Erasmus University’s teaching hospital is to train dermatologists to perform cosmetic treatments such as the use of botox and fillers, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

Dermatology professor Tama Nijsten told the paper that there is a major shortage of places where cosmetic dermatologists can develop their skills. ‘Everyone does a bit of this and that and after a couple of workshops they set up in business,’ she said. ‘That is why a proper training centre is needed.’

‘Society is moving in this direction,’ Nijsten said. ‘I think you have to be careful not to impose your own norms and values on the rest of the country. [Cosmetic treatments] happen and if they happen you should make sure they are done properly.’

Taxpayers’ cash

The six-month Erasmus programme has been criticised by some professionals. ‘I think it is inappropriate,’ Radboud dermatology professor Peter van Kerkhof told the paper. ‘A university teaching hospital should be about making people better… Should we be using taxpayers’ money to train people to carry out beauty treatments?’

It is not the first time that academic hospitals have taken a step into the world of private medicine. Groningen University opened a clinic offering cosmetic surgery such as breast enlargements in 2010, the Volkskrant points out.

The Erasmus programme is being run together with dermatologist Peter Velthuis who runs a string of commercial cosmetic surgery clinics.