Today was my last day at Southern Dermatology where I worked with Dr. Boyse and her amazing co-workers which i have grown to really enjoy their company while working. I was able to shadow a dermatologist today who performed Mohs’ surgery and showed me how they remove cancerous sites on the skin and determine whether or not they have to continue to cut around the site to fully eradicate the cancer. The most common types of cancer I saw was invasive squamous cell (invasive meaning it reoccurs) and basal cell carcinoma. To be able to figure out whether or not the patient was cleared was a whole other process. Using Pathology, Dr. Wilmoth (the Mohs’ surgeon), would figure out whether or no the cancers were still in the tissues of the skin.
Dr. Wilmoth, would first cut the cancerous skin sample out of the patient’s existing cancer-targeted area to then be brought to the lab to be observed. When he arrived in the lab, he cut it so that the epidermis would be exposed and then handed it to his partner who would actually begin slicing the skin sample into thin layers for futher examination. Through a series of freezing the sample, shaving it, placing it onto slides, preserving it by dipping it in different chemicals, the skin samples of each patient went through that process and at the end of the day ended up in about 9 slides (or so) showing the skin sample its different edges. Dr. Wilmoth then walked me through what a basal and squamous cell carcinoma looked like. That morning however, he had many patients that all read positive on their cancer and had to have more of their skin removed. The coolest part about it was seeing how quickly and precisely Dr. Wilmoth could identify the cancers and continue on to view or “study” the next patients slide. I really loved being able to shadow Dr. Wilmoth the last day as he was under stress but did take the time to explain and show me what he was doing while executing it.
After all of that intense work, I returned back to the skin exams and cosmetic procedures on Dr. Boyse’s side of the clinic. Once again, I had a great time being able to help send labs down to triage, retrieve samples of cremes for patients to try and stand-in on skin exams one last time. I had a great lunch and it was a very fun last day with them! I hope to be able to come back and shadow with them or even work as a medical assistant before med school if I decide this is where I would really like to do!