Business Excellence Awards 2020

4 Acquisition International - 2020 Business Excellence Awards Best Facial Rejuvenation & Aesthetic Dermatology Clinic - Saint Lucia There are exceptional scientists in all fields, and then there are the truly outstanding specialists in their unique fields. Dr Desmer Destang is one such individual, having been highly regarded as one of the finest orthodontic and oro-facial orthopaedic specialists to work in the Caribbean today. In order to find out more about this brilliant doctor’s work, we chartered her journey to get to this point. true trend-setter, Dr Destang has been a lifelong learner, having earned master’s degrees in a number of subjects and created a handful of successful businesses, where many would settle for just one. Unrelenting in her pursuit of excellence, Dr Destang continues to push the limits and set the bar at new heights for those entering the industry. Her journey towards this level of exceptional service began at the University of the West Indies on the island of Trinidad and Tobago in 1995, where Dr Destang obtained her Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. Now, more than twenty five years later, the good doctor is being recognised for her truly outstanding work in Acquisition International magazine, and rightly so. Orthodontics and aesthetic medicine are two interrelated, but starkly contrasting fields. Having existed since the 1800s as a recognised science, orthodontics now has a great deal of evidence backing treatment techniques which are largely standardised. On the other hand, aesthetic medicine is a much broader field and largely unstandardized, as yet unrecognised as a specialty within medicine. Aesthetic medicine does however have several cross- specialty applications in both medicine and dentistry, though cannot be categorised as belonging to any specific field within medicine. Simply because it is not yet recognised as belonging to a specific field within the industry doesn’t mean that it is not applicable or helpful. Dr Destang has spent her working life believing that all clinicians should have some working knowledge of aesthetic medicine, with the ability to apply the necessary components to their practice. In order to properly achieve this, clinicians with a true interest in aesthetic medicine should ideally undergo training programs involving both academic and hands-on instruction for at least a year, rather than the more common weekend-only programs. Dr Destang, a powerful voice in this community, is now also a key player in this industry. University programs across the world have begun to address this training deficit by covering aesthetic medicine. Dr Destang herself, having received this University-level training, has been instrumental in imparting this knowledge upon other upcoming aesthetic physicians and clinicians as a university tutor in aesthetic medicine. Supporting her base knowledge in aesthetic medicine and orthodontics, Dr Destang has also undertaken a number of degrees all over the world in a wide variety of subjects. Cementing her status as a lifelong learner, she has furthered her knowledge in this areas, as well as others, with master’s degrees include Business Administration, Orthodontics, and A Dermatology & Aesthetic Medicine. Dr Destang’s passion and ability to intertwine such diverse interests is inherited from her parents, both of whom are teachers and businessowners themselves. Utilising her unique skillset and breadth of deep knowledge, Dr Destang has since created two successful businesses, each catering to a separate demographic of individuals. Firstly, her orthodontic practice, Caribbean Smiles Orthodontics, began a trend never before seen in the region. Capitalising on her business acumen and University knowledge, Dr Destang brought dynamic and colourful television and print advertisements to the Caribbean, forever changing the landscape of medical and dental marketing there. However, a last-minute specialty switch from oral and maxillofacial surgery to orthodontics meant that Dr Destang had already accumulated years of experience in a strong medical and surgical background. Using this experience, her second business was an early entry into aesthetic medicine in 2006. At that time, the concept of aesthetic medicine was virtually unheard of in the Caribbean region, and another bold move from Dr Destang introduced it. In 2007, she founded and created the Dermalogics Laser & Aesthetics clinic, providing treatments in laser hair removal, botulinum toxins, dermal fillers, and other treatments that became