Most people book a complications course expecting a lecture. What they get, if the course is any good, is an afternoon of being made uncomfortable on purpose.
The format that works is simple. A trainer describes a patient in front of you. Twenty minutes post treatment, tear trough, the patient says the area feels tight and looks a bit pale. You have to say out loud what you would do, in order, starting now. Not what the textbook says. What you would actually do, in the room you actually work in, with the kit you actually own.
That last part is where people come unstuck. Almost everyone knows hyaluronidase reverses hyaluronic acid filler. Far fewer can tell you where their vial is, whether it is in date, what dose they would draw up, or whether they have adrenaline on site in case the patient reacts to the hyaluronidase itself. Knowing the drug is not the same as being ready to use it.
A good drill runs in real time. If you say you would call for help, the trainer asks who. If you name a colleague, they ask what happens on a Tuesday when that colleague is not in. If you say you would refer to eye casualty, they ask which one, how far, and whether you know their number without looking it up. The point is not to catch you out. The point is that vascular occlusion is a time critical event and every minute you spend working out logistics is a minute of tissue not being perfused.
The second half is usually the harder half, because it is the conversation. You have to tell a patient that something has gone wrong. People find this genuinely difficult, and they avoid practising it, which is exactly why it belongs in the drill. The words matter. Patients who are told early, plainly and without defensiveness tend to stay with you through the treatment. Patients who sense they are being managed tend to leave and complain.
There is a version of complications training that is essentially a slide deck and a certificate. It exists, it is cheaper, and it will not help you at four o'clock on a Friday. When you are comparing courses, ask one question: will I be made to run a scenario out loud, in front of someone who will push back? If the answer is vague, you have your answer.
The other thing worth asking is what happens afterwards. A drill you do once and never revisit decays quickly. Ask whether the provider gives you the scenarios to take away, whether there is any refresher, and whether you can bring a real case back to them later. Skills like this are maintained, not acquired.
Whoever answers your phone needs this as well. A receptionist taking a message from a patient who says their skin looks white, or that their vision has changed, is a delay you cannot afford. That call gets put through immediately, wherever you are. Write it down and stick it by the phone.