The Life & Legacies of Dr. Frederic Mohs: Director's Note
In July, 2024, I was diagnosed with skin cancer on my nose and had it removed with Mohs Surgery. As she prepared me for the procedure, Dr. Juliet Aylward told me the doctor for whom the surgery is named was a Wisconsin native who did his work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the UW Archives has a collection of his materials. I was surprised and excited to learn no one had produced a documentary on Frederic E. Mohs and I set out to do just that. I have had the opportunity to create, write and direct more than a dozen documentaries in my career, but this is my first biographical film dedicated to a single person who is no longer living. As I immersed myself in his papers and interviewed family and colleagues, I found myself humbled by what this gifted, hard-working person had accomplished and how he accomplished it. His story is a milestone in medical history and the personification of The Wisconsin Idea: that what happens in the classroom should have benefits outside of the classroom.
In July, 2024, I was diagnosed with skin cancer on my nose and had it removed with Mohs Surgery. As she was preparing, my surgeon told me the doctor for whom the surgery is named was a Wisconsin native who did his work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. As a documentary producer, I was surprised and excited to learn no one had produced a documentary on Frederic E. Mohs and I set out to do just that. 2026 is the 90th anniversary of the first Mohs Surgery and 100 years since Fred Mohs wrote a daily journal at the age of fifteen and sixteen. That journal, a short autobiography and notes he wrote about his own health struggles late in life are among the treasures opened in this film. As I immersed myself in his papers and interviewed family and colleagues, I found myself with the privilege of getting to know this legendary figure from the beginning to the end of his life. His story is a milestone in medical history.
