What Is a Med Spa?

"Med spa" gets used loosely — some businesses call themselves one without the medical structure to back it up, and some genuinely medical practices don't market themselves as one at all. Here's the actual definition, what usually separates a real med spa from a day spa, and what it typically offers.

The core definition: medical oversight

A medical spa (med spa) is a business that performs cosmetic medical treatments in a spa-like setting, under the supervision of a licensed medical professional — most often a physician serving as medical director, though the exact requirement varies by state or province. That oversight is the legal dividing line: treatments involving prescription medications (like Botox and most injectables), devices that penetrate or significantly alter the skin (lasers, microneedling with certain depths), or medical-grade chemical peels generally require a physician's supervision, a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or registered nurse performing under a standing medical protocol, or the physician performing the treatment directly.

Med spa vs. day spa vs. dermatology office

• A day spa or salon offers relaxation and beauty services — massage, facials, manicures — performed by estheticians or cosmetologists, without medical oversight and without treatments that require a prescription or break the skin.
• A med spa adds medical-grade, prescription, and device-based treatments on top of (or instead of) spa services, under a medical director's supervision.
• A dermatology or plastic surgery office is a medical practice first, sometimes offering a similar treatment menu, but structured and licensed as a medical clinic rather than a spa-style business.

What med spas typically offer

• Injectables — Botox, Dysport, and dermal fillers
• Laser treatments — hair removal, skin resurfacing, tattoo removal
• Body contouring — CoolSculpting, EmSculpt, and similar non-surgical devices
• Skin treatments — chemical peels, microneedling, IPL/photofacials
• Medical weight loss — including GLP-1/semaglutide programs at many locations
• Traditional spa services — facials, massage — often offered alongside the medical menu

Who's legally allowed to perform what

This is where state and provincial rules diverge the most, and it's not optional detail — it's the actual compliance backbone of the business. In most U.S. states, a physician must serve as medical director and either perform injectables directly or delegate them under a written protocol to a qualified nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or registered nurse; laser treatments typically require specific device certification on top of that. Ownership rules vary too — some states require a physician to hold at least partial ownership (corporate practice of medicine restrictions), while others allow non-physician ownership as long as medical oversight is in place. None of this is universal — verify against your specific state or provincial medical board before opening or marketing a med spa.