Dr. Scott W. Fosko, president of the American College of Mohs Surgery (http://www.skincancermohssurgery.org), says cost-effective, safe, outpatient treatment of complex skin cancers is one of the unique benefits fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons provide.
Dr. Fosko, professor and chairman at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine's Department of Dermatology, says delivering high-quality, cost-effective, safe and outcome-driven care to the increasing number of patients needing skin cancer treatment represents a critical challenge for medical providers.
"The Mohs College is well-positioned to provide the leadership and guidance in this area within the medical community, says Dr. Fosko.
Dr. Fosko says he intends to focus on education, marketing and healthcare reform during his term as president, which extends to 2014. He is joined on the ACMS executive board by Dr. J. Ramsey Mellette, Jr., vice president; Dr. John G. Albertini, secretary/treasurer; and Dr. Marc D. Brown, immediate-past president.
"As a College, we must educate the public, our medical and surgical colleagues, our legislators, and insurance carriers about the importance of fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons and what they contribute to our skin cancer patients' care," he says. "We need to effectively engage and assist the various components of our healthcare system with the many challenges we all must face. The College is well-positioned to do just that."
The value of fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons is reflected in the rigorous requirements a physician must meet before gaining membership to the College.
Mohs College members complete at least one additional year of training at an approved Mohs training center, where they are taught by experienced surgeons and complete a minimum of 500 Mohs skin cancer surgery cases. Fellowships are highly competitive and physicians are admitted to the training program only after a stringent review and selection process upon completion of a Dermatology residency.
Only physicians who have completed the Mohs College fellowship are members of ACMS, which was founded by Dr. Frederic Mohs, who first developed the surgery in the 1930s. Advances in microscopic evaluation and guided cancer tissue removal has led Mohs surgery to achieve the highest success rate of all treatments for many skin cancers. Dr. Fosko says the skills demonstrated by Mohs College members parallel their leadership capabilities.
Our talent as an organization is deep and broad," he says. "Cutaneous oncology and reconstruction will remain a constant focus, with future emphasis in advances in laboratory techniques, patient safety, quality assurance and outcome driven measures. I look forward to the Colleges future growth, development and continued leadership in organized medicine.
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A graduate of University of Maryland School of Medicine and professor and chairman at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine's Department of Dermatology, Dr. Scott W. Fosko is the current president of the American College of Mohs Surgery (http://www.skincancermohssurgery.org). Dr. Fosko completed his Mohs Micrographic Surgery fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania after his Dermatology residency at Yale University. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at the University of Virginia. He is board certified in both Dermatology and Internal Medicine. He is a frequent teacher and lecturer at local and national meetings focusing on Mohs surgery, melanoma, and unusual skin cancers.
