Issue 5 2021

8 Acquisition International - Issue 5 2021 The internal culture is always team building. A pleasant working and learning atmosphere is crucial in ensuring every staff enjoys work, while at the same time, make progress in their career, and as a person. Team work with minimal hierarchy puts a smile on working faces, patients in return will feel this passion, also enjoys each visit more, yielding a win-win situation, happy for all parties. When considering the work that is performed at Dr. Katie Clinic, it’s essential to remember that a broad range of people walk through its doors, and each have their own histories to tell. When she first started practising in this field, most were female. Along the last years of solo practice, currently around 20–30% of patients are male, with ages that range from as young as 5 through to 70 years old. For younger children, parents are much concerned about facial moles, and scars caused by accidental falls, or other mishaps. They are worried that these can impose negative impacts on their children’s future life. Society, including the elderly, are now more aware of health issues and more willing to take action to ensure healing is completed to the highest standard. For some, the ideal of aesthetic surgery is one which revolves primarily around vanity. The creation of a face and body that is as close as possible to some ideal of humanity. Often, however, those who come to Katie have smaller complaints which date back years. One of the cases that she remembers most clearly is of a shy young man who had a scar since childhood. He was unaware of the potential solutions on offer, with a therapy technique being what was eventually recommended. This non-invasive and unintrusive approach was key to him recovering some sense of confidence, which he would be able to take into the world around him. The caring solution that was devised inspired the young man to bring in his mother who had a chronic scar that originated from a sunken nasal ridge. This so-called weakness was something that could be fixed on the spot. By providing practical solutions to problems that others perceive in a way that embraces them in their wholeness as opposed to perfecting them from a certain point of view, Dr. Katie Clinic has built a truly astonishing reputation for itself. This approach is only possible thanks to the care which Katie applies to every case. She doesn’t offer standardized plans that revolve around the latest and most popular techniques, instead offering a solution that is ideal for the patient. To ensure rapid progress, she meets patients in person right at the first session. This establishes a concrete doctor- patient relationship, encourages patient compliance throughout treatment execution, and above all, impresses their inner self to spread these good words. Those who come to Dr. Katie Clinic know that they will receive work that supports every aspect of their body in its entirety. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every industry, but for the active sportswoman that Katie is, it was an opportunity for her and her business to thrive in an impossible climate. In fact, the work that she does has only been strengthened by the changing way in which people have worked over the last year. With people working from home and unable to travel, they have had more time to turn up to her clinic and more opportunities to take advantage of downtime appointments. The lack of work-related constraints, as many people need time to recover after an operation and for example cannot wear makeup. Working from home means that this recovery time is less difficult to come by and as such, appointments for potential work can be done with ease. In fact, the pandemic has had a negligible impact on the way in which the company has operated, with the region as a whole suffering less than many other parts of the world. Those who might have travelled are now spending more time wondering how to improve their skin and their bodies as a whole. This subtle shift in priority has been pushed by the pandemic in an interesting way, with many seeing anew the value in ensuring that their bodies are able to operate at peak performance. Naturally, skin plays an enormous role in this because it is the body’s second biggest organ. Maintaining it to the highest standards is invaluable and often requires a therapeutic approach which the team at Dr. Katie Clinic specialise in. There is a great challenge for the industry at large, and it comes in the form of the reputation of aesthetic medicine in Hong Kong. A series of unfortunate negligent incidents over the past results in a very negative image of the industry. Patients are understandably extremely cautious about potential complications and side effects, not helped by the fact that skin issues are mostly non-acute, seldom a medical emergency, and therefore easy to postpone. The approach of Katie and her team, pushing an approach which celebrates the close relationship that people should have with their bodies, has been key to this. A clear sign of success is being invited to share your experiences and that is precisely what Katie has been lucky enough to do. Her success in the aesthetic sector, brought about by her holistic approach to the industry, has seen her reaching out into the Asia-Pacific regions, speaking proudly about her work at seminars and conferences alike. Needless to say, the limitations on travel in 2020 saw her speaking engagements curtailed a little, but as online conferences began, she was proud to speak at Korea Derma 2020 in Mid-December. Here, she talked about skin saving pearls for common dermatological conditions hidden underneath our masks. Katie is glad to be able to grab every chance to contribute to her profession and uphold academic standards on top of her daily clinical routines, given that real life events were nearly impossible recently since the COVID-19 outbreak. In the coming years, she would like to write a book that combines all of her knowledge and experience into a package that can be seen by all. The value of a tome that would be able to pass on the beauty of aesthetics is clear, and would be incredibly useful to the next generation, and beyond. While the work that Katie does at Dr. Katie Clinic is vital to her success, it’s in her outside engagements that she has been able to work in new and exciting sectors. One of these embraces the potential of the non- clinical aspects of her work. Currently, Katie has taken up a position teaching new aesthetics specialists in how to thrive in the workplace. She is training five pharmaceutical companies in machines and injectables at the moment, drawing on her long and varied years of experience to ensure that the decisions these businesses make are for the benefit of their customers. It’s clear that Dr. Katie Clinic is a certified success, and an enormous amount of that is down to Katie’s tireless work on behalf of her patients. While the world has been turned upside down over the last year, she has been able to focus on the needs of the here and now, pushing her firm to new and uncharted heights. By keeping up this incredible reputation, she has been able to achieve the remarkable. Once a sportsman, always a sportsman, it’s a desire to be active, to face new challenges and to conquer that has brought Katie such success. This sportsmanship I acquired since at a young age molded me into a tough person, ready to face any challenges and difficulties anytime. In sports, the rate of failure is frequently higher than success. The courage and determination to stand up again after bad collapses is the key to work the path of success.