In the Life Of Dr Lee Walker

International trainer Dr Lee Walker details his varied working day and how he educates practitioners across the globe

A varied training day… I don’t really practice in my clinic B City Clinics in Liverpool anymore as my days are mainly focused on training and education, which I love! I have two working lives in aesthetics – one is where I work with my own training facility the Lee Walker Facial Aesthetics Academy in Liverpool, and the other is based around Teoxane, for whom I am a national and international trainer as well as a mentor. For a typical training day in Liverpool, I wake up at 7am. I arrive at 8:30am, starting the morning with a team talk about the upcoming day. We discuss the level of education we are going to pitch based on the delegates we have coming in. The official training day begins at 10am and finishes at 6pm. We keep the sessions small to focus on a high level of structured teaching. We also run an intense, evidence-based mentorship programme where 12 delegates take a sixmonth course, which I conduct once a month. It brings me a huge level of satisfaction and has a positive impact on my day. I finish work at 6pm and will reply to any messages, missed calls or emails before I go home. Depending on my schedule, I might have a virtual meeting or Zoom call, so will work my evening around this. If not, I will watch some sport or a documentary on the TV and finish off the day by reading a book before bed – mainly anything related to anatomy!

Being a KOL… I have lots of other exciting work commitments which take up a lot of my time besides my training academy. I am a trainer for Teoxane, which allows me to speak and educate people in the UK and internationally which is a huge honour! I receive advanced notice on conferences, lectures and workshops which are scheduled into my diary – I’m full until November! The training with Teoxane is very different. We deliver a message which is based around the company’s key principles, anatomy, ageing, assessment, techniques and product choices. As travelling within the UK is easier now, I am able to go to various places including all the four nations and Ireland. This is a great opportunity to meet other practitioners and hear about their experiences in the industry. The international training is structured differently, as Teoxane will choose specific topics or subjects for me to focus on during my talks. There is a language barrier in some countries so I may have to work with an interpreter, which can make the days long as usually the medical education message is being repeated. Also, ethnic and cultural differences come into play, where practitioners treat the face differently due to the different proportions and features of the face. Speaking at international conferences is a great learning experience as I’m able to see what other practitioners are doing around the world and the different techniques they are using. Through this role, I’ve educated in more than 40 countries. I’m also a mentor for other KOLs in a programme called A Journey to Excellence with Teoxane. This allows me to take young KOLs through a process to help develop them into strong speakers for the future. Being able to mentor and share my knowledge is paramount as we can craft the future of aesthetics and hopefully ensure it becomes a safer specialty.

Other work commitments… Another work commitment is being the chair of the Complications in Medical Aesthetic Collaborative (CMAC), which was established in 2020 to support clinicians worldwide in diagnosing and managing complications in aesthetics. I have a phenomenal team with aesthetic practitioner and vice chair Cormac Convery, prescribing pharmacist Gillian Murray and nurse prescriber Dr Emma Davies, without whom this organisation wouldn’t be possible! We have a Zoom meeting every two weeks which can last between two to three hours. It’s quite intense, but there is a lot of work to be done. We also have a global WhatsApp group where we share ideas, thoughts, and cases with experts from around the world. Complications are rife in this industry, and not enough people are trained in how to manage them, so I enjoy being able to share my knowledge to ensure patients are safe.

Most memorable day… I have two which stand out for me… The first is when I got to speak on the stage at the Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress (AMWC) a couple of years ago on complications. I had always been one of the delegates sitting in the audience watching, but then suddenly, I was teleported into this position! My second would be publishing a book with aesthetic practitioner Dr Raul Cetto and Dr Toni Burke in 2021 named Facial Ageing and Injection Anatomy, which is being sold in 30 countries now!

Career if you weren’t in aesthetics… I’d be a chef! I love to cook and I’m very experimental. When I was a student, we had competitions and the winner would be exempt from washing up for a week. Favourite thing about your job… Passing on knowledge and watching people develop into successful, safe and happy injectors! Any hobbies… I’m a huge Liverpool football fan, and I’ve also got a passion for CrossFit, so I try to keep myself active.

11 & 12 MARCH 2022 / LONDON

Dr Lee Walker will be speaking at ACE. Register for free by scanning the QR code.