't have gone through the training). They promise it all, but only deliver the minimum they can get away with. Just know if you do this and you do not have any other professional license, you may be stuck without a job in the field!! THINK IT THROUGH CAREFULLY!!

I just got back from NLI about 2 weeks ago. I took the 2 week course and i am veryyyy unhappy with the school. I would agree with everyone else that all they want is your money! All the teachers are very nice and do help a lot but i do not feel i got what i payed for! A few days before i left i checked my online banking and discovered i have been charged $18,000! I do not know if this was an accident or not but i was very upset. I contacted Louis and he said well some of it was for the house (i was staying in the house that Louis owns which was $89 a night) i told him that still doesnt add up to $18,000 and that i had been charged double!!! It took over a week to get this fixed!

I wish i would have done a little more homework and known more about this place, i would not have gone there and i would not recommend anyone go!

Wow, I had a completely opposite experience than what everyone else said. I went to the 2 week class and had a blast. I actually saw this review before I went to the school, but after doing my research beyond just a few complainers I decided it was where I should go. They train on the most lasers, have alot of teachers and you get to train giving treatments to real spa people. Other places I talked to only showed you how to use one laser, had the same teacher the whole course and you practice on eachother. I definitely wanted more than that which is why i picked national laser institute.

Doing laser treatments is just like cutting hair or working at a spa. You have to build up your client list. After I graduated I made looking for a job my full time job. I pounded the pavement, talked to med spas and doctors offices, went to the offices to introduces myself and things like that. It paid off because I found a job shortly after and its going great.

I'm not sure what yall did when you were looking for a job, but i definitely recommend going above and beyond just sending out a couple resumes and waiting for the phone to ring. It paid off for me. Going hardcore after graduating is important no matter if you went to laser school, a 4 year college or any other type of school. Just gotta keep your head up and go for it. I wish the best to all of you :-)

Louis is a jerk. That's all I'm going to say about him. As for the laser school, there are many schools in Arizona that cost about $1,000. Maybe you learn less laser equipment, but when you get to a med spa, you can have a trainer from the laser company come in and do hands on with you. Besides, if you train on one FotoFacial machine, doesn't mean that's the FotoFacial machine you will use at your job. Technique will vary somewhat from machine to machine. Most of the laser companies offer free seminars throughout the year. They talk about laser biophysics, histology of the skin and other topics, and do some live demos. Those are always good to go to, and are a great networking tool as well and will give you extra experience. Don't pay big $$$$ for school, find a less expensive school, and keep up with free seminars and read The Aesthetic Guiide: http://www.miinews.com/stage/news.php on a regular basis. You'll save some money and be glad you did.

Its cool getting to talk will yall and sharing this stuff. I was definitely looking for a different career because i was so unhappy at my lame job. i check out my options and the whole four year degree thing took way too long and would cost more than $30,000 at the college in my area. I have a kid, bills to pay and taking off 4 years of my life just wasnt realistic. i was interest in skin care and checked out esthetician school and that was also 6 or 8 months long. I know the laser companies give you a day of training or something like that if you buy a laser, but its only for about a day. It took a solid two weeks fulltime straight through of learning and practicing for me to get to a point where i'd be comfortable in the workplace and know what i'm doing. I couldn't ethicaly let myself give a treatment or get one from anyone who only spent a day or two learning about it. That would be scary.

I suppose everyone has there own view of their experience and the workplace. For a single mom with a mortgage and a desire to be as good as i can, this was the right choice for me. its been awesome working parttime and spending more time with my son in addition to making more than i did before. If anyone wants help with ways to find a job let me know. I'd be happy to pass along what worked for me . have a great day ladies :-)

Ok read about all the bad stuff at NLI, I am a licensed ethetician and am looking to get back into the business. I would like to know if anyone else was in my position and found success. 8000 dollars is alot but would it make sense to invest to get the respect . I live in Indiana and would like to know if their are any laser schools in this area. Willing to travel.

Lazergirl32 I would like advise on what you did to get a Job in the laser field. Thanks camelliasue

This reply is for Pat Monroe. Wondering if you are a RN? do you work your mobile "niche" under the supervision of a doctor, or are you independently working? What you are doing sounds great.

Hi Pat. Thanks for the information. How did you get started doing this? I have a physician lined up & I am a RN but, neither of us are sure what we need to do to get started. We aren't interested in opening up shop, rather having 'Botox parties' so, it can be more cost effective for Moms or women who otherwise would not have the opportunity in trying something like botox. My worse fear is doing something against my lisence though and not even realizing it. I have found it quite difficult obtaining the answers I need to ensure a comfort level with both of us to start. Any information you have is appreciated.

Hi camelliasue. My best advice is do more than just pass out a resume. Come up with a business plan to give a doctor to show that they can make money by hiring you. fore example. lets say renting a laser is 500 bucks a month. tell the doctor that at $150 per treatment for laser hair removal, they'd only need to book 4 treatments per month to cover the cost. if the practice has a patient list or 400 (not sure if thats too small or too big a number) and only 10% of them get a treatment, that still 40 people at $150 for a total of $6,000 ($72,000 per year) of cash services that don't require the cost of getting health insurance compensation. In addition, each person needs 4 to 8 treatments, so clients will be long term.

By hiring you, they make more money by not having to perform the treatments themselfs. thats how i got hired. plus if you think about it, would a doctor really want to hire someone who only had a day or two of training from a laser rep? that why i'm glad I got the full training. looks good on the resume and makes you more marketable for sure. hope that helps :-p btw thats cool about the mobile botox idea. never thought about that

I knew Laser training would cost a decent amount of money which I was hesitant to spend. Then, after researching schools, I determined that national laser institute was the best school. Once in the school, I realized how to take my investment and turn it into more. This was one of the best business decisions I have ever made

Thank you so much, Pat! The information you provided was wonderful. Very appreciated. Of course, I do have a lot more questions, if that is okay, my personal email is: schnathorsts@msn.com. Hopefully, this will just be used by you. As I had said before, I really think for now, since both my "doc" and I both work busy full-time jobs we will stick with "parties" for now, making the "intial consult" not a problem, as we will both be there. I too, have done years of home health care & she is a ER physician so, feel we are pretty skilled for this adventure! Our main worries are malpractice, etc. I have had Botox personally several times & feel the benefits are amazing but, want to be legal & legit. I am curious about the contract between you and your doctor, fees, etc . Please email at your earliest convience. Thanks, Pat.

Hello~ I am an RN looking to make the transfer into the medical aesthetic world. I have considered the NLI in Arizona but now am having second thoughts after reading the posts. I live just outside of Philadelphia (about 30 miles) and have been researching and researching different schools and have not come up with much. Does anyone have any suggestions? I hate to spend all this money and not have a job. I am finding it really hard to get my foot in the door somewhere without having the training behind me but at the same time I am afraid to spend all the money on the training and still not have a job. Would love to start something up on my own but do not know how to go about getting that "medical director." I really really want to be part of this world but do not know where to go for the training. Would LOVE to hear some feedback!! Thanks so much!!!!

I took laser training courses at national laser institute. After returning to my hometown, I interviewed with several laser centers. I accepted a position at a Dr's office and began working less than a month after graduating. At my interviews, graduating from national laser institute on my resume was the only referral needed. I have had a lot of success and I am confident with my new career path. They have continued to support me following my completion with tips and suggestions.

I am a graduate from the National Laser Institute and all I can say is that I had such a good experience there. Everyone was super helpful and knew what they were talking about. Now I own my own equip and work part time as a cosmetologist and part time as a laser tech in White Bear Lake MN. I absolutely love my job! I love people and have done hair for 20 years trying to make people feel good about themselves from the inside out. They did such a great job with my training and giving me the opportunities that I do now.

I loved everything about NLI from the staff/management//teachers the whole way it was organized was as proffesional a scenario as i could ever have imagined. I wasn't sure what to expect but it really exceeded all my expectations. I think one should go to school seeking an education and the job hunt is in their hands. As long as the school provides a great, high quality education and there is a marketplace for the services then its up the graudate to secure work or start a business. Succeeding in life is never easy regardless of school or venue. My sis was a political science major and she has been waiting on tables for years, she dabbled a bit, but never really purused her dreams hard enough then gave up. Its a fact of life that i think 80% of all people get by while 20% succeed. Its usualy the 80% looking for the easy road and when they dont' find that they look to blame everything they can, the economy, the education, competition etc. We all need to look int the mirror and determine our own paths in life. I honestly believe the ones with the "blame someone" mindframe are the 80%. I do believe we all have the power to change our attitutude and the way we look at life, and in doing so can find success and happiness in anything we go after. I just finished reading a tony robbins book and he had tons of stories like this which really inspired me. I say this in hope of inspiring the reviews/posters i read that were bitter and negative. $8k is a pretty small price to pay if it gives one the opportunity to seek employement in a field where tons of people make very nice income. My sis coughed up i think $60k and 4 years of time.

I am an NLI graduate as well as many above, I was very shocked by what I was reading as I had a very opposing experience. I too didn't know exactly what to expect and was beyond pleasantly surprised. Beginning from the 1st time I spoke with admissions the staff was sincerely caring and helpful, I disagree whole-heartedly that you are promised more than they deliver, everything by far exceeded my expectations. We were never promised job placement, we were promised an education which was delivered by expertly trained and experienced technicians, nurses, aestheticians, etc. We had the ability to use numerous types of lasers with the most advanced technologies. I have experienced first hand as well as had feedback from my employers that my knowledge exceeds that of technicians with far more experience, which I owe all to NLI as I had no knowledge of this industry before attending. The education was thorough, professional, and the instructors/admissions staff/Louis were truly genuine. We were given all we needed to be equipped to begin our job search upon graduating. You do not attend a university and expect them to single handedly place you in a job so my question would be why should we expect that of this facility? We are given the necessary tool, the knowledge of the industry to begin what for most of us is a new and exciting career. The school can provide you with the ability and the certification to perform these procedures but it is unrealistic for it to provide you with the drive and personality to continue and make this your career. I agree above, you cannot in this industry send in a resume' and expect to have multiple offers waiting on your voicemail, it is up to us as individuals to take the initiative and to take ourselves seriously, have a business plan whether it's to work in a chain doing hair removal only or to be a business owner. With that being said, the staff/ Louis at NLI however were extremely helpful in me finding a job upon returning home, they put me in immediate contact with the local laser reps who were happy to give me some contact information regarding which offices may be looking to hire new technicians. Louis was happy to advise me in what I should expect my salary offers to be as well. Louis is a very caring person who truly wants to see us all have success, I couldn't disagree more with the opinions above regarding his character. He has continued to show genuine thoughtfulness in regards to how things are going with alumni students and continued to offer additional advice when needed. I have been very successful and absolutely love my career and I give a huge amount of credit to everyone at NLI for it. They cannot go to our job interviews for us it is up to us at that point to take what information we have been given and run with it. For whatever it's worth these are my opinions and I truly hope this helps some of you!

I had a similar good experience like Dallas, TX did above. I was in accounting for the longest time and I really burned out over the years. Its no fun counting other peoples money all day while not making enough yourself. Id always been interested in the whole med spa thing, especially after I found out I didn’t have to be a doctor to do laser treatments. Hey, what girl doesn’t love beauty. Of course I was a little nervous trying a new type of job later in life but I figure if you don’t dream it and jsut sit around all day doing the same old thing then nothing will ever change.

As far as the staff goes, the saying that “those who can’t do, teach” doesn’t apply to to the instructors at national laser institute at all. I chose them over other schools because all of their teachers actually practiced in the real world the treatments they were teaching us. Getting to practice on actual spa clients was probably the best part. When I was reading online reviews about other schools I was shocked to find that some places actually make you train by performing treatments on vegetables. Are they serious? Personally I think don’t think eggplants and tomatoes are demanding many laser hair removal treatments these days haha. We got to perform treatments on around 8 to 10 people a day as well as getting several treatments ourself. That was pretty cool.

Also, I'm not sure why anyone would call the school president Louis a jerk. He had such a great energy and the day he taught about the business side of things was way cool. It got me really excited about the possibilities after graduation. I started creating my business plan that very night and louis even offered me help to go over what i wrote down after class one day and made some helpfill changes.

I agree that getting a job is definitely our responsibility. I left graduation with a “take no prisoners” attitude that I wouldn’t give up until I got a job. I never expected someone to drop a job in my lap which is why I picked the top 5 biggest medical offices in my area who didn’t do laser treatments and gave them a little gift basket in addition to just my resume. This got me calls from three of them and I was offered a position. Honestly I never ran into the problem where places required people to be aestheticians first. Mainly because, like me, aestheticians had no prior experience in lasers so after we graduate we are on the same playing field regardless of the previous work we did.

some peOple commented on the tuition for the school. i can say for certain that the tuition and short 14 day length of the course was welll worth it. My sister's son just graduated from regular university and she told me she owes a bill of something like $35,000 smackers. I don't know about you but two weeks was a lot more appealing to this 40something. Who want to take four years of fulltime school work and come away with that big bill like my sis.

THE NATIONAL LASER INSTITUTE!!!
Save your money!! The National Laser Institute is NOT a good or wise investment. I spent $8000 to take classes that I thought would get me hired. I sent out 15 resumes which resulted in 3 interviews. All 3 of the employers told me that it was a waste of money going to The National Laser Institute. I can honestly say they are right. They claim to give you "hands on experience." Yea right. There are so many people in your class that you get very little opportunity to actually USE the lasers. They claim to have DOCTORS that teach you. NOPE!! You get these bimbos that wear low cut shirts with NO degrees but hey, they have fake boobs to look at!!! I think they just go to strip clubs in the area to hire their employees. DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!! I'll be kicking myself every month when I have to send payment in for the loan I took out for the overpriced worthless certificate I received!!!

One thing that I forgot to mention LOUIS. He'll give you his email address to contact him with help or questions!! JUST DON'T COUNT ON HIM TO ACTUALLY ANSWER THE EMAILS!!! The positive reviews on here CAN"T be real. I know everyone I talked to in my classes were EXTREMELY disappointed.

I just read one of the posts and saw that someone is upset about spending $8k because they have sent out 15 resumes and not secured a job yet. My freind went to law shcool in miami and sent out hundreds of resumes and it took him a year to land a job. He had a tough journey but is so glad now he didnt' quit. I think in almost every career field unless one has existing connections one may have to send out a ton of resumes and really hit the pavement for weeks or months to find what they desire. I think so many people just give up so quickly which is their choice but i think we all need to take responsiblity for our future not say we didnt' find employment due to a school or economy or competiton that made it tough. To say there is not jobs in this medical aestheics industry is quite an interesteing comment when its published information anywhere you look that its like a $8billion dollar marketplace. So obvously there are opportuities if its such a big market. No employer on earth will give you a job "soley" based on a school you went to..even if it was an ivy league graduate employers will hire you based on if they like you or not its as simple as that. I went through a heck of a lot more then 3 interviews but landed a job and i am so happy i didn't give up my search as its so gratifying ot finally be in a career that i love. National Laser was first class all the way and i was taught there by a combination of doctors, nurses, aetheicians and laser techs who all were as proffesoinal and skilled as i could imagine. i sent i think 3 diff emails to staff from my admission rep, to two of my instructors(who i facebooked) and even the owner and they all were very responsibe anbd helpful. I would reccomend this school to anyoone and i would also recomend not giving up in your job search in any business after a short period of time. You can never get ahead in life if you throw in the towel. I actually spoke to a referal of girl in texas that said she got a job because the employer loved fact that she went to national laser but i assume they liked her personality more!

WOW really not sure about this school now, more neg. than pos. comments. I am will do the home work,and put myself out their to find employment but if this is just a 8800.00 piece of paper, I will call my doctors office and talk to the lady that did my treatment first,before takinkg this course.

I just finished the national laser course in June
And it was experience of a lifetime!
I have 3 friends that all went
To same school and all working within
A few months of graduating!
The instructors and school
Were a superior quality
Then any college/school
I could ever imagine it's truly
A class act and a unforgetable
Program. People really Ned to
Understand beauty is a huge
Market and only one person determines
Landing a job, that's not the school
Or market it's the individual.

I just read the comment about no degrees and low cut outfits at laser school boy talk about sour grapes I went to that school 3 years ago, have been at a doc's office since and same doc and all his freinds in business all send their techs to NLI and no where else. All my instructors not only had college degrees some had been in aestheic biz 15-20 years one instructor was even a expert witness for laser lawsuits if that isnt a high quality of knowledge then??? they dressed very proffesional in matching company shirts, scrubs and labcoats.I think that person is just jealous as the ladies there were very attractive but heck its a beauty biz so im sure they have gotten a zillion free treatments! LOL its obviously a very very credible school its written up in countless magazines across country on regular basis. Everyone in country knows National Laser they are a common conversation for quality training even all the biggest laser companies send their new buyers of equipment there. For anyone looking for work i just heard neosmedspa, americanlaser and ideal image are hiring so check them out. I also heard lifetime fitness may be adding laser to their spas. I think this market is going to explode as soooooo many docs are jumping into adding this to their practice. I looked into lots of laser schools the only two quality ones were scope laser training and national laser and national Laser was definately a step ahead of the game.

At first, I was thrilled about the idea of possibly making thousands of dollars a month..it sounded waaayyyyyy too good to be true!! I was about to sign up on the spot! After making the math, I came to the conclusion that I would be potentially be making way more money than my sister who has a Masters Degree!!!
But then my brother started doing some reasearch on NLI and found out that it really was "too good to be true"! :(
As he showed me all of the reviews and to top it all off the biggest red flag is that NLI has been in business since 2004 but yet they barely registered under the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU earlier this year (2010) For a very "prestigious" school that does not seem very professional to me??
I am really confused at this point...I really don't know which reviews are genuinely true and which aren't .... as I have learned from experience that some people LOVE to exaggerate stuff! I am a single mother and I thought that this would be my ultimate "way out" while I finished college... Please help! I need honest opinions

Just because a company is not listed with the BBB doesn't mean they are not good or reputable.

I am not saying the education isn't there. What I am saying is that you must weigh the cost of the education versus the amount of income you will make. I did my training just after Thanksgiving last year. I chose not to go to American Laser or a doctors office, but hold out for a doc to be my medical director. (I am an RN) I finally got my doc in April and did my demo for him to see my technique and he was impressed with the amount of knowledge I have (I was also on this list and "studying You tube) I was actually relating this story to a friend the other day.

In April for the demo I bought 2 vials of Botox, 1 kit of Juve 2, 3 and 4 (meaning 2 syringes per kit) and 1 Restylane. That was all the money I had left from taxes. The botox lasted until the end of May and I used 1 or 2 of the fillers syringes of each kind. Bought 1 more Botox and some Fillers which lasted till the middle of June. Bought 1 more botox and some fillers and this lasted till the end of June. In July I have bought a vial nearly every week and fillers too. So you can see the clients are building but slowly. We are getting ready to have our first laser day, which is renting a laser and treating everyone in one day. Hopefully a few of these laser days and I can lease a laser or get my credit better to finance one. But I am doing it slowly. I have not recouped my training money yet, but it will come.

What I wish from NLI is that the take home material was a little more comprehensive. It has been more than 6 months since training and while I remember the overlap and stuff, it's the little things that I am worried about forgetting. If you go take lots of notes even if you think you will remember it. You might not get a job right off and being able to review would be great. Seriously for $5000 (laser and injecting class for RN) you would think I would get more usable reference information. The wavelength diagram was in every module book, but not a sample for progression of settings. I know that many lasers have slightly different settings but I am sure there are some parameters settings that would go across the board.

There are loads of videos on Youtube but many don't start "at the beginning" where you need to mark the client or put the gel on. They also usually dont give settings they are using on the person. Sometimes just watching a refresher could be nice. Maybe NLI can create a student section of their site that has refresher videos made by the instructors so we can go in and see the techniques again.
I have a list of supplies needed for Botox and Fillers, but poured through my books and didn't see a supply list for lasers. Now it seems easy, ultrasound gel, white eyebrow pencils, razors, but it's the little things that are easy to forget like gauze for gripping, cavi wipes, hair bands or clips, sunscreen for after care and the like. Nothing worse than being in the middle of a treatment and wishing you had something on hand. I'm thinking nearly naked guy getting a Brazilian and you just can't hold on...that gauze would be nice. LOL

Anyway enough rambling. Whether you go to NLI or ESI or any other training there will be pros and cons. Do the research and treat it like an Olympic event through out some the worst (disgruntled person or competitor) and best (paid testimonials) and look at what's left. If there isn't any then it might not be the right place to go.

Well after considering NLI and doing reserch I went with SWINA (Southwest Institute Of Natural Aesthetics). They offer the laser tech program minus the tattoo removal, tuition is about $4000. I emailed tons of spas and med spas and they mostly recommended SWINA. I have not started yet but will keep you posted on how it goes.

Jess 1867: If you are not an RN, before you spend the time and money you just might want to make sure that the state in which you are hoping to find employment in this industry legally allows non-medical personnel to operate this equipment and perform these procedures. In the majority of states the delivery of these aesthetics treatments is considered the practice of medicine... Better safe than sorry.

I received a sea of take home educational
Materials ( one big 100+ page book and like six extra 20 page manuals)but i took the 14 day comprehensive course
(I am A career changer not a nurse) I really loved the course
And have already refered several freinds. There will always be pros and cons To different places but national laser seems to Really lead the marketplace in all aspects of laser education.
I learned about them from skin Inc magazine originally and did
Plenty of shopping. Really loved fact they use over ten brands of well known laser equip where every other school had one or two no name devices. This is a fun business I am really enjoying it and am digging job I found.

Hi jess1867 and med spa guy.

I checked it out and i believe only california and possibly one or two other states you have to have a medical backround to do laser treatments. The majority of states accept laser techs and people with no medical backround providing they have some sort of training hours under their belt. The only consistent thing i found is that in all states the location where you work has to have a relationship with a medical director(physicians) that signs off that the techs can do the treatments.

If one starts t heir own laser business they still need a doc to sign off, but I learned there are bunch of docs in my area that do this role for $500 or less month. Most the schools seem to know whom can or can not fire a laser in the states. I didn't worry much about the doctor part as since i was looking to work for a medical spa. Med spas already have a medical director so you dont need to pay anything out of pocket. I am not a medical proffesional or aesthteician so i was thrilled to learn in most states i can do laser. yay for me hehe!!

Here is some free legal advice for everyone looking into being a "laser technician": Don't believe what these various groups tell you about the "legalities" of operating lasers and other prescription medical devices. They are more often WRONG than they are correct. They obviously have a vested interest in painting a rosy picture to recruit more unwary customers into their programs.

A number of "lists", summaries and compilations I have seen tell you -- for example -- that virtually anyone can legally operate a laser in the State of Minnesota. They are flat out wrong. But you only get caught if someone complains. I KNOW because it happened to one of my nurses! She was an RN-- but we STILL got in trouble because she did not meet all the technical legal and regulatory requirements. In Minnesota --- for example-- you need to be familiar with the state statutes and regs governing both physicians AND nurses. Trust me -- it is very complex and hard to figure out. But if you get busted you will find out the hard way. You could lose your nursing license -- and if you do not have any medical credentials you could suffer other consequences. If you really do the research you will find that MOST states allow only people with some medical credentials to work as "physician extenders"... I am only familiar with a couple states that recognize the concept of a "laser tech"...

did the research,

You are wrong in my state the only ones that can operate a laser are RN's (under direct physician supervision), Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and Physicians.

So for anyone on this forum, before you invest in one of these courses make sure to do your own research but better yet have a lawyer look through the state statutes. This will keep you from wasting a lot of money. You may spend a couple hundred dollars but it will possibly save you thousands of dollars as well as a huge headache.