✨ Aesthetic / Medical Spa · Tennessee
Tennessee: medical director and delegated services for an aesthetic or medical spa
Whether Tennessee requires a physician medical director for an aesthetic or medical spa, the qualifications, duties, and what the state says about the staff who deliver protocol-driven services.
Qualifications
Physician (MD/DO) holding an active license under Title 63, Ch. 6 or 9, with an active Tennessee medical practice, who accepts responsibility for/supervises the spa's cosmetic medical services.
Duties the rule assigns
- sign an attestation accepting responsibility for the medical spa's cosmetic medical services
- register with the Board of Medical Examiners (or Board of Osteopathic Examination) — name, license number, and credential type — for the state's online medical spa registry
- be named on required in-facility signage disclosing board-certification status
Notes
Tennessee uses the term 'medical director' expressly in statute and requires a public registry listing, unlike most states. The role is defined by reference to 'cosmetic medical services' (tissue-altering aesthetic procedures); whether pure wellness or IV-hydration services without a cosmetic component fall within that definition is not spelled out.
Sources (3)
Delegated services in this practice type
Business ownership and clinical authority are separate questions in this practice type. What the state says about the staff who deliver the services.
Registered Nurses
General RN licensure (TCA Title 63, Chapter 7) is not subject to physician supervision or a collaborative agreement — RNs work within physician/APRN orders, standing orders, and facility protocols, categorically distinct from TN's APRN Certificate of Fitness/Collaborative Management Agreement regime above.
Estheticians
Licensed estheticians (Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, TCA Title 62, Chapter 4) practice independently within a skin-care and beautifying scope, with no physician involvement required for that core scope. The statutory laser and device boundary, and whether any physician-delegation pathway exists, is not spelled out.
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