2022 Annual Conference of the
British Medical Laser Association

Welcome from the President

Dear BMLA members, colleagues and friends, 

Our 2021 Annual Conference was delivered successfully as a virtual meeting, following a year of hiatus in 2020 due to the global pandemic. As the world moves on with cautious determination to deliver the face-to-face experiences and opportunities to network that we have all missed, I am very pleased to invite you to join us, in person, for the 39th Annual Conference of the British Medical Laser Association. 

BMLA 2022 Annual Conference & Educational Courses will be held at the Surgeons Quarter in Edinburgh, from Wednesday 25 to Friday 27 May 2022. An occasion for all medics, surgeons, nurses, technicians, aestheticians, scientists, students and therapists involved in the field, to gather, share knowledge and disseminate the latest advances in the lasers and light-based devices arena, for the continual improvement of patients’ and clients’ health and wellbeing.

Year on year, the BMLA has proudly accepted the challenge to cater to such a diverse group of candidates, and it does so by delivering a high quality, evidence based, scientific programme to stimulate the minds of medical and aesthetic laser enthusiasts.

We will start our conference with laser core of knowledge and specialised skin courses delivered by an expert faculty team. These courses are usually highly subscribed and the demand for spaces has grown year on year. Feedback for all courses has consistently been very high. 

Two dedicated ‘nursing and therapist’ sessions will feature in this year’s programme, following the continuous growing popularity of this area of interest. Not only do we have dedicated conference sessions for skin laser treatments, paediatrics, photodynamic therapy, photobiomodulation, use of lasers in surgery, but we will also present the lasers in dentistry as a separate session, which proved to be another very popular topic amongst our dental colleagues.

We are particularly delighted to welcome as invited speaker in 2022, Lauren Sutherland QC, who will present one of the most significant clinical negligence cases in recent years, instrumental in changing the approach to consent in the UK. Before that, the Vasant Oswal Oration & Plenary Session will be delivered by Prof Harry Moseley on the topic ‘The Darker Side of Light’.

The Great Debate will tackle the realities of a post Covid world, and how clinics and hospitals are recovering, as well as launch a debate on the future regulation for Lasers/IPL in the non-surgical aesthetics sector following the recent Government announcement. The conference will end with the traditional ‘Problem Page’ session, where delegates are encouraged to submit and share particularly challenging cases for discussion. 

In 2021, we successfully launched our sponsored Masterclasses and these parallel sessions will feature yet again in the 2022 programme, on the final day of conference. 

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to rage with new variants emerging, the rollout of vaccines provides a very optimistic outlook and, as such, the plans are for the BMLA to deliver this conference fully in person. However, we are mindful of potential restrictions and personal circumstances that may prevent attendance. The Committee will be reviewing opportunities to live stream or record sessions delivered at BMLA 2022 and will make any decisions public in due course. 

On that note, I look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh, the jewel in Scotland’s crown, for what we hope will be the biggest and best BMLA conference to date! See you then…

Dr Vishal Madan
BMLA President

About the BMLA

The BMLA is the foremost society in the UK for users of lasers, light and energy-based devices. We represent medical, surgical and dental professionals and allied colleagues, including but not limited to: nurses, technicians, scientists, aestheticians, manufacturers, suppliers, safety advisers. In fact, we represent anybody who has an interest in the application of lasers or energy-based devices in medicine and aesthetics.

For membership information, latest medical laser news, updates to national policy, and BMLA approved training courses, visit our website.