Training & Certification

On sticker price they land in the same standard hands-on band, but they price differently. Empire publishes tuition openly at $1,599–$2,049 per course, which makes budgeting easy, though product and model policies vary by course. AAFE's tiered Levels I–III pricing is less openly published, but injectable product is included in tuition, so its advertised price sits closer to your real all-in cost. Compare the all-in number—tuition plus product plus travel—for the specific course and city you'd attend, and confirm current pricing with both academies before booking.

Empire delivers CME through joint providership with AKH, an ACCME-accredited provider, which is the gold-standard pathway for physician continuing medical education and also serves NPs and RNs. AAFE offers continuing education recognized through ADA CERP—the dental profession's benchmark—alongside CE for medical providers. Practically: physicians and mid-levels will find Empire's ACCME pathway maps most directly to their license renewal, while dentists get the cleanest credit through AAFE. Both are real accreditations, well above the bare 'certificate of completion' much of this market sells.

Neither publishes per-student injection metrics rigorously enough to declare a winner, and both are large-format academies. Empire's scale has drawn independent criticism specifically around class-size disclosure and how much personal needle time students get in bigger sessions; AAFE's included product guarantees you inject during the course, but its sessions are also sizable. Ask both, in writing, for the class size, instructor ratio, and units you will personally inject at your specific course date. If maximum needle time is your top criterion, also evaluate small-cohort providers like PracticalCME or Injectables EDU.

AAFE is the natural fit. It was built substantially around dentists crossing into facial esthetics, its ADA CERP recognition means the hours slot directly into dental license renewal, and its Levels I–III structure takes you from foundational neurotoxins through advanced technique in a sequence designed for clinicians new to facial injections. Empire trains dentists too and offers more locations, but its accreditation pathway and course culture center on medical CME. Unless Empire's scheduling advantage is decisive for you, dentists get more purpose-built value at AAFE.

No course from any academy changes your legal scope of practice. What you may inject, under whose supervision, and with what delegation paperwork is set by your state's medical, nursing, or dental board—not by a training certificate. Both Empire and AAFE train licensed clinicians whose scope already permits injection under applicable state rules. Before booking either, verify your board's position on injectables for your license type, and treat the course as documentation of competence, not permission to practice.