“I treated the disease, I didn't treat the patient, and I can see that it was doing me a lot of harm,” says Dr. Solange Maria, an aesthetic pharmacist, as she recounts her professional journey. She first worked in hospital and oncology settings, moved to a retail pharmacy, and now runs her own business in aesthetics.
The reasons for changing fields are many: both the wear and tear of retail pharmacy bureaucracy and the feeling that her profession was undervalued led the pharmacist to look for something more. “I felt like I couldn't help people, and when I saw I would be working in aesthetics, going back to my pharmacy roots and treating patients' health and self-esteem, I only added to my career instead of moving away from it as I thought I would.”
Always practical, Dr. Solange chose at first to invest in short courses to learn a little more about the field . When she went back to studying, she says she had the help of two important people in her life: her friend and fellow professional, and her father-in-law.
The starting point
“I did an internship with a pharmacist friend of mine, who gradually introduced me to the aesthetics field. In 2017 I had taken some courses at Nepuga, but I felt I needed the hands-on practice to really learn, so I decided to enter the postgraduate program. My friend graduated a year before me, today we help each other and I am very grateful to her.”
She also says that one of the main people who supported her decision was her father-in-law, who sadly passed away from COVID-19: “My father-in-law gave me the push to start working in aesthetics. He was my mentor, he always helped me at the pharmacy and then insisted that I start in aesthetics. I didn't have the money, but he shook me up and said, ‘Figure it out, put it on the credit card and go for it.’ So I took my card and maxed it out on the course. Instead of spending on nonsense, I invested in my career.”
In 2019 she finished the specialization and little by little set up her space. Everything was going well, and the plan was to close the pharmacy and keep only the clinic. However, less than a year after opening the second business, the pandemic derailed her plans.
With all the difficulties of a new business and the uncertainty of the market at that time, Dr. Solange chose not to give up the pharmacy. Today she splits her time between two businesses: the pharmacy she has managed for 7 years and her aesthetics practice.
A fresh start in aesthetics
Since she began specializing in the field, Dr. Solange has worked hard to buy each piece of equipment and refine her technique even during the postgraduate program. All of this effort is driven by the pursuit of a career that bears fruit: “Aesthetics brought more recognition to my career. Sitting in an office to prescribe, take a history, see a patient and take care of them is completely different from a pharmacy counter, where it seems like the person is only there to sell a medication,” she adds.
Always investing in new techniques, and moved by the passing of her father and her father-in-law, Dr. Solange began researching and going deeper into ozone therapy: “I saw that ozone helped a lot after COVID, and even some COVID protocols, because it supports the immune system. So when my mother caught COVID, I helped cure her with ozone. From there I started combining ozone therapy with my therapies in aesthetics and complementing the treatments I offer.”
She says she always draws on her roots in the health field, and believes that combining protocols is very important for the best result: “I see that, especially in aesthetics, if I didn't oxygenate the patient and hadn't reduced inflammation in the area, I wouldn't get such a good result. You take care of the patient's health first, and only then deliver the aesthetic result.”
Success Stories>Aesthetic PharmacySarah
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
