Last weekend three of the Dermatology Institute of Victoria’s team members were invited to travel up to the Gold Coast to attend the exclusive laser conference for ‘innovative practitioners’ put on by Cutera (laser company).
DIVs Assoc Prof Greg Goodman was invited as a conference expert and had an extremely busy weekend giving presentations, sitting on and moderating panel discussions.
Our team believe in always advancing their knowledge so procedural nurses Tara Coetzer (RN) and Melissa Daniell (RN) jumped at the opportunity when the invitation was extended. Here we asked them to share their experience.
Assoc Prof Greg Goodman captured in conversation with colleagues.
So tell us what the conference was about?
DIV procedural nurses Melissa Daniell (RN) & Tara Coetzer (RN) enjoy the conference atmosphere
The conference motto was: share, learn, grow,’ explains procedural nurse Tara Coetzer, ‘and we definitely achieved that over the busy two day agenda.
'The conference was all about increasing our clinical knowledge of lasers. The program included some novel ways to use some of the existing laser technology that DIV already offers, so it was really interesting to learn how other practitioners use these treatments. Laser Genesis is one of the gentler laser treatments we offer, it has very little downtime so it was great to see how it can be used to gradually improve a client’s skin by decreasing overall redness and increasing brightness.’
“I really enjoyed the expert discussions,’ adds Melissa Daniell (RN) ‘ we are so lucky to have the guidance of a world renowned dermatologist all the time in Greg but watching him have in-depth discussions with his peers about the best way to treat the presented case studies was really interesting.’
Taking Greg out of the equation who was your favourite expert?
‘Dr Yohei Tanaka is a plastic surgeon from Japan,’ says Melissa. ‘I found him really interesting as obviously his speciality in plastics is a little different from ours and he had some really interesting things to say about reversing the appearance of ageing with efficient skin tightening.’
Japanese Plastic Surgeon Dr Yohei Tanaka
‘Dr Tanaka’s presentation on specifically rejuvenating Asian skin using a YAG was also really fascinating,’ adds Tara. ‘The Dermatology Institute of Victoria has a multicultural patient base and we think it’s really important to understand the specific needs of Asian skin (and all types of skin) so his insights were really beneficial.’
Conference highlight?
‘Seeing Assoc Prof Greg Goodman present is always a highlight,’ says Melissa, ‘he really captures an audience’s attention and generally gets a laugh or two in the process.’
‘The cocktail party on Saturday night was a lot of fun,’ says Tara, ‘they had a fruit sculpture artist which sounds a little weird but was actually really cool. Exchanging ideas with other practitioners over a couple of drinks in a less formal atmosphere was great and if I’m lucky enough to be invited back I’d jump at the chance.