“I chose to become an aesthetic pharmacist because I'll be able to set my own hours and have more time with my daughter and my husband, something I couldn't do working at a drugstore”.
Dr. Alessandra da Silva Bernardo is a pharmacist who graduated from the Faculdade de Pindamonhangaba (FAPI) in 2014, and after working 10 years in drugstores, she decided to pursue a career more compatible with her stage of life.
She says she worked hard to complete her degree, but after a few years working as a pharmacist, some priorities changed, “At the start of the pandemic, my husband passed an army exam and had to move to São Paulo, and I chose to stay with my daughter because I didn't want her to be without both her father and her mother”.
Mother of 3-year-old Livia and wife of Vinicius, Dr. Alessandra says she has always liked the aesthetics field, but it was during the time she was at home that she stopped to reassess her career, “I took advantage of not being at the pharmacy, because in a drugstore you never get a break, and I started researching the postgraduate program at Nepuga”.
The Path to Becoming an Aesthetic Pharmacist
Through two friends who had already specialized in aesthetics, she found the institution and was surprised by the hybrid model, “At the start of the pandemic classes were already in the new format, and I found it very practical and cost-effective, especially for people who need to balance study and work”, says Dr. Alessandra.
A resident of the interior of São Paulo state, she talks about her experience in the Postgraduate Program in Aesthetic Pharmacy. “I found this method really interesting, because I was able to do all of the theory and now schedule the hands-on parts. Since I live in the interior, I have to travel to São Paulo city, and scheduling makes that much easier”, explains Dr. Alessandra.
The future Aesthetic Pharmacist also stresses the importance of hands-on classes in the specialization, “With hands-on classes you feel more confident starting to see patients, especially me, since I wasn't from this field, so clinical immersion gives us that direction. For me that was essential, and courses with no hands-on component are, to me, money thrown away”.
Now in the final stretch of her training, Dr. Alessandra Bernardo is already setting up her own space to see clients in the aesthetics field. She currently has a commercial room, where she works as an eyebrow and lash designer, but plans to make changes.
Dr. Alessandra says that at first she prefers working with facial procedures, but body aesthetics is also a future project, “When it comes to body procedures, the ones with the best results require some equipment, and since I'm just starting out, I can't invest in that yet”.
Full of plans for the future, Dr. Alessandra says she intends to continue offering eyebrow design services and will add the advanced aesthetics procedures she learned in the postgraduate program. “I'm really happy with my postgraduate program, happy to be finishing, and I can't wait to get my certificate”, she concludes.
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NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
