'Dermatology is my destiny'

MANILA, Philippines - She really wanted to be a doctor when she was young, but Dra. Claudine Roura didn’t imagine she’d end up being a dermatologist.

“I believe it was destiny that dictated my being a dermatologist. I wanted to be a cardiologist but destiny intervened and changed all that,” explains Dra. Roura.

Dra. Roura finished dermatology at the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila and soon after, showing keen interest in dermatologic surgery, she pursued to study the subject even deeper by undergoing a cosmetic surgery “preceptorship” or as a specialist in that field.

“I really enjoy doing liposuction. I just can’t describe the satisfaction I get when I do it especially when I see my patients very happy with the results,” explains Dra. Roura.

Not easily satisfied, Dra. Roura pursued an even more advanced form of body sculpting, the VASER high-definition liposculpture. So she packed her bags and jetted off to Bogota, Colombia in South America for her extensive training under the best high-definition liposculpture experts.

Coming back to the Philippines armed with the distinction of being the first and only VASER high-definition liposurgeon in the country, Dra. Roura thought it was time to go into business by putting up her own facility she called Contours Advanced Face & Body Sculpting Institute, which she opened in November 2008. As her practice grew further, she realized that there is also a growing market for non-surgical slimming treatment, mainly driven by those who fear surgery and the accompanying bad publicity from other people’s experience with some fly-by-night facilities. Hence, Dra. Roura found—and offered—the latest slimming technology in the US called “Zerona.”

Though Contours offers both surgical and non-surgical beauty and slimming treatments, Dra. Roura opened the Zerona Slimming Center, her exclusive slimming facility that offers the “Zerona” slimming procedure, which uses the Erchonia low-level laser, which means low power and no heat compared to other slimming equipment.

The only one of its kind today and with Zerona Slimming Center carrying the exclusive Philippine territory rights to its use, Zerona is designed for full-body slimming and not just spot reduction. It works with the light from the Erchonia that stimulates the fat cells to open up a pore and draw out the fatty contents. “Patients don’t feel anything: no heat, no noise, no pain or any discomfort. It’s very comfortable and quick since it needs less than an hour for full body slimming and you can even do any physical activity after a session. More importantly, patients see the results in terms of smaller clothes sizes after just 2 weeks,” Dra. Roura exclaims.

Right now, Contours has 2 branches located in Makati which is the surgical facility and another in Podium, which houses the non-surgical beauty and slimming treatments. Zerona Slimming Center, on the other hand, operates in Alabang and will open soon at The Block at SM North Edsa in Quezon City. According to Dra. Roura, response from people have been very good, where customers are mostly young professionals and regular working people of slightly-higher earning capacity.

Being a business primarily, Contours and Zerona has its own share of ups and downs. “Competition is very tough since there are a lot of similar businesses out there. However, we cherish the fact that the Zerona treatment is exclusive to us since we have exclusive Philippine territory rights to it so you won’t find it in any slimming center except at the Contours and Zerona centers, aside from the fact that Contours is the only cosmetic surgery center in the country certified to perform the VASER high-definition liposculpture.”

She likewise points to lack of awareness among Filipinos about the technology as another challenge. “Information dissemination is critical because Zerona is new but since it is very popular in the US, the Internet helped us a lot in getting the word out to the local market,” she adds.

Her future plans about the business, Dra. Roura revealed that soon, Zerona centers will be offered for franchising to those looking for investment opportunities in the beauty and slimming business. “We want more people to experience the results and the satisfaction that Zerona offers to people who want to change how their bodies look through body sculpting, the painless and quickest way.”