Why a Mohs Fellowship at the SkinCentre New Zealand?
Who are the Mohs fellowship program directors?
Where can I do a Mohs surgery fellowship?
Dr PJM Salmon and Dr Neil J Mortimer, Fellows of the American College of Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology, run a Fellowship training programme based at the campus at 171 Cameron Road, Tauranga.
Dr Salmon and Dr Mortimer are vocationally registered dermatologists with private and public hospital practice. Both are visiting consultants at Tauranga Public Hospital. Both directors are involved in surgical training for dermatology residents at Waikato Hospital. They have admitting and operating rights at Tauranga Public Hospital and Southern Cross Private Hospitals in Tauranga.
Who is eligible to apply for a Mohs Fellowship?
New Zealand graduates should have completed years of advanced training.
Foreign Fellows wishing to undergo the Fellowship at the Skin Centre should be Board Certified in Dermatology, be eligible to sit, or have passed, the Fellowship Examination of the Australian College of Dermatologists or be Advanced Trainees in Dermatology from the United Kingdom and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians.
Foreign Fellows will need to obtain temporary registration as a dermatologist in New Zealand. The Manager of the Skin Centre will assist you in this process. Please contact her at 0064 7 578 5788, or email meganp@skincentre.com
What is expected of me during a Mohs Fellowship?
The Fellowship is currently a one year Fellowship. There are approximately 550 Mohs cases a year. Mohs surgery takes place between Monday and Thursday. Fellows are also encouraged to attend cosmetic procedures taking place on a Wednesday.
The Fellowship week is Monday to Friday inclusive with days off being Saturday and Sunday. Most of Wednesday and Friday will be spent seeing your own consultations and operating on your own patients, or at Tauranga Public Hospital doing a Fellow's Clinic.
Outlying clinics are attended one or twice per month and overnight stays in the local areas expected. The accomodation, flights and nursing staff are provided for you at each clinic. The SkinCentre have outlying clinics in Auckland, Nelson, Taranaki and the Hawkes Bay.
The vast majority of your work as a Fellow having your own clinic, will involve skin cancer and to some extent general and cosmetic dermatology. You are expected to have a high level of competence in general dermatology and dermatoscopy.
Dermatology in New Zealand is generally a secondary or tertiary referral service and expectations of standards are more in keeping with those in a large academic institution in the United States or a teaching hospital in the United Kingdom rather than a private practice. Graduates with no skills in dermatologic surgery need not apply for this Fellowship.
Fellows are expected to publish case reports and at least one original articular in Dermatology Surgery literature.
A reasonable standard of basic dermatologic surgery procedural work will be expected from Day 1.
Fellows are expected to be competent in simple complex layered closures, utilisation of M-Plasty or T-Plasty and a preliminary understanding and some experience with basic flaps and grafts. They should be familiar with a variety of suture techniques and the treatment of surgical complications such as infection and haematoma.
Fellows will be expected to be on call 24/7 throughout the Fellowship, (apart from leave days) for both their patients and Dr Salmon's patients. The Skin Centre will cover their cell phone rental over this period, but not calls (there is no payment to receive calls in New Zealand).
The Fellow will be expected to work a total of 226 days per year. They will be awarded 20 days annual leave and 5 days conference leave.
During the Fellowship the directors will pay registration and accommodation for the American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology Annual Meeting for one year of the Fellowship, provided they present a paper at that meeting based on work done at the Skin Centre.
The Skin Centre is an equal opportunity provider.
Will I gain experience in Cosmetic Procedures during my Mohs fellowship?
During the course of the Fellowship the Trainee will gain experience and training in techniques of tumescent liposuction, breast reduction and augmentation, laser resurfacing, sclerotherapy, hair removal laser, treatment of superficial veins of the face with the Dio-Lite laser, chemical peeling, dermabrasion, Botulinum toxin treatment, hyaluronic fillers, fat transfer and occasionally hair transplantation. Close interaction with Oculoplastics is available through the contracted provision of Mohs service to the Oculoplastic Department of Waikato Hospital.
Didactic Teaching
An extended syllabus of the Mohs College will be addressed through morning tutorials, once a week, prepared by the Fellow, encompassing all areas of cutaneous oncology and some areas of cosmetic dermatology surgery (please see schedule). This currently occurs as a breakfast meeting at 8:00am Friday's.
How many Mohs cases will I log?
550 throughout the year.
Monday - Mohs surgery
Tuesday - Mohs Surgery
Wednesday - Cosmetic Surgery and Fellow's Clinic or Rotorua Hospital
Thursday - Mohs Surgery, non Mohs surgery and Oculoplastic Surgery
Friday -Tauranga or Rotorua private or public fellow clinics.
Saturday/Sunday - Days off
Allocation of Mohs clinics and Fellow clinics vary from week to week to ensure that the fellow can be part of 550 cases per year.
Where is the SkinCentre Mohs Fellowship Facility?
The Skin Centre at 171 Cameron Road, Tauranga, is a purpose built dermatology facility and incorporates 18 consultation rooms, seven day stay theatre and Mohs laboratory, as well as ultraviolet treatment (go to skincentre.com).
Tauranga is a provincial town in New Zealand servicing a population of 250,000. It has an agreeable temperate climate, great beaches, and is well known for its surfing, sailing and water-skiing. There are good schools in the area. Climate and lifestyle are similar to Northern California.
See:
tauranga.co.nz
You should expect to spend $15,000 and $30,000 per annum to rent a 3-4 bedroom detached house on its own lot and around $20,000 per annum for an apartment.
Surgical Fellowship
Introduction
Application Requirements
Who is eligible?
Foreign Fellows wishing to undergo the International Fellowship at the Skin Centre should be Board Certified in Dermatology, be eligible to sit, or have passed, the Fellowship Examination of the Australian College of Dermatologists or hold CCST in Dermatology from the United Kingdom will need to obtain temporary registration as a Dermatologist in New Zealand. The Skin Cancer Institute will assist you in this process.
The Fellowship and Expectations of Competency
The Fellowship is a one year Fellowship. There are approximately 500 Mohs cases a year. Mohs surgery takes place Monday – Thursday within our Institute, you would be scheduled to assist with Mohs surgery on Thursday. Fellows are also encouraged to attend cosmetic procedures taking place on Wednesday. The Fellowship week is Monday to Friday inclusive with days off being Saturday and Sunday. Most of Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday will be spent seeing your own consultations and operating on your own patients, or at Tauranga Public Hospital doing a Fellow's Clinic. The vast majority of your work as a Fellow having your own clinic, will involve skin cancer and to some extent cosmetic dermatology. Nevertheless you are expected to have a high level of competence in general dermatology and dermatoscopy.
Dermatology in New Zealand is generally a secondary or tertiary referral service and expectations of standards are more in keeping with those in a large academic institution in the United States or a teaching hospital in the United Kingdom rather than a private practice
A reasonable standard of basic dermatologic surgery procedural work will be expected from Day 1.
Fellows are expected to be competent in simple complex layered closures, utilisation of M-Plasty or T-Plasty and a preliminary understanding and some experience with basic flaps and grafts. They should be familiar with a variety of suture techniques and the treatment of surgical complications such as infection and haematoma. They should know how to do running intradermal (subcuticular) sutures.
Fellows will be expected to be on call 24/7 throughout the Fellowship, (apart from leave days) for all Mohs Surgery patients. The Skin Cancer Institute will cover their cell phone rental over this period, but not calls (there is no payment to receive calls in New Zealand).
The Fellow will be expected to work a total of 226 days per year. They will be awarded 20 days annual leave and 5 days conference leave.
The Skin Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity provider.
Will I learn cosmetic procedures during the fellowship?
During the course of the Fellowship the Trainee will gain experience and training in techniques of tumescent liposuction, breast augmentation, breast reduction, face lifts, fat transfer, upper and lower blepharoplasty, laser resurfacing, cosmetic mole removal, sclerotherapy, hair removal laser, treatment of superficial veins of the face with the Dio-Lite laser, chemical peeling, dermabrasion, Botulinum toxin treatment, hyaluronic fillers, fat transfer and occasionally hair transplantation. Close interaction with Oculoplastics is available through the contracted provision of Mohs service to the Oculoplastic Department of Waikato Hospital.
Didactic Teaching
The academic syllabus will be addressed through morning tutorials, once a week, prepared by the Fellows, encompassing all areas of cutaneous oncology and some areas of cosmetic dermatology surgery (please see schedule). This currently occurs as a breakfast meeting at 8:00am on Friday.
Where is the fellowship facility?
The Skin Centre at 171 Cameron Road, Tauranga, is a purpose built dermatology facility and incorporates 18 consultation rooms, 7day stay theatre suites as well as ultraviolet treatment. In addition the Skin Centre has a dedicated Mohs unit comprising four purpose built theatres, and MOHs Laboratory
We currently have one Mohs fellow within the institute and with four resident Dermatologists, two of whom are Mohs surgeons. We have more than enough resource to accommodate your training requirements. Your schedule will involve 5/10ths training and education and 5/10ths of your own clinic. The schedule I have proposed mirrors that of our other fellow. Your will virtually never see the other fellow except at the Friday academic meetings. The Fellowship starts with a two week orientation period.