There’s a lot of stuff to learn in medical training but none of it is more important than ‘the medical model’. We would be mistaken if we thought only in terms of the Hippocratic Oath here.

Whether you are a GP, an eye-surgeon or sports medicine doctor, this medical model process is the same. It never varies.

As you will see, choosing the right advice in medicine, especially cosmetic medicine, is not like going to the Apple Store to buy the latest iPhone, or to the supermarket for the groceries where people know what they want.

Whenever a medical practitioner, a doctor, engages with a patient the following items are of utmost importance.

The Presenting Concern is the main reason for the patient’s visit. The doctor listens carefully to what this is.

When was the first indication of the reason for the visit?

An appropriate examination of the reason for the visit

The doctor forms an ‘impression’ or diagnoses the cause of the reason for the visit and considers any factors that might have brought about the problem

Having discussed the findings with the patient, then its time to decide what actions could be taken to alleviate the concern.

Whether you are a GP, an eye-surgeon or sports medicine doctor, this medical model process is the same. It never varies.

If it varies, you run the risk of missing something important, like ‘could there be a medical reason for the presenting concern’. But the most important question, is the treatment plan concentrating on the cause and the effect of the problem. What is the scientific evidence that the treatment plan will directly affect the cause and the effect of the problem.

I see many pseudo-treatments that are supposed to be ‘scientifically proven’ or ‘medical grade’. When you examine the so-called evidence for these treatments closely, most of them cannot be supported by the scientific literature, the medical journals or what is known as ‘evidence-based medicine’.