June Graduation Marks 40th Year of Skin Cancer Fellowship at Scripps Clinic

A medical-surgical fellowship program at Scripps Clinic that trains doctors in a specialized surgery technique for skin cancer marks its 40th graduating class in June.

Hubert (Hugh) Greenway, MD, has led the Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology Fellowship every year since he established the program. Since that time, 68 physicians have successfully completed the one-year medical education program, many of whom still practice throughout the world in clinical and academic settings.

Dr. Greenway is a Scripps Clinic dermatologic surgeon who heads the skin cancer division at Scripps Cancer Center. He will present certificates this month to the newest fellowship graduates, Emma Hill, MD, Kevin Patel, MD and Edward Seger, MD. In July, Dr. Greenway will begin training a new group of doctors in what is San Diego County’s longest-established fellowship program for Mohs surgery and dermatologic oncology.

“Training doctors is a vital part of meeting our community’s health care needs, and Scripps has a long-standing commitment to this responsibility.“

The fellowship helps trainees master the complexities of Mohs and other dermatologic surgeries and procedures. Doctors use the Mohs surgical technique most often with skin cancers that are aggressive or are located in particularly sensitive areas of the body, where its tissue-sparing capabilities are crucial. It involves surgically removing skin cancer layer by layer and examining the tissue microscopically until healthy, cancer-free tissue around the tumor is reached.

There is a strong need to train more doctors in Mohs and other skin cancer surgeries. According to the American Cancer Society, cancers of the skin are the most common of all types of cancer in the United States and the number of new cases has been increasing for many years.

“Training doctors is a vital part of meeting our community’s health care needs, and Scripps has a long-standing commitment to this responsibility,” said Dr. Greenway. “It’s important that doctors not only provide exceptional patient care, but also help teach the next generation of physicians through medical education.”

Dr. Greenway is among the world’s most experienced Mohs surgeons, having performed more than 41,000 cases in his career. Before joining Scripps Clinic in 1983, he trained under Frederic E. Mohs, MD, who developed the technique, and even performed Mohs surgery to remove a skin cancer on Dr. Mohs’ nose. In 2017, Dr. Greenway received the Frederic E. Mohs Award from the American College of Mohs Surgery for lifetime achievement in clinical practice, teaching, scientific contributions and innovation.

After finishing medical school and residency training, physicians may seek fellowship training to further study a subspecialty in medicine. The Mohs surgery and dermatologic oncology fellowship program at Scripps Clinic is highly competitive, drawing applications from doctors around the world every year. Physicians who complete this fellowship are eligible to take the subspecialty board examination in micrographic dermatologic surgery and can become members of the American College of Mohs Surgery.

Scripps offers a wide range of medical education opportunities in various specialty areas, including fellowship and residency programs and medical student rotations.

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.