A med spa can look like a salon and operate like a clinic. If this is your first visit, the physician question is the one to settle before you sit down.
The gold standard is a physician who runs the spa
The plastic surgery society ASPS at www.plasticsurgery.org says: The gold standard is a med spa run by a physician with specialized training in the treatments offered – typically a board-certified plastic surgeon, facial plastic surgeon or dermatologist. Note the wording. It speaks of a physician running the spa, which is not the same as a physician standing in the room for every treatment.
Why the label matters
Downbeach.com puts it this way: A medical spa — often called a med spa — operates under physician oversight and provides treatments that fall under the jurisdiction of state medical boards. In New Jersey, Stevens & Lee wrote about the state's corporate practice of medicine and its impact on medical spas, which is worth a read if ownership puzzles you.
The cheap checklist
Asking costs nothing. Ask who the supervising physician is, what training they hold and how the spa handles questions when that physician is absent. ASPS publishes a guide to what to look for in a med spa, and the American Med Spa Association explains med spa law tips written for people opening one, which shows you what the operator is expected to know.
A fair question to ask out loud
Put the physician question to a licensed clinician at any Hackettstown-area spa before you book, and weigh the answer as carefully as the price.