The market for tattoo is growing but the Korean law allows only medical professionals to perform tattoo procedures. Therefore, the role of a medical professional in this market is becoming more important. In this new series, Dr. Cho Myungshin of WonJin Medinent Tattoo Clinic, who has specialized in medical tattoo procedures for over 17 years, shares his experiences and knowhow in performing tattoos in clinical practice. Dr. Cho is one of very few doctors who designs and draws tattoos in Korea. With a natural talent in drawing, he trained with a tattoo artist in Korea as well as attended World’s Only Tattoo School in the US. In this series, he will discuss the history and social functions of tattoo as well as the types of ink used.
More people are becoming interested in permanent make-up. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at an academic conference on permanent make-up. There were about 500 people in the audience and a great number of them were doctors. I was aware that medical professionals were becoming more interested in permanent make-up, however, was surprised to see the level of enthusiasm that is rarely seen in other medical conferences.
This may be related to the recent news reports of crackdown on an unlicensed provider of permanent make-up. Considering her income for illegal training and tattoo procedures is over KRW 1 billion(USD 830,000), doctors with a struggling private practice would be interested in entering this market. It seems doctors are in a favorable position to benefit from this market as the current Korean law allows only licensed medical professionals to perform tattoo and permanent make-up is a type of tattoo.
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In this light, doctors would be rushing to enter this market. In reality, however, very few doctors are doing so. I have been performing tattoo procedures for over 17 years and get requests for leading training sessions for other doctors but see very few doctors who are also specializing in medical tattoo. This is because tattoo is not profitable compared with their hourly medical income.
It is very difficult for a doctor trying to enter this new market to find any training and gain enough experience to compete with the tattoo artists that are already in the market. The first hurdle is lack of experience and training and the second is low profitability. These two are interconnected. In other words, one cannot continue offering the treatment that does not bring in profit and gaining experience is impossible without performing the treatment. Doctors with private practices have to consider the financial aspects as they put in a lot of time and effort into obtaining the necessary skills.
Fortunately, things are starting to change for the better. As with other markets, the medical market is becoming increasingly polarized. Today’s medical practices are either very successful or struggling to make ends meet. This is more serious in the field of plastic surgery. Several large aesthetic surgery chains are monopolizing the market with aggressive advertising. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Most salaried doctors would only dream of making a name for themselves in this tough market.
-To be continued
