Updated Note: we select our candidates in December for the following July, as per the SFmatch process.
Who, what, where? Link to General Information about U of T Dermatology Fellowships
The University of Toronto program is an official one-year fellowship accredited by the American College of Mohs Surgeons (ACMS, http://www.mohscollege.org). It follows all the rules and regulations outlined by the ACMS fellowship guidelines (ACMS fellowship rules) and also falls within the rules of University of Toronto post-graduate training. Here is a link to our clinic (Mohs Clinic link) which has general information on our practice and team. We are academic Dermatologists and Mohs Surgeons who work at Women's College Hospital at the University of Toronto.
Although there is no firm deadline outside of the SFmatch timeline, we generally review all material for the last time about a month before the SFmatch rank list is due.
When and how do people become fellows?
We are part of the SF match for Mohs Surgery (www.sfmatch.org), and therefore you must enroll in the SF match to be considered for our fellowship. Registration with the SFmatch for candidates begins in May, interviews are conducted in the Fall (although not all candidates who we will rank will need to be interviewed), and the match occurs in December for training beginning the following year at the beginning of July. Often our interviews are by video call if people cannot come in person. Our training program is one year, from July 1st to June 30th. The SFmatch site details which documents they require.
Some candidates would like to visit our program beforehand and we can sometimes arrange for a day observation.
Most people who apply have worked with Mohs surgeons before and have a letter of reference from a practicing Mohs surgeon.
Typically about 100 people apply for our fellowship, and we select 1-2 per year.
Who can apply?
You have completed a full dermatology residency by the time of the fellowship
International candidates are welcome
Standardized tests like the USMLE are not required
What kind of candidates do we select?
Most successful candidates have worked closely with a Mohs Surgeon previously, usually during residency. We expect our graduated fellows to have a significant Mohs Surgery component of their practice after training, so having a clear plan on how they will put Mohs into their career is a must. This should include specific and established plans about where you plan to work. Good surgical skills are a plus, but it is more important to be able to learn and improve your surgical decision-making and hand-eye techniques with careful practice.
What is our fellowship like?
We have 3 Mohs surgeons (Mohs clinic link), and we do Mohs 5 days a week. We complete about 3000-3500 cases per year as a program. One of our Mohs Surgeons has a significant research component to his career, and another has a large non-invasive cosmetic practice. We work closely with an Oculoplastic Surgeon, Plastic Surgeons, Head and Neck Facial Plastic Surgeons and Dermatopathologists. We expect the fellow will attend clinics with each of these colleagues, and others such as Radiation Oncology and General Dermatology, to advance their knowledge and skills in these areas. We also expect the fellow to complete a fellowship research project, as per the ACMS guidelines.
We treat advanced and simple cases; 95% on the head and neck. We mostly treat BCC and SCC, but sometimes see Merkel Cell carcinoma, EMPD, sebeceous carcinoma, DFSP and things like that. We do not treat any type of Melanoma with Mohs, but one of our surgeons (Dr Chan) does use a slow-Mohs-like technique for facial LM (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32911979/). We repair over 95% of our Mohs defects, including using forehead flaps, cartliage grafts, simple eyelid repairs and lot of flaps and grafts. We do get referrals from other surgeons, so if they prefer to repair the case we coordiante that. Often we refer to oculoplastics if there is a risk of a significant eyelid defect.
Our lab does not use immunostains for any Mohs cases.
Our fellows are funded, either by their own supporting systems (self-funded by a government or University), or by us. The typical funding would be about $60, 000 - $85,000 Cdn per year but will vary, depending on several factors.
Can our fellows complete the MDS Mohs exam if you are an MD?
although our fellowship is ACMS accredited, it is not ACGME (because we are not in the US, and no Canadian Universities are ACGME). This means that, unless they change the rules, you would not be eligible to write the MDS exam if you did a fellowship with our group
https://www.mohscollege.org/about-acms/news/summer-2021-e-newsletter/viewpoints
Can our fellows complete the MDS Mohs exam if you are a DO?
For people who have complete their Dermatology residency through a DO program, there maybe an opportunity to write the exam. You can contact the AOCD for more information:
https://www.aocd.org/page/MohsFAQ
Contact us?
Fellowship Director: Dr Christian Murray (skinsurgerycentre@gmail.com)