It’s a lucky day if Dr. Irén Kossintseva has finished her surgeries by 7:30 p.m. Article content

“Sometimes our surgeries go until 3 a.m.,” said Kossintseva, a skin cancer surgeon and clinical associate professor at UBC. “I drink my water at the microscope, and I go until it’s done.” Article content Article content

Kossintseva is used to working almost around the clock to perform Mohs surgery on patients with skin cancers on sensitive areas — such as the face, genitals and hands — that require immediate cosmetic reconstruction.

Mohs surgery is a precise technique with a cure rate of over 99 per cent and is globally considered the gold standard. With 12- to 18-month waiting times in B.C., the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, Kossintseva and her team — who operate out of the derma

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