When we speak of women in Adelaide who inspire us we look towards those that are kind, driven, passionate, compassionate, knowledgeable and seek to help others. It’s rare that you find women who not only have every single one of these qualities but completely surpass them.
We met with Dr. Rahma Targett at her clinic, Advanced Cosmetic Medicine in North Adelaide, to learn about the incredible new skin care treatment, Factor 4, that she’s introducing to Adelaideans (it’s already popular around the world). We soon established there was far more to the story than just changing lives through dermatology.
Long before she landed on our shores, Rahma left uni, a degree in medicine in hand. She had one goal: to become a medical officer for the United Nations. As the daughter of a diplomat, she had grown up witnessing more about the world than most adults and was determined to have a positive impact in the world as she saw it.
The process, as one could imagine, isn’t an easy one, requiring you to be fluent in at least two languages including English, It seems that wasn’t a deterrent though, as Rahma is an overachiever, in the most positive sense. With the ability to speak English, Arabic, French, Malay and Tagalog under her belt she soared forward and it wasn’t long before her dream job was within reach.
Not long after she successfully secured an an International Medical Officer position , Rahma was being posted to corners of the world the layperson couldn’t imagine. She helped save lives with the UN for over six years in war torn countries, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan , and East Timor.
During this time, as fate often has it, she met and fell in love with now husband, Chris from Tasmania. Their storybook romance including a meeting in Rome, but we’ll leave most of that tale for her to tell.
When the pitter patter of tiny feet entered their lives, Rahma and Chris made the decision that their current lifestyle (gunshots flying outside the building etc) and what they had hoped for their futures didn’t quite align, so they relocated here to beautiful Australia.
Never able to silence the urge to help others, Rahma worked with remote Indigenous communities and became aligned with the Royal Flying Doctors service. Her role focused on pre-hospital management of emergency cases and coordinating the logistics required to help patients in remote, emergency situations.
Somehow this is STILL something she manages to achieve in her spare time, you know, whilst being a mum, running an exceptionally popular Cosmetic Medicine and wellness centre, and working in both a busy general practice and skin cancer clinic. Some might call her superwoman.
So why the change now? Rahma tells us dermatology was always a passion, second of course to trauma treatment. Her devotion is to helping others, and although the aesthetics of cosmetic medicine are obvious, her work is more focussed on an individuals overall wellness, inside and out.
Her clinic provides a wealth of knowledge and experience including information about healthy weight loss, diet, exercise and mental wellness. Because, treating what’s on the outside isn’t effective unless you also fix what’s on the inside. Best of all, you’re being treated by a doctor who has years of experience behind her opposed to some of more superficial beauty therapy clinics where the person treating your skin doesn’t have the same type of qualifications and experience. We know who we’d rather put our trust into.
“We try to focus on a holistic approach, you know, because it’s not just about vanity. A small change can improve someone’s overall quality of life, their confidence, but if you have a healthy mind, spirit and body, we can help people achieve a well rounded health”.
She’s also focussed on bringing us Adelaideans the most up to date and groundbreaking treatments, such as the aforementioned Factor 4. This treatment is revolutionary in improving the quality of your skin, in a super natural (not like Buffy the Vampire Slayer) way.
By taking a sample of your own blood and going through a rigorous purification process, then reintroducing it into the skin, you can achieve lessened wrinkles, pigmentation and scars and stimulate collagen production.
“The beauty is there’s no fillers or toxins. It’s your own. It’s a great option for people who don’t want to put anything unnatural on or in their skin.”
The same technology is used to help repair ligaments and inflammation of joints. Sports doctors have been known to use it on football players, so clearly Factor 4 isn’t playing games.
To say we’re inspired by this incredible woman and her treatments is an understatement. How one person (who isn’t Beyonce) can achieve so many things in a day is beyond us.
Perhaps it’s something we’ll never understand but next time we’re in at Advanced Cosmetic Medicine we’ll be taking notes.
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