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What is Mohs Surgery?
Mohs Micrographic Surgery is a specific discipline of skin cancer removal that involves an intricate and delicate approach to excising skin cancer lesions. Mohs surgery was originally developed by Dr. Frederic Mohs in the 1930’s. Since its development, Mohs has evolved to meet the latest advancements in technology and medical understanding of skin cancer.
Through the Mohs process, skin cancer lesions are removed one layer at a time. After each stage of removal, tissue samples are closely analyzed by lab technicians until all layers of skin cancer are removed. This process preserves as much healthy skin tissue as possible and has proven to show up to a 99% cure rate when treating basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.
What is the “Gold Standard” for the Best Mohs Surgeons?
When looking for a Mohs surgeon, patients should seek someone who is board-certified in Mohs surgery by The American College of Mohs Surgery.
The American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) was founded by the same man who developed the Mohs method, Dr. Frederic Mohs. In keeping with his standards of excellence, ACMS certification is only given to surgeons who have completed intensive training through a Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology fellowship training program.
As stated by ACMS, “By design, these programs are comprehensive and rigorous because skin cancer itself occurs in a diversity of forms, degrees, and areas of the body. To complete an ACMS-approved fellowship, a physician must:
- Participate in a minimum of 600 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.”
Vanguard’s Board-Certified Mohs Surgeons
Dr. Vinh Chung, who co-founded Vanguard Skin Specialists in 2009, is a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer. Dr. Chung is a recipient of the Theodore Tromovitch Award, awarded to 1-2 Mohs fellows annually by the American College of Mohs Surgery. His research has been published in leading national medical publications, and he received the Young Investigator’s Award from the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery.
Dr. Renata Prado, who is also a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon, is originally from Brazil, where she attended UFMG School of Medicine, a leading Latin American university. She continued her medical training and pursued a post-doctoral research fellowship at Northwestern University in Chicago. After practicing in Boston from 2012 to 2016, Dr. Prado moved to Colorado Springs, where she lives with her husband and two boys.
Schedule Your Annual Skin Exam at Vanguard Skin Specialists
To learn more about Mohs Micrographic Surgery, click here. If you have any concerns about a bump, lesion, or area of discoloration on your skin, or if it has been over a year since your last skin exam, contact us today at 719-355-1585 or fill out our online appointment request formto schedule an annual skin exam.
