I made this move myself, so this is written from the GP side of the fence rather than the recruiter’s. General practice is close to an ideal starting point for aesthetics, with a couple of honest gaps nobody mentions at the open evening.
What you already have
As a GP you bring prescribing rights, consultation skill, a low threshold for spotting the unwell patient, and the medico-legal instincts that keep people safe. Toxin, being prescription-only, is straightforward for you in a way it simply is not for a non-prescriber, because you are not waiting on anyone else to see your patient first.
The ceiling, and it is not clinical
The limiting factor for most GPs is not skill, it is business. Nobody taught you client acquisition, social media compliance or clinic finance in your training, and those decide whether an aesthetics venture pays. The clinical learning curve is the short one. The commercial one is where GPs stall, and it is entirely learnable if you take it as seriously as the injecting.
The honest cons
It is self-employment, with the income variability and absent pension that implies. It can feel lonely after the team environment of a practice. And your medical indemnity does not automatically cover cosmetic work, so you arrange that deliberately. The aesthetics alongside the NHS guide is candid about combining the two.
Where to start
Foundation injecting, then build. The doctor-specific route is set out on our training for doctors page, and the route finder will place you against dates and levels. The clinical part will feel familiar fast. Give the business part the respect you would give a new clinical system.