Teaching a course or mentoring as an HOF professional

Teaching is a natural consequence of an established career: an orofacial harmonization (HOF) professional who has been treating patients for years is approached by colleagues, receives invitations to teach and thinks about turning experience into a course or mentoring. But teaching HOF is not just repeating what you do at the office. It involves responsibility for people who will go on to treat other people, and that brings ethical, legal and reputational risks that go beyond clinical care.

This guide describes the precautions for those who teach: what must be clear before launching, how to advertise without promising, how to handle practice and patients, what to formalize in a contract and what never to promise. It is not legal advice and does not define who may teach what: that depends on your professional council's rules and on education law, which you must check.

Course, mentoring and consulting: they are not the same thing

Each format calls for a different type of contract, advertising and level of risk. Mixing up the names (a "course" that is really "treating a patient with students watching") is one of the sources of trouble.

Before launching: three questions

1. Am I allowed to teach this? Check your professional council's rule on teaching activity and on the content you plan to teach. Those without teaching credentials or registration may need to partner with an institution.
2. Will the student be able to use what they learned? A standalone course does not license anyone to practice. The license comes from training and professional registration. Make this clear. See facial harmonization course: how to evaluate it and specialization in HOF: how to choose.
3. Am I ready for the responsibility? Teaching creates duties: up-to-date content, safety, clarity. A student's mistake can come back to the teacher.

Course advertising: what is allowed and what is not

Advertising a course is advertising. The rules against misleading advertising and the professional councils' rules apply. In general:

• Describe the content, course hours, format, prerequisites and certification.
• Do not promise revenue, "getting rich", "living off HOF alone" or a "fully booked clinic".
• Do not use testimonials that guarantee income or professional results.
• Do not use artificial urgency ("today only", "last spots") to pressure people into buying.
• Do not use patient before and after images in a way that breaks your professional council's rules.
• Make clear that the course does not replace the license to practice.

If you will use images of students or patients, require specific written authorization. See paid ads for HOF within the rules and what you may advertise. The consumer law section also helps in understanding refund and information rights.

Practice with patients: the most sensitive point

The hands-on part is where risk grows. Bringing students to treat real patients requires precautions that go far beyond the theoretical course:

1. Specific patient consent, informing the patient that they will be treated with a student present or taking part, with the freedom to refuse without any harm to their care.
2. Adequate supervision, in a ratio that allows you to step in. Whoever supervises must be licensed and present.
3. Clear limits on what the student may do, according to their qualifications.
4. Preparation for complications: emergency kit, protocol, hyaluronidase on hand. See emergency kit for the HOF office.
5. Recording in the patient record who performed it, who supervised and what was done.
6. Charging the patient: consider how acceptable this is ethically and legally. Charging for a procedure done by a student in training is a point that calls for care and guidance.
7. Civil liability: check insurance. See liability insurance in HOF.

In many cases, the safest option is practice on training models or in a simulated environment, leaving treatment of real patients to those who already have the license and adequate supervision. See consent and LGPD for photos for using images in class.

What to put in writing

Contracts should be reviewed by a lawyer. See service agreements in HOF and the patient image use consent template.

Content: current, honest and at a safe level

• Update the material regularly, citing official sources.
• Do not teach personal opinion as a "rule" without saying so.
• Give a central place to safety, anatomy, complications and consent.
• Avoid shortcuts and promises ("learn it in a weekend").
• Encourage students to keep studying and to seek supervision.

The course's public page should not work as an injection protocol. Describe topics and goals, not step-by-step instructions.

Tax and business aspects

A course is an economic activity with its own tax rules: type of invoice, CNAE (Brazil's economic activity code), taxation and, sometimes, a different classification from clinical care. Talk to your accountant. See accountant for HOF clinics, CNAE for harmonization clinics and service invoices.

Also consider whether teaching fits your schedule and your brand. It is worth reading personal brand for HOF professionals before positioning yourself as a teacher.

Common mistakes

• Promising revenue to students.
• Advertising the course as if it gave a license.
• Using patients in class without specific consent.
• Insufficient supervision.
• Having no contract.
• Publishing an injection protocol in public material.
• Ignoring tax questions.
• Forgetting insurance.

How Harmy fits in

Harmy can appear in class as an example of a consultation tool: marking areas on the front photo, setting ml, generating the illustrative projection and showing the Before/After. For teaching, the sample patient (a fictional person) allows demonstrations without using a real patient. The projection is a simulation, not a result, and the course must make this clear to students.

Summary

Teaching HOF takes more than experience: it takes checking the rules, advertising without promises, putting things in writing, protecting the patient and being clear about what the course is not. Prefer practice on models or simulation, keep supervision and insurance in place, and treat responsibility as part of the product.