How GEM Drives Up Aesthetic Medicine Safety Standards

We recently announced the GEM, the Global Evidence Matrix. In anticipation of its launch, we wanted to explain further how injecting using GEM principles will drive up aesthetic medicine safety standards.

The UK is still woefully unregulated for aesthetic practice, with no updates regarding the licensing scheme or aesthetics regulation in general.

So what steps can injectors take to ensure they’re practising as safely as possible, within their scope of competency? How do they know they’re injecting correctly and in line with the most recent evidence?

This is where GEM comes in.

What is GEM?

As we’ve explained previously when announcing GEM by Harley Academy, the Global Evidence Matrix is a set of principles. 

These principles carefully detail how to inject every filler treatment for every area of the face based on the most up-to-date, evidence-based techniques. They are categorised by experience level so you know which are best suited to your skills. This also helps you to plan which treatments to progress onto as you build your knowledge, confidence and number of cases.

GEM breaks each filler treatment down into the following parts:

• Vascular Risk
• Technical Difficulty
• Injection Technique
• Clinical Indications
• Device (optimal tool to be used, including size information)
• Aspiration (yes or no)
• Injection Depth
• Anatomical Placement (where the product ends up)
• Product Category (e.g. optimal GPrime for filler products)
• Recommended Total Product Volume (per hemi-face treatment).

It’s reviewed and updated regularly to ensure you’re always following the most current science. Additionally, GEM’s teachings can be applied to any product range, providing a universal benchmark for how to inject ‘correctly’.

All Harley Academy filler courses are exclusively taught using GEM principles, so you’ll develop a deep understanding of evidenced best practices with us. 

GEM is brought to life by an online tool which will soon become available via an annual subscription. Our Level 7 trainees receive a free 12-month subscription to this app to support their learning.

The user-friendly and highly accessible digital GEM platform comprises:

• A full matrix providing at-a-glance and step-by-step instructions for every facial filler treatment across all difficulty levels
• Additional insights from Dr Tristan Mehta, explaining the Key Concepts for every treatment, highlighting specific learning points 
• Specially commissioned 3D illustrations and animations to aid visual learning
• A library of narrated HD treatment demonstration videos from Dr Tristan, both showing and explaining how to administer every filler treatment in line with GEM.

These have all been approved and endorsed by the world-renowned anatomist and respected researcher, Harley Academy’s Academic Director, Professor Sebastian Cotofana.

Additional resources include a series of live webinars with Professor Cotofana on the facial anatomical reasonings behind GEM. 

From a ‘periodic table for injectables’ to some of the most advanced injecting animations available, every step of GEM is geared towards driving up aesthetic medicine safety standards, one injector at a time. 

Improving aesthetic medicine safety standards, globally

“Now is a very important time to bring out these kinds of standards,” says Dr Tristan. “One of the things I think is really interesting is that we have general safety data on injectables. 

“It’s actually very bad safety data when it comes to the serious vascular events, because it’s quite under-reported. People don’t tend to report their complications. But what we don’t have is safety data based on standardised techniques and approaches. That’s because everyone is doing things differently. Whereas what we can do with GEM is create a structured way of practising and then monitor results based on those injectables.

“This is the start of a new type of research where we can actually get safety data based on specific techniques for every single injection approach to every single anatomical target of the face. And that’s what we’re going to start embarking upon at Harley Academy - so that’s super exciting.”

Combining education, evidence and safety

“With GEM, we’re not just creating a framework,” he stresses. “We’re creating a system that combines education, evidence and safety to raise the standard of injectable treatments.

“At Harley Academy, we treat over 1,000 patients every month in our training clinic, The Academy Clinic. Every treatment is delivered in line with GEM’s systematic approach. This isn’t just about improving individual outcomes, it’s about collecting real-world safety data to better understand the risks and complications associated with injectable treatments.

“Through GEM, we’ll be able to provide indicative complication rates for different techniques across all facial zones. From vascular events through to nodules.”

How GEM data can inform aesthetics regulation 

Dr Tristan continues, “This kind of granular, real-world data is exactly what our field needs to create robust safety standards. As regulation approaches, the need for this data becomes even more critical. 

“Policymakers and healthcare leaders have made it clear - strong licensing schemes need strong evidence to back them up. That’s where GEM and regulation come in,” he clarifies.

“GEM aligns directly with the standards we hope to see defined by the government as part of the incoming licensing scheme.”

Reducing the variables in clinical research data

By standardising the approach to filler treatments in this way, reporting of outcomes from GEM practitioners will allow for more robust research. 

The data arising from these treatments, where the methodology has been accounted for, provides a less variable framework. Having this more stable data pool allows us to draw increasingly meaningful conclusions. 

Harley Academy has already started this research and we look forward to developing our work in this area. 

Helping to establish best practices based on evidence

Establishing a legislative framework and aesthetics licensing scheme with clear criteria for both injectors and their premises is a critical public safety concern. It’s something we’re continually working towards with the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP). 

When Dr Tristan was developing the Level 7 injectables qualification, it was a response to the lack of industry regulation. He had patient safety through education in mind and a desire to set a high bar for aesthetics training for medical professionals. Since then, he and Harley Academy have continually adapted and improved our output, guided by evidence, to drive up standards.

We are happy to make our data available to the government and remain committed to bringing aesthetics regulation in the UK. GEM-backed research should provide the Department of Health & Social Care with compelling evidence that they can factor into their regulatory plans. 

Our views on further delays to licensing have been heard and we look forward to updating you on the government’s plans in due course.

You can help to shape future aesthetic medicine standards through GEM

Whilst getting firm regulation in place is the end goal, there are immediate steps responsible injectors can take to ensure solid safety protocols.

Dr Tristan explains, “By following GEM, you’re not only practising in line with the most up-to-date safety principles. You’re also contributing to the data that will shape the future of regulation in our industry.

“I hope that GEM will give confidence to injectors and show them they can practice at the cutting edge of understanding of how to inject. 

“They can do so without having to worry what different pharma companies are saying or what key opinion leaders are saying. Without worrying about if they didn’t go to this conference or they didn’t go to IMCAS this year, that they might be behind. It’s a sense of confidence in their practice being completely up-to-date.”

The full breadth of the GEM app is being rolled out exclusively to Harley Academy trainees and recent graduates from our Level 7 Diploma in Cosmetic Injectables courses. This includes Level 7+ - formerly the Combined Level 7 - and Fast Track Level 7 students.

Level 7 access will go live on 10th February 2025. All current Level 7 trainees will receive a free 12-month subscription to the GEM digital platform.

All other Harley Academy trainees, plus the wider medical aesthetics community, will be able to purchase a GEM subscription later this year. This allows our Level 7 family to enhance their educational experience and benefit from an exclusivity period.

Our Student Support team will be in touch with all trainees and recent graduates about GEM access very soon!

Empowering injectors to enhance their aesthetic practice

“GEM will also provide reassurance,” he enthuses. “Some practitioners are worried about injecting the temples in their first year of practice - and that concern is appropriate. I don’t want people to feel like once they’ve been practising for a few weeks, they should start to learn how to do things like temples, tear troughs and noses. 

“GEM gives aesthetic practitioners a guide to which treatments are actually suitable for them, based on the number of fillers they’ve done. That, again, is based on the research and global consensus of what constitutes a beginner, intermediate and expert injector. It’s giving people a framework for their progression in education, as well.”

Professor Cotofana adds, “I am confident that this system will empower injectors globally to enhance their practice, ensuring safety and excellence in patient care.”

If you want to start your aesthetics career off in the right way but aren't sure where to begin, check out our FREE 1-hour live event, How to Get Started in Aesthetics. You can join our experts online to gain a wealth of information about the industry, career and training pathways, and so much more. Just click on the image above.

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All information correct at the time of publication