About Us: Meet Wendy

		Wendy’s  interest in nursing began in her early teens while volunteering at Northridge Hospital in Southern California. After high school, she attended the LA County-USC Medical Center nursing school and graduated with honors. She began her career in the operating room, followed by a 4-year stint in the emergency room. From there she moved to outpatient surgery and recovery. She eventually accepted a position as operating room/recovery room supervisor at Sereno Surgery Center in Los Gatos, California.

Then an opportunity arose that allowed her to combine her nursing skills with her interest in aesthetics. She took a course in micropigmentation, a procedure then used by plastic surgeons to color the nipple and areola of women who had undergone breast reconstruction. Wendy became one of the first nurses in the United States to be trained and certified in this technique. Initially, micropigmentation was used to provide lip and eye makeup for disabled women unable to apply their own cosmetics and for people who suffered hair loss or scarring. Plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and ophthalmologists heard of Wendy’s skills and referred such patients to her. Wendy also began to work with healthy women who simply wanted to look elegant and groomed at all times.

As an established practitioner, Wendy founded the “Derma-Medical Institute” to train doctors and nurses in micropigmentation techniques. She both designed and taught the courses, which were certified by the American Academy of Dermatology and were awarded continuing medical education (CME) status.

In 1996, another new procedure was emerging — the injection of collagen to plump up skin depressions, lips, and erase wrinkles. A representative of Collagen Corporation approached Wendy and recommended she train in this technique. After completing the course and training extensively under a prominent dermatologist, Wendy was certified by Collagen Corporation to perform cosmetic injections. She also took a course at UC San Francisco School of Dentistry to learn local anesthesia techniques she could use to enhance patient comfort during facial cosmetic procedures.

As other dermal fillers became available, Wendy applied her own expertise and the specialized knowledge of physician associates to evaluate which products were truly beneficial, reasonable, and practical. Whenever a promising product appeared, Wendy was among the first to receive training. She was an “early adopter” of Botox. She trained to use laser equipment to perform gentle dermal resurfacing. She mastered Thermage, an application of radio-frequency (RF) waves to tighten skin and stimulate collagen renewal. She was also one of the first to offer Gentle Waves, in which a bank of LEDs performs fast, painless photo-rejuvenation of collagen.

Wendy draws on her years of experience to develop personal, custom beauty services, weeding out the “trendy” and focusing on safe, sensible procedures. She constantly investigates new procedures and techniques to offer her patients increasingly varied choices. Ultimately, it’s all about making you feel good about yourself.