Does enjoying excisions mean I will like Mohs?

[AllDay24]

Hi all - first-year derm resident here. I've been doing excisions and I really enjoy them - although I'm still learning and becoming faster and better is an ongoing process. I wanted to hear if you think this translates to being interested in Mohs surgery. Certainly willing to do an extra year of training, and the prospect of being a Mohs surgeon excites me. Just curious because I have a lot of research but zero Mohs/derm surgery projects.

I do get a little frightened about doing super-complex cases, which is actually what my program is known for. Haven't worked with my home program yet though but may also try to work with other Mohs surgeons who do more bread and butter cases.

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[reno911]

Hi all - first-year derm resident here. I've been doing excisions and I really enjoy them - although I'm still learning and becoming faster and better is an ongoing process. I wanted to hear if you think this translates to being interested in Mohs surgery.

Maybe. I guess it will also be highly dependent on how you feel about path. Maybe just wait until you've done some Mohs rotations.

Certainly willing to do an extra year of training, and the prospect of being a Mohs surgeon excites me. Just curious because I have a lot of research but zero Mohs/derm surgery projects.

I don't really think the lack of Mohs-specific projects matter that much. Just focus on being a great derm resident. I can imagine others having different opinions on this.

I do get a little frightened about doing super-complex cases, which is actually what my program is known for. Haven't worked with my home program yet though but may also try to work with other Mohs surgeons who do more bread and butter cases.

Thanks!

This makes no sense. There is no Mohs Surgeon that does complex cases that doesn't also do simpler cases. You can't just not do those. Well, I suppose you could, but this is not something that really happens. I can't think of any Mohs surgeon who does more than maybe 20% complex cases. And that is an absolute maximum with an incredibly liberal definition of "complex".

It might be that at this stage in your career a lot of things seem complex that truly aren't.