Educational Courses

The BMLA Educational Courses will return as part of our 2022 Annual Conference, and will be held on Wednesday 25 May 2022, in the The Deacon's Suite, Prince Philip Building, Surgeons Quarter, Edinburgh.

A total of five courses are available to book individually, including the ever-popular Core of Knowledge followed by 4 shorter courses which can be booked as a package.

Registration is required and is available as part of your Conference registration or separately, via the relevant page below.

Educational Courses Fees

Core of Knowledge (additional fee required) - 10:30am-1:30pm

Faculty: Prof Harry Moseley, Stan Batchelor, Julie Robinson

Basic principles of laser generation and review of laser / IPL technology.

Emission characteristics of different types of equipment
Laser hazard classification
Meaning of associated warning labels
Principles of quality assurance
Laser-tissue interaction mechanisms
Penetration of light of different wavelengths through skin and eye
Dangers of central versus peripheral retinal damage
Hazards to eye and skin from accidental exposure
The concept of Maximum Permissible Exposure and Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance
Principles of risk assessment
Laser safety management including the role of the Laser Protection Adviser, Laser Protection Supervisor, Local Rules and Controlled Area
Risks associated with accidental reflections
Personal protection measures including eye protection
Hazards to the patient, e.g. endotracheal tube ignitionIncidental hazards, including electrical, fire explosion and plume emission
Relevant legislation, standards and guidelines
How to deal with an adverse event or accidental exposure

Course 1 - Hair Removal (additional fee required) - 2:00pm-3:15pm

Faculty: Dr Samantha Hills & Prof Harry Moseley

Hair removal is the most popular aesthetic laser/IPL treatment. To be able to deliver safe, effective treatment it is necessary to understand the therapeutic mechanisms. Laser manufacturers have flooded the market with a confusing array of laser/IPL devices, but which is right for you? It is reasonable to wonder just how effective the treatment is and what the pitfalls are for the unwary. And what about the administrative aspects? This is so often overlooked but contributes a lot to good practice. The course will cover the following points:

Basic principles of laser/IPL hair removal
What to look for when choosing a laser or IPL
Treatment outcomes
Documentation and Organisation

Course 2 - Vascular Lesions (additional fee required) - 3:25pm-4:40pm

Faculty: Dr Sanjay Rajpara & Dr Samira Batul Syed

Vascular lesions range from a small blemish, such as spider naevus, a red papule to an extensive malformation, such as Port Wine Stain, Reticulate Vascular Naevus to capillary malformations associated with a range of genetic disorders. This course will make you understand how to set the laser/IPL parameters to match the lesion, treat extensive areas and exclude those not suitable for laser therapy. It is important to have the knowledge when to treat and when not to treat. Which device is best suited to your patient/client. You will also learn about treating rosacea, angiokeratomas, venous lake, erythematous scars and poikiloderma of civatte and other conditions. Early treatments in childhood bring earlier clearance of various birthmarks. We will cover this in this course.

The course will cover the following points:

Basic principles of laser/IPL treatment of vascular lesions
How to choose a laser or IPL
Treating thread veins, spider naevi and leg veins and other simple conditions
More challenging vascular conditions

Course 3 - Ablative Laser Treatment (additional fee required) - 4:50pm-6:05pm

Faculty: Dr Vishal Madan & Dr Daron Seukeran

During the 1980s and 90s, continuous wave carbon dioxide lasers were used for laser resurfacing the skin, which meant removing the skin layer by layer with a view to allowing the growth of new, smoother, more evenly toned skin. To reduce the thermal damage that occurred in the skin tissue, pulsed CO2 laser systems were developed. These removed layers of skin in a more controlled manner. The Erbium Yag laser was also developed and its overall efficacy was comparable to the pulse and scanned Co2 laser techniques. Both of these laser systems were described as “ablative lasers” as they targeted the skin from the epidermis to the dermis.

Several advances have been made in this field, especially fractional ablative lasers, which have changed the landscape of laser resurfacing since mid 2000’s. The course tutors will discuss the role of these devices in several aesthetic and medical indications.

Course 4 - How to Treat Skin of Colour (additional fee required) - 6:15pm-7:30pm

Faculty: Dr Sanjeev Aurangabadkar & Dr Martin Kassir

Pigmentary disorders form a very important subject in dermatology and are of significant concern especially in patients with skin of colour. Even a slight variation of colour, be it hyper or hypo pigmentation causes considerable distress in our patients. Medical management is not always successful in dealing with these issues and as dermatologists we have to resort to procedural interventions to rectify these pigmentary alterations. Procedures can include chemical peels, lasers and IPL devices, micro needling etc. Lasers have aided in resolving pigmentary issues successfully over the past couple of decades.

This course will highlight the role of lasers and lights in tackling epidermal, dermal and mixed pigmentary disorders with emphasis on technology, techniques and combinations. Nevoid conditions such as nevus of Ota, Hori’s nevus, café au lait macules, lentigines etc will be covered. Acquired conditions such as Melasma, acquired dermal melanoses and P I H will also be dealt with. At the end of the course, delegates will acquire the concept of proper patient selection, choice of parameters, treatment interval, number of sessions needed for individual pigmentary lesions and learn how to minimize/handle complications.