Our practice/unit
We have 3 Mohs surgeons who work in the unit: http://www.womenscollegehospital.ca/programs-and-services/dermatology-program/mohs-centre :
Christian Murray is the program director and works 4.5 days a week doing Mohs (done Mohs around noon on friday). He completed his ACMS fellowship in 2004 from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Nowell Solish (ACMS from UBC in 1996), works 4 days a week, but is usually done around noon, when he then goes to his cosmetic office.
An-Wen Chan (ACMS from Mayo Clinic in 2009) does two days (thursdays and fridays) of Mohs and does a half day transplant clinic. The other half of his week is dedicated to research in epidemiology (http://caho-hospitals.com/oxford-educated-scholar-drawn-to-womens-college-by-stellar-patient-care-and-high%E2%80%90impact-research/).
We do about 3500 skin cancer a year with Mohs. The fellow is involved with about 1500-1800 cases and is the primary surgeon for about 600-800. Over 98% of the cases are head and neck, and range from simple to complex. We repair 95% of our cases and our reconstruction includes forehead flaps, eyelid repairs and lots flaps and grafts. The fellow will be comfortable doing all of these during fellowship. One of the strengths of our program is that the three different surgeons have different styles and reconstructive plans, so the fellows get to see different ways to solve the same problems on a regular basis. We also have great relationships with oculoplastics, plastic surgery and facial plastic surgery...and expect the fellow will spend some time with each of these people to gain an even greater exposure to complex reconstructions and different approaches to repair.
We do clinical and epidemiologic research, but this is not our main goal for the fellow. Instead we want the fellow to gradually become competent and then expert in the management of typical skin cancers.
Our team is easy-going, close-knit and we have a very respectful, professional and friendly relationship with our nurses, administrative staff and trainees. We typically have 1-2 dermatology residents on rotation at all times and sometimes have medical students as well. This doesn't impact the fellows because they are doing the surgery, whereas the others are assisting. We do encourage fellows to take leadership roles with the other trainees and allow them to perform tasks the fellow has mastered. There are also opportunities to teach trainees through the year, but this is not a time consuming effort.
Our program does not rely on service from the fellow to manage our cases. There is not a call responsibility, nor are there other clinics you need to cover. Usually our fellows get licenses to work in dermatology where they can moonlight in the evenings or on some weekends. We encourage this to expand their practice skills and maintain dermatology knowledge. Canadian fellows who have passed their FRCPC exam and American fellows who have passed their American Board of Dermatology Exam are eligible for moonlighting in Ontario.
We pay our fellows approximately $60,000 canadian dollars per year, and fellows often supplement this with moonlighting. We also cover the costs to attend the ACMS meeting. We offer 2 weeks vacation, in addition to a week at Christmas and long weekends scattered through the year. If you have something else important to go to, you can go.
In previous years we had one fellow, but this year we took 2 fellows. It seems to be working out because there are lots of cases for each of them and they can also learn from each other. We expect to take 2 fellows for next year at this point, given this year's success.
Who graduates from our program:
Our fellows are chosen based on their ability to be easy to work with, learn to become very good Mohs surgeons, and provide good patient care. We also prefer fellows who know where they will work once the complete the fellowship. Our previous fellows have go on to academic full-time positions, private Mohs practice, and a mixture of these two. Here are the contact details from our fellows so you can contact them if you have questions:
Martin leblanc 2017-18: martinleblanc50@hotmail.com
Michael Stevens 2017-18: michaelstevens27@gmail.com
Ilya Shoimer 2016-17: ishoimer@gmail.com
Tai Phan 2015-16.... tai.phan@uni.sydney.edu.au
Erin Dahlke 2014-15: erin.dahlke@wchospital.ca
Melissa Nantel-Battista 2013-14 mnbattista@gmail.com
Eiman Nasseri 2012-13 eiman_nasseri@yahoo.ca,
Our hospital
We work in the centre of the city, in 'Hospital alley' with other centres such as Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital, Hospital for Sick Children. Women's College Hospital (WCH) was re-built in 2015. Our facilities are new and our unit has lots of space.
Here is a short clip on our hospital: https://youtu.be/qhCywRULjSY
and another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZySvNIi4Oc
Toronto as a place to live
Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America (after Mexico city, New York , Los Angelos)...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_cities_by_population.
It is diverse, safe, next to lake Ontario, and a good mix of downtown hectic with neighbourhood calm.
Have a look at these videos to get a sense of the city:
tourism toronto video: https://youtu.be/V3YhYLln7uM
short video of Toronto...https://vimeo.com/188353548
Here is a longer video (it may seem a bit dated, because it was made in 2010...but we have only gotten better since)