The MSTA Cosmetic Dermatology Programme: Programme Prospectus

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About this Cosmetic Dermatology programme

For the past 7 years, we have been building educational programmes for ambitious individuals who are looking to become a leader in their career in the professional skincare industry.

We have developed and delivered training from the absolute basics of skincare through to advanced VTCT Level 6 qualifications — combining in-depth skin science, specialist treatment knowledge and the practical skills that underpin professional skincare.

With that said, over the last few years, we’ve identified a genuine gap in the market. This gap was actually a programme that almost all of our students and our prospective students (literally) would ask us for…

…but because of the in-depth nature of the content that we would deliver, and the amount of time they would have to spend out of the clinic and in our academy, we couldn’t deliver it in a way that made sense for most people.

Over the past 6 months, we’ve been quietly building a new kind of programme to meet this gap in the market, and we believe it is going to fundamentally raise the standard of skincare practice in the UK industry.

Who is the MSTA Cosmetic Dermatology programme for?

This programme is for qualified skincare professionals and aesthetic practitioners who want to understand skin in greater depth, make more informed treatment decisions and develop their practice. If you trained through short courses and still lack confidence because the advanced foundations were never properly covered, we built this programme with you in mind.

It suits you if you are:

• a skincare professional, aesthetician or therapist who wants a deeper understanding of the science behind the treatments you already deliver;
• an injector who wants to bring stronger skincare knowledge, homecare and skin-focused treatment planning into your practice;
• a doctor, nurse, dentist or pharmacist entering aesthetics who wants to develop the cosmetic skincare knowledge your clinical training may not have covered;
• a practising skincare professional who wants to move clients from individual treatments to structured skincare plans, with a clear reason behind each recommendation.
  
  Because it is online, you can join and learn from anywhere in the world.

About this prospectus

We are not taking sales calls for this programme as the demand for the initial discounted cohort is too high.

Instead, we have created this Programme Prospectus document to explain all of the information and to outline everything you need to know before you invest.

This document will cover what you learn, who the programme is for, what the pre-requisites are, how you will study, how you will be assessed, and what the programme costs.

If you would like to join the founding cohort, or have a question first, message our enrolments team on WhatsApp on +44 7415 100412 or email info@mstauk.com.

1. Programme at a glance

The programme is an online course of 23 modules and 165 video lessons, which you study at your own pace. There are multiple live calls each month, including general Q&A and Case Review sessions. The founding cohort is invite-only and the programme officially starts on Monday 4 January 2027. Founding enrolment and the 50% founding discount close when the cohort sells out or on 30 November 2026, whichever comes first.

2. The MSTA Cosmetic Dermatology programme, in detail

2.1 What does this programme cover?

The programme has been designed to deliver education in the most important, impactful and valuable areas of cosmetic dermatology, which, collectively, will allow you to deliver cosmetic skincare transformations at the highest level.

Its 23 modules sit in seven sections:

1. Foundations. The framework behind every plan in the programme.
2. The science of skin. How skin is built and how it behaves: the anatomy, the barrier, microbes and inflammation, wound healing, pigment, skin of colour, and the mechanisms of ageing.
3. The consultation and your toolkit. A consultation that unlocks true skincare transformations, the ingredients you must know & use, and designing the homecare plans that deliver results.
4. The concerns. Acne and problematic skin, sensitivity and redness, pigmentation, ageing, texture and scars: each with its own plan.
5. Mastering the treatments. Microneedling, chemical peels, mesotherapy & skin boosters, LED and devices, and understanding how to prescribe a treatment plan.
6. Planning and safety. Complications, what to do when things go wrong, complete plans sequenced over months, and six applied cases.
7. “The Aesthetic Skincare Professional”. Your specialism, your portfolio of work, and how the practitioners who lead in aesthetic skincare build their practice.

2.2 Why choose this programme?

This is a highly advanced, medic-led educational programme, organised around mastering the concerns your clients actually bring you, rather than around a single product or device.

You learn through more than 20 client cases, and can choose to take the optional MSTA certification exam to assess your understanding of the programme.

Your programme will be taught by MSTA’s team of educators, all of whom are medics and healthcare professionals actively practising in skincare and aesthetics.

They bring their experience of working with clients into the teaching, connecting the science to the decisions that matter in practice.

Our ambition is to make this the most comprehensive programme on the market for skincare practitioners who are serious about building a successful, lasting career in professional skincare and aesthetics, covering everything from skincare anatomy & science, to consultations & treatment planning, to advanced treatment techniques and delivering transformational outcomes in the aesthetic skincare world.

2.3 What could this programme lead to?

The programme prepares you to lead in the space you choose, whether that is acne, pigmentation, mature skin, skin of colour or the skin of your injectable clients.

When you finish, you can confidently:

• offer structured, advanced treatment plans in place of single sessions;
• build a body of documented results/client transformations in your specialism;
• work alongside GPs, prescribers and injectors through your own referral network;
• sit the optional MSTA certification exam and earn a Pass with a score of 70% to below 90%, or a Distinction with 90% or above.

3. Programme deliverables

What sets the practitioners who lead in aesthetic skincare apart is judgement: knowing what each client needs, why and in what order. This programme is built to give you that judgement, so you become the person clients and colleagues turn to for skin.

3.1 Where you are now, and where you finish

3.2 What you walk away with

You leave the programme with:

• a consultation system that picks up what others miss;
• ingredients you can justify, and homecare your clients can explain back;
• a plan for each of acne, sensitivity and redness, pigmentation, ageing, texture and scars, with skin of colour throughout;
• the evidence on microneedling, chemical peels, mesotherapy and skin boosters, LED and devices, including who may perform each;
• complete plans sequenced over months, tested on six applied cases;
• a CPD UK accredited MSTA Certificate of Completion, with the option to take the MSTA certification exam for a Pass or Distinction.

3.3 Why it works

Knowledge alone rarely changes how you practise; judgement does. So you practise decisions. Case after case, starting in Module 1, you decide what you would do next and why, and you can bring your own cases to the live Q&A and Case Review calls.

By your final skin plan, the reasoning and treatment planning is entirely your own. That is how you move from delivering treatments to leading in your space.

4. The Programme structure

This is a remote, guided learning programme. Alongside the video lessons, you will have access to the Student Community and resources, with multiple live calls each month, including general Q&A and Case Review sessions.

Upon completing the full course, you will receive the MSTA Certificate of Completion. You can then book the optional MSTA certification exam. You choose an exam date that suits you, receive a link to join, and sit the exam online at the scheduled time alongside other students, with a member of our team invigilating remotely.

You will receive revision materials and support for your exam. A score of 70% to below 90% earns a Pass. A score of 90% or above earns a Distinction, awarded as MSTA Certified with Distinction: Cosmetic Dermatology Programme for Skin Professionals.

The exam is designed to be a rigorous test of your understanding of the programme, with a Distinction recognising an especially strong level of knowledge.

5. Prerequisites

This is an advanced programme, so you need to be qualified to work on skin before you join. Here is exactly what we ask for, and what you will need to take part.

5.1 Who can enrol

You can join if you hold at least one of the following:

• a qualification in skincare, beauty therapy or aesthetics, or a licence to practise as an aesthetician or esthetician where you work;
• current registration as a healthcare professional, such as a doctor, nurse, dentist or pharmacist (in the UK, with the GMC, NMC, GDC, GPhC or PSNI, or the equivalent body where you practise).

If you are not qualified yet, we would love to help you get there. Start with Aesthetic Skincare For Beginners, and come back to this programme once you are practising.

5.2 Confirming your eligibility

When you enrol, we ask for evidence of your qualification, licence or registration before we confirm your place. That keeps the programme, and the certificate, meaningful for everyone who takes part.

5.3 What you will need

• A computer, tablet or phone with a reliable internet connection. A computer or tablet is easiest for the case work.
• Zoom, if you would like to join the live Q&A and Case Review calls. There are multiple calls each month, and every session is recorded so you can watch it afterwards.
• A good working knowledge of English, as all lessons, case work and assessments are written/recorded in English.
• Time to study. Most lessons run for between 15-20 minutes (case workshops and demonstrations run a little longer), and most modules have six to nine of them.

You do not need your own clients to complete the programme. You will get the most from it, though, if you can apply each module to the people you already see.

5.4 Your scope of practice

The programme deepens your knowledge and your judgement across every treatment it covers.

It does not, on its own, qualify you to perform a treatment you are not already trained, insured and legally allowed to carry out where you work. Within this programme, where a treatment needs hands-on training, we articulate this and it is your responsibility to invest in the accredited/regulated training.

The purpose of education relating to treatments in this programme is to teach and demonstrate techniques, and discuss the application of different treatments within aesthetic practice.

6. Assessment and certification

Every student who completes the programme receives the MSTA Certificate of Completion. If you want to go further, you can sit the optional MSTA certification exam. A score of 70% to below 90% earns a Pass; 90% or above earns a Distinction. The exam is charged separately from your programme fee.

6.1 Summary of assessment methods

6.2 Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate, complete all 23 modules and every knowledge check, then submit your final skin plan from Module 22. Our team reviews it and sends you written feedback.

Then you will receive your MSTA Certificate of Completion, along with an invitation to book a date for the optional MSTA certification exam.

Your certificate names the programme: The MSTA Cosmetic Dermatology Programme for Skin Professionals. For the avoidance of doubt, cosmetic dermatology is the subject you are studying, rather than a professional title that you will hold after completion.

6.3 The MSTA certification exam

Re-sits. If you fail your exam, you may resit twice. Further resits may be charged at £100 per resit, and we will require evidence that you have studied further between exams.

Reasonable adjustments. If a disability, health condition or learning difference affects how you take the exam, tell us when you book and we will agree to reasonable adjustments with you.

6.4 Your own work

We ask that your knowledge checks, case work, final skin plan and exam are all your own work. If you draw on a real client, anonymise their name and anything else that could identify them.

7. How you learn and the support you get

You study online at your own pace, with multiple live calls each month, access to the Student Community and resources, and support from your Student Success Manager.

7.1 Lessons

Each lesson is a short video and a knowledge check at the end. Every treatment is taught to the same pattern, so you can compare them side by side. Many lessons build on the same client record, starting with Maya in Module 1.

7.2 Live Q&A and Case Review calls

From January 2027, we run multiple live calls each month on Zoom, including general Q&A sessions and Case Review calls. Bring your questions and anonymised client cases for discussion. Every session is recorded and added to your account, with a focus on helping you understand the programme and apply what you learn in practice.

7.3 Help between sessions

You will have access to the private Student Community and its resources, where you can connect with other practitioners in your cohort. You can send questions to your Student Success Manager at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for support with your learning and the programme.

7.4 Shaping the programme as a founding member

As a founding member, you help shape the programme. We gather your feedback as each module is released. When founding enrolment closes, we pause new enrolments to build your feedback in, then reopen at the full programme price.

8. Module specifications

The full specification for all 23 modules is available on request: message us and we will send it to you. Every module is set out the same way, so you can see exactly what you will learn before you enrol.

9. Fees, dates and enrolment

The founding cohort is invite-only.

Founding members join at half the standard price, £1,995 including VAT. Founding enrolment and the 50% founding discount close when the cohort sells out or on 30 November 2026, whichever comes first. When enrolment reopens, the programme costs £3,995 including VAT.

If you live outside the UK, we will confirm the exact amount, including any tax that applies where you are, before you pay. The MSTA certification exam is optional.

9.1 Key dates

9.2 How to enrol

The founding cohort is by invitation. To take up your place, message our enrollment team on WhatsApp on +44 7415 100412 or email info@mstauk.com.

We will ask you for evidence of your qualification/accreditation certificates, or evidence of your status as a healthcare professional. Once accepted, we will take payment and send your login details.

You can pay in full or split into 3 monthly payments using Klarna/Afterpay.

The programme starts on Monday 4 January 2027.

10. Your enrolment: the important details

• Changing your mind. Cancel within 14 days of enrolling and we will refund you in full. If we cannot open on 4 January 2027, you get everything back.
• Access. You keep access to every lesson, download and Q&A recording until at least 31 December 2027.
• Refinements. We may fine-tune lesson titles and their order as we finish each module, but what each module covers stays as set out in its module specification. If a release date ever needs to move, we will tell you in advance.
• Your contract. The terms you accept when you enrol form your contract with us.
• Who we are. MSTA UK (Medical Skincare Training Academy) is a trading name of International Skincare Education (UK) Limited, company number 16807453, VAT GB 510407933, Ground Floor, Yorkshire House, 18 Chapel Street, Liverpool L3 9AG, and MSHQ International LLC-FZ, Meydan Freezone, Dubai, UAE. We are one of the UK’s leading skincare training academies, and all of our education is delivered by active, practising healthcare professionals and medics.

11. Contact us

We would be glad to talk it through.

Message us on WhatsApp on +44 7415 100412 or email info@mstauk.com, and a real person will answer.