By Goekhan Dogan · Medically reviewed by Dr. Özgür Öztan
A doctor can study hair transplantation and watch experienced surgeons at work. Learning to use the instruments and make clinical decisions under supervision takes time in a clinic. HLC helped create HTTC to give doctors access to that experience.
HLC Hairline Clinic helped establish the Hair Transplant Training Center (HTTC) in Ankara together with Dr. John P. Cole and Hairforlife, whose published history dates the launch to 2015. We wanted doctors entering hair restoration, as well as those developing an existing practice, to have a place to learn through supervised work. Our aim was to share knowledge beyond our own clinic so that more patients could be treated by doctors with appropriate training.
For patients considering a clinic, that history helps explain HLC’s approach to education. For doctors, it explains what we want training to achieve: sound surgical work, grounded in a plan the patient understands.
In this article:
- The founding partnership
- The practical training gap
- Hands-on FUE training
- Planning and consultation
- What this means for patients
- Training enquiries
Why HLC, Dr. John Cole and Hairforlife came together
The collaboration brought clinical practice, instrument development and patient counselling into the same project.
HLC and Dr. Özgür Öztan contributed the clinical setting in Ankara and experience in hair restoration. Dr. John Cole brought his work in FUE surgery and the development of extraction instruments. Hairforlife, led by Andreas Krämer, contributed a perspective shaped by advising people considering transplantation and people seeking help after disappointing procedures.
Hairforlife’s account of HTTC’s founding dates the launch to 2015 and describes how the need for qualified doctors became clear through its work with patients affected by unsuccessful surgery. It also records support for doctors and clinics on matters such as organisation, instrument selection and aftercare.
A Cole Instruments report published in May 2015 describes an inaugural training week at HLC from 4 to 8 May, attended by ten surgeons from several countries. That early account records the practical exchange the project was intended to make possible. Today’s course arrangements are described separately below.
For HLC, opening up our knowledge was a deliberate choice. A doctor who wants to improve needs access to experienced colleagues and a setting where questions can be worked through in practice. We wanted to help provide that access, including for doctors who would go on to treat patients in their own clinics.
The background to the Hair Transplant Training Center explains the collaboration. The founding partnership is part of HTTC’s history; the instructors available for an individual course are confirmed when that training is arranged.
The practical training gap we wanted to address
The challenge we wanted to address was the step between learning about a procedure and gaining supervised experience of performing it. Doctors starting in hair restoration needed a way into that clinical learning process. Experienced practitioners needed opportunities to examine their technique, discuss difficult decisions and work on areas they wanted to improve.
This educational challenge is recognised beyond our clinic. The US-based American Hair Loss Association explains in its guidance on choosing a hair transplant surgeon that accredited surgical residency programmes do not typically provide specific training in hair transplant surgery. Its advice underlines why a doctor’s general qualifications and their specific training in hair restoration need to be considered separately.
HTTC was established with this kind of learning in mind. Today, its published programme combines theory, live surgery and practical work with direct surgeon supervision. Courses are arranged around the participant’s experience and learning goals, with individual instruction or small groups of up to three.
Other providers also offer practical hair transplant education. Our reason for helping create HTTC was to make our clinical knowledge available through a structured training setting. The question for a doctor comparing courses is what they will actually learn and do, who will supervise them, and how the programme fits their existing competence.
What a hands-on hair transplant training course involves
Follicular unit extraction (FUE) involves removing individual follicular units from a donor area for transplantation. Each unit is a naturally occurring grouping of hair follicles.
At HTTC, practical training includes extraction and implantation on real patients under direct surgeon supervision, as described in the current course programme. Demonstrations introduce the work, while supervised practice allows participants to handle instruments and receive feedback.
A participant can discuss a graft they have just handled with the surgeon teaching the session. The instructor can relate feedback to that piece of work, and the doctor can ask a follow-up question while the task is still in front of them. This is part of learning how to assess one’s own work.
Practical participation must remain appropriate to the doctor’s qualifications, permitted role and the patient’s care. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s position on qualifications for scalp surgery places responsibility on appropriately trained and licensed professionals and addresses supervision and scope of practice. A training course should be considered within those professional responsibilities.
Planning and consultation come before the instruments
At HLC, we want a patient to understand the reasoning behind a proposed treatment. That means discussing whether surgery is appropriate, what the donor area can contribute and how the patient’s expectations relate to a realistic plan.
Hair transplantation redistributes available hair. It does not create an unlimited supply of donor follicles or stop the progression of hair loss in untreated hair. Future hair loss and the possible role of medical treatment therefore belong in an individual discussion with the doctor.
For a doctor in training, consultation is an opportunity to learn how clinical findings become a recommendation. Why propose this hairline? Why concentrate on a particular area? What limitations need to be explained? When would postponing surgery or advising against it better serve the patient?
HTTC’s curriculum includes patient evaluation, donor assessment and treatment planning. These subjects give practical work its context. The aim is for the doctor to understand the decision that precedes an action, and to explain that decision in language the patient can follow.
Patients can read more about HLC’s approach to FUE hair transplantation for the clinical background to these discussions.
Learning how to choose and use the right tools
Instrument choice was part of the thinking behind HTTC from the beginning. A doctor considering a new tool needs to understand its handling and its place in the procedure. Access to the equipment is only one part of that learning; supervised instruction gives the participant a setting in which to examine its use.
HTTC’s curriculum covers manual punches and powered FUE instruments, including the Powered Cole Isolation Device, or PCID, from Cole Instruments. Teaching addresses handling and extraction technique alongside assessment of the grafts.
There is a distinction between the breadth of this teaching and HLC’s own treatment approach. HLC uses manual FUE in its clinical practice. HTTC’s educational programme includes a wider range of instruments so that participants can study different approaches. Teaching a device does not establish that it is the best choice for every doctor or patient.
The HTTC training curriculum also covers graft preparation, recipient-site creation, implantation and postoperative care. It explains how instrument work fits into the full procedure.
Patient care continues after the procedure
Patients still need guidance once the surgical work is complete. At HLC, we consider clear explanations and follow-up part of our responsibility. A patient leaving the clinic should know how to follow the doctor’s instructions and whom to contact with a concern.
This is also a teaching subject. HTTC’s programme includes postoperative care and patient support, giving participants a setting to discuss how a clinic communicates with patients after surgery. Hairforlife’s contribution to the project included experience with aftercare services and clinic organisation.
For a doctor building a practice, these questions deserve attention alongside surgical technique. An instruction must be understandable to the person receiving it. A question from a worried patient needs a route to the appropriate clinical team. Our intention in sharing this experience is to encourage doctors to consider the patient’s full course of care.
Why continuing education matters for experienced doctors
A doctor entering hair restoration may need a broad introduction to the clinical workflow. Someone already performing FUE may have a more specific goal, such as reviewing donor planning, refining instrument handling or discussing repair cases with another surgeon. Those starting points call for different teaching priorities.
HTTC offers workshops for basic, intermediate and advanced levels. Doctors can discuss their background and the areas they want to develop before agreeing on a programme. This gives the training a practical focus and makes the questions the participant brings part of the work.
Repair cases make careful assessment particularly important. Previous surgery can limit the options available, and a patient seeking correction needs a clear explanation of those limits. HLC’s information on hair transplant repair discusses this aspect of clinical care. Experience with such cases is one reason we place emphasis on thoughtful planning from the outset.
What this means for patients
We helped create HTTC with an ambition that extends beyond the people treated at our own clinic. We wanted to support doctors who were prepared to invest in their skills and bring that learning back to their patients. Sharing knowledge was a practical contribution we could make to that aim.
Education is one part of responsible care. Patients should also understand who will assess them, who will perform the surgical work and who will remain responsible afterwards. HLC explains these roles in its guide to doctor-performed hair transplantation.
When speaking to a clinic, useful questions include:
- What training and experience does my treating doctor have in the procedure being proposed?
- Who will perform each surgical step?
- How does the plan account for my donor area and possible future hair loss?
- What limitations and risks apply to my case?
- Who will answer my questions and manage follow-up after treatment?
A course certificate can document training undertaken. It cannot, on its own, establish the quality of an individual treatment plan or guarantee a result. Patients deserve to have those questions answered directly.
Hair transplant courses at HTTC: how doctors can enquire
Doctors considering HTTC can review the hair transplant training course in Ankara and contact the centre with their professional background, current experience and learning goals.
Before committing to a programme, discuss the proposed clinical activities, supervision, instructors and time available for practice. Confirm the requirements for participation and what the completion document records. A useful programme should be clear about both its teaching offer and its limits.
Our purpose remains the same as at the beginning: give doctors access to practical learning and share the reasoning behind our clinical work, with the patient’s interests central to that education.
Questions about HLC and HTTC
When was HTTC founded, and who was involved?
Hairforlife’s published history dates HTTC’s launch in Ankara to 2015. The collaboration involved HLC Hairline Clinic and Dr. Özgür Öztan, Dr. John P. Cole, and Hairforlife, led by Andreas Krämer. It brought together surgical experience, work with instruments and a perspective rooted in patient counselling.
Is HTTC training intended only for beginners?
HTTC’s programme is intended for licensed doctors entering hair restoration and practitioners developing existing skills. Workshops can focus on basic, intermediate or advanced topics. The appropriate content depends on the doctor’s background and the learning goals agreed with the centre before the visit.
Does completing a course mean a doctor is ready to practise independently?
Completing a course records an educational step. Readiness for independent practice depends on the doctor’s competence and the professional requirements that apply to their work. HTTC does not promise independent competence after a fixed number of training days. Doctors should clarify certificate scope and participation requirements before enrolling.
