Mohs surgery is a delicate, intricate, highly effective treatment for skin cancer. While many physicians may perform Mohs surgery, board certification is not required. If you are interested in treatment of your skin cancer through Mohs surgery, how do you choose a qualified doctor?
The American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) was founded by Dr. Frederic Mohs himself. The ACMS fellowship training program is significantly more rigorous than other Mohs programs. Mohs College fellows undergo months of extensive, hands-on training directly from highly qualified instructors. By choosing a fellowship trained Mohs surgeon you can be assured that you will receive the highest standard of quality and competency, as well as an optimal outcome.
Intensive Training
After completing a residency in dermatology or a related field, a physician can apply to participate in an ACMS fellowship training program. Qualified applicants, who have passed an extremely competitive review and selection process, undergo a 1- to 2-year training program. This program follows a structured curriculum that includes graded responsibility, operative and non-operative education, and exposure to long-term results, recurrences, and complications.
Highly Qualified Instructors
ACMS fellowship training takes place at an approved Mohs College training center, which is a practice that itself has passed a rigorous application and review process. Each Mohs College fellow is paired with an accredited, veteran Mohs College surgeon who has demonstrated proficiency and expertise in Mohs surgery. The fellow receives direct Mohs surgery training and mentoring for the duration of the program. To ensure adherence to the ACMS academic and clinical requirements, training centers are re-evaluated every 1 to 5 years.
Extensive Experience
The ACMS fellowship training program is designed to impart experience and judgment into each graduate. By design, this program is comprehensive and rigorous because skin cancer itself occurs in a diversity of forms, degrees, and areas of the body. To complete an ACMS fellowship, a physician must:
- Participate in a minimum of 500 Mohs surgery cases
- Learn to accurately interpret slides of tissue samples that have been removed during Mohs surgery
- Perform a wide breadth of reconstructions, ranging from simple closures to complicated multi-step repairs
Because fellows undergo training over months, they gain a breadth of exposure – under the guidance of a qualified Mohs surgeon – that includes rare tumor pathology, difficult tumor locations, and complex wound reconstruction. The ACMS fellowship provides a depth of training and experience that is unmatched by other Mohs programs.