During my ASLMS preceptorship, I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Anthony Rossi, who specializes in Mohs surgery and laser surgery. My preceptorship week was very productive. I was able to observe several Mohs cases with Dr. Rossi. It was great to see Dr. Rossi’s approach to his surgical patients during consultation. Also, since I was at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I was able to see some patients with complex cancer histories who were on multiple chemotherapy agents, which had to be factored to ensure that the patient was an optimum candidate for surgery. During our Mohs surgery, I was able to observe Dr. Rossi’s precise technique in removing the skin cancer. He offered several tips on how to obtain a good sample prior to processing and viewing under microscope. It was good to see his systematic approach to reading the slide of the Mohs specimen. My favorite part of our Mohs day was planning the patient’s reconstruction. Once again, Dr. Rossi had a systematic approach with a “less is always more” philosophy when the defect could be closed in a simple fashion or preform a complex reconstruction when it was warranted.
Additionally, throughout the clinic day, Dr. Rossi had many patients who he was treating with various lasers. Dr. Rossi used the pulse dye laser and KTP laser to treat post-surgical scar erythema and ablative CO2 laser to hypertrophic scars. Since I did not have too much experience with using these lasers for post-surgery scars and erythema, it was very helpful to see Dr. Rossi’s approach to these cases. In my opinion, lasers are quite complex, but Dr. Rossi was able to simplify many of the laser principles for me to understand. Also, I was exposed to confocal microscopy. In the past, I had read about confocal microscopy, but I was not able to visually understand the concept since two of our patients who had a history of melanoma had this imaging performed in clinic. It was interesting to see how this image modality was incorporated as another diagnostic tool for patients with pigmented lesions, especially those with a history of melanoma.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my ASLMS preceptorship. I had a good mix of Mohs surgery, laser surgery and complex dermatology. I am interested in doing a Mohs fellowship, so this preceptorship further confirmed my passion for Mohs and laser surgery. Dr. Rossi’s mentorship has been invaluable so I am grateful for the ASLMS preceptorship allowing me to work with Dr. Rossi.
Learn more about the Preceptorship Program