Georgia medical director requirements for med spas

Physician supervision & delegation in Georgia

Georgia licenses the people who operate cosmetic lasers, in two tiers, and requires the facility to have a consulting physician behind them. Separately, a physician delegates medical acts to a nurse by written protocol or to a physician assistant by a board-approved job description.

• An assistant laser practitioner may perform cosmetic laser services under the supervision of a Board-licensed physician or a licensed senior laser practitioner. A senior laser practitioner may perform cosmetic laser services and may supervise assistant laser practitioners performing them.

  Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-35-.05 · verified Aug 17, 2026

• A consulting physician must be licensed in Georgia, have a principal place of business in Georgia or practice within 50 miles of the facility supervised, be trained in laser modalities (physics, safety, technique, indications, pre- and post-operative care, and treating complications), and be available for emergency consultation. The consulting physician establishes the protocols for the cosmetic laser services provided at a facility and files those protocols with the Board.

  Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-35-.06 · verified Aug 17, 2026

• An assistant laser practitioner license is open to someone holding a current license as a physician assistant, licensed practical nurse, nurse, esthetician, or master cosmetologist (or who previously held a license or certificate as a medical practitioner), who is 21 or older and holds at least three Board-approved laser/IPL course certificates taught by a licensed physician or a certified CME/CE educator.

  Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-35-.02(2) · verified Aug 17, 2026

• A senior laser practitioner license requires a current physician assistant or nurse license (or a previously held medical practitioner license), at least three years of clinical or technological medical experience, three years of licensure or national board certification as a medical practitioner, verification of licensure from every state where the applicant has held one, and at least two Board-approved laser/IPL CME certificates.

  Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 360-35-.02(3) · verified Aug 17, 2026

• Outside the laser rules, a physician delegates by one of two written instruments: a nurse protocol — a document mutually agreed and signed by a nurse and a licensed physician, delegating authority to perform certain medical acts including administering and ordering drugs — or a physician assistant job description approved for that assistant by the Board.

  O.C.G.A. §43-34-23 · verified Aug 17, 2026