Sometimes patients are concerned regarding whether or not the doctor who excises their skin cancer should be the doctor repairing the skin defect later.
It may surprise many to know that by far the largest skill to acquire in skin cancer management is reconstruction following tumour excision. Estimates of the skills and knowledge required to manage skin cancer are as follows:
- Clinical recognition of skin cancers from benign skin lesions - 10%
- Dermoscopic recognition of skin cancers from benign lesions - 10%
- Dermatology and theory of skin cancers and their behaviour - 10%
- Dermatopathology and histology of skin cancer - 10%
- Non surgical modalities for managing skin cancer - 10%
- Reconstruction of skin defects - 40%
- Other aspects of skin cancer management - 10%
The Dr. Dixon trains and examines all these vital aspects of skin cancer management. Note that by far the largest skill doctors need to acquire is reconstruction skills. For this reason, Dr. Dixon runs extensive training programs in surgical reconstruction of skin defects following tumour excision. Training includes repair of defects in all body locations including all locations on the face. Training also includes scar revision and refashioning that is sometimes required.
There are three main outcomes we try to achieve when managing skin cancer:
- Curing the patient of the tumour
- Restoring any impaired function to the region where the tumour was located
- Optimizing aesthetic outcome having achieved the first two objectives
Dr. Anthony Dixon