Course Outline
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- Foundations of Mohs Embedding
- Understanding the Differences in Histology and Mohs Laboratories
- Why Is Embedding Different?
- Understanding Orientation
- True or False: Mohs surgery is designed to evaluate 100% of the peripheral and deep surgical margins of the excised tissue.
- Philosophy of Routine Histology
- Philosophy of Mohs Embedding
- In Mohs surgery, the embedding method changes because the clinical question changes. Which clinical question is Mohs surgery designed to answer?
- Preparing Tissue for Mohs Embedding
- How Tissue Orientation Supports Mohs Surgery
- Purpose of Mohs Embedding
- Relaxing Tissue
- Epidermal Relaxing Technique
- Tissue-Based Relaxing
- True or False: Relaxing cuts are made to change the size of the specimen so it fits more easily into the embedding mold.
- Approaches to Mohs Tissue Embedding
- References
Additional Information
Level of Instruction: Basic
Intended Audience: Histotechnologists, histotechnicians, pathologists' assistants, laboratory supervisors, and laboratory managers. This course is also appropriate for HTL and HT students, cytologists, and pathology residents.
Author Information:
Camille Pellone-McKay, M.Ed., BSHCA, HTL, CLT, has been the regional pathology manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSKCC) for 10 years, overseeing the Mohs laboratories and the breast pathology laboratory. Camille has worked within the pathology/Mohs field for more than 40 years. Camille is currently the President of the American Mohs Society of Histotechnology (ASMH 2025–2026). Camille, along with colleagues Dr. Nehal and the MSK Mohs team, has authored a textbook titled The Laboratory Manual for Mohs Micrographic Surgery: Frozen Tissue Processing. Camille has a consulting business where she prepares laboratories to be compliant. Camille is also a Fulbright Specialist with the United States Government and an Adjunct Professor at SUNY Broome, teaching histology.
The author has no conflict of interest to disclose.
Reviewer Information: Brandon Possum, HT(ASCP), is a histotechnologist with over a decade of specialized experience in Mohs histology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is board-certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) and holds a New York State Histotechnician (HT) license. Brandon began his career with a strong foundation in traditional histology through his formal college education before advancing into the specialized field of Mohs frozen sectioning. In addition to his clinical work, Brandon is actively engaged in professional education. He regularly participates in speaking engagements and educational sessions focused on Mohs histology.
Course Description: Histotechnicians who are looking to transition into a Mohs laboratory often encounter significant differences in tissue embedding techniques, orientation, and clinical expectations. This course provides a practical overview of multiple embedding methods used in Mohs micrographic surgery and how the techniques differ from traditional histology embedding practices. Participants will learn how proper embedding directly impacts surgical margin interpretation, turnaround time, and patient outcomes. Emphasis will be placed on practical strategies to support histotechnicians transitioning from paraffin-based histology workflows to frozen-section Mohs environments.
