Becoming an Electrologist

ive been trying to become an electrologist in ohio for a number of yrs and have researched it to the extent i would call it purposefull and systemic barriers, enough to be able to explain the "job security" measures adopted by the electrology association and enforced by the DoH in columbus whos only reference to the field is the Association, DoH has no committee and relies solely on that Associations cochair whos currently practicing charging 160 dollars an hr in the field..

At least 15 yrs ago as noone at the DoH knows when it went into place only that its been ther as long as they have, is the requirement of 150 hrs of head and neck massage that no electrolysis ever uses and that no school in the world requires outside of ohio. that is the "job security" leaving 2 practicing electrologists as gatekeepers to who enters the feild and when as they are small class sizes that open up when so many retire. 

They also require you buy your way in to the feild at a tune of 17k out of pocket and they refuse to become accredited for fed loans or talk to any other states schools. without that 150 hrs of "massage training" noone from other states can legally work here and no massage school does the training either. According to the DoH the ohio restrictions on the feild went into place at least15 yrs ago, at which point in time all electrologists currently practicing were grandfathered in, so most practicing right now have never had the "training" now required. Its set up in such a way that there is only 1or2 electrologists in any given city so as not to be competitive with pricing or technique. the DoH also refuses to answer any calls or emails from other state schools when they try to find out how to get accredited with ohio; meaning i cant go to massachusetts an use student loans to learn an be licensed here (though mass has the best and even more stringent requirements, itd let me practice anywhere in the world, and one of only 2 schools in the US i can use federal laons for, but i couldnt afford to move there and it wouldnt let me work fixing this one aspect of society here in leelahs graveyard.

So of those electrologists in ohio, half wont even work on a trans person, of the half that do some prefer we come in "after hrs", and most refuse to do preop work for surgery. Of those that do treat us the majority are using flash thermolysis which of the 3 techniques available (thermo/blend/galvanic) has the highest regrowth rate. Trust is paramount when talking about an estimated 65 an hr for an est 200-400 hrs to clear a face, let alone "down there". Its an insurmountable cost to a minority known as THE health disparity population. noone is seeing us as projects to be done.

i bought an older thermolysis machine from ebay (what youd see most grandfathered electrologists use) but weary of using it myself without training,spose i got to start somehwere. i have been reading the go to manual up till 2006 called Electroloysis, Thermolysis, and the Blend, by Hinkle and have had long talks with a handfull of lisceneced electros in diff states, so have a good understanding of theory and concepts of ethical practice.

I spent all 2016 accumulated and learned to write medical necessity letters  built off PCOS templets.;of which i have one from primary care, dermatologist, psychiatrist, and ENT. First of the yr the affordanble care act guidance went into play meaning contractually all medicaid must remove exclusions against transgender care.  Now have electrolosis for face and genital "no prior auth required" under ohio medicaid, thats never happened befor for anyone. caresource is currently dodging it "sure well cover it good luck turning on an industry thats historicly been considered asthetic and not setup to bill us for it,HAHAHA". trying to burn thru a grands worth of lectro' i dont have to take them to court. really its because there are no out of network provider forms and no electrologist cares to become a medicaid provider, which is what i aim to be.

im also trying thru the bureau of vocational rehabilitation on a longshot to partially pay my way thru school as that's the only hope ,realizing i have no protections in cis-society im running on, "if i can help anouther i can help myself" kind of thinking. I want to work with the indigent, sliding scales, insurance, partner with UC or some trans org who could go after funding an grants to offset or even pay me to do the most marginalized trans women for free. i need to insert myself inside this healthcare machine to make one of the 4 modalities of care actually available to us.

Here is the contact information I have for the 3 schools that can train for ohio:

About Face Cosmetic Therapy
Vickie Mickey
1918 Bethel Road
Columbus, Ohio 43220
they want 16-17,000 and that liscences me as an asthetic therapist(?no idea theres a diffrence between electrologist and therapist?)
http://aboutface-ctc.com/laser-hair-removal-instruction/

as well the one in mansfeild
Ohio Medical Electrology Institute
attn. Jo Melching
271 Cline Ave. Suite # 4
Mansfield, Ohio 44907
or visit: http://www.skinsolutionsandelectrolysis.com/

one in ky (also 2 hrs away) does have 3 diffrent levels of courses, i could do 350 hrs that wouldnt liscense me in oh but it would eleswhere but nowhere i wanna go. would give me a better understanding of what im doing to myself.

and the school in NKY i based the funding requirement on as they seem the cheapest i need 750 hrs to be liscenced
http://bgskincare.com/main/school/?page_id=62
350 HOURS:       $5100.00
600 HOURS:       $6800.00
765 HOURS:       $9100.00
Laser Hair Removal Courses: We also offer Laser Training courses which can be completed in one week or less.
30 HOURS:        $2600.00 (Three day course)
50 HOURS:        $3500.00 (Five day course, one week from Monday-Friday)
+the cost of machine n books :( machine being 4 grand

this wordpress link is everything i knew up to 2015, needs updated to cover the current fight for insurance coverage,  got a binder needs scanned in.
https://kittysbelle.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/necessity-of-electrolysis-laser-permanent-hair-removal/