Thomas L.H. Hocker, M.D. has been truly blessed to have the best friends, family and mentors anyone could hope for. Thomas was a wayward 13 year-old kid until he became a high school track athlete. He attributes a huge part of all his subsequent successes in life to his incredibly dedicated Track and Field coaches, Coach Robert Poynter, Frank Slaton, and Coach Odom (and many others in the Silver Creek family), who straightened out his life and enabled him to become a All-State Track star.He completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University, where he was a 4-year varsity Track champion, and graduated as Yale's Top Scholar Athlete, and won the Top Scholar Award in Molecular Biology. He subsequently received a Churchill Fellowship to obtain a Masters in Chemistry at Cambridge University (England). Upon returning to the USA, he enrolled in Harvard Medical School, where he became heavily involved in Dermatologic research with the brilliant Dr. Hensin Tsao and learned clinical Dermatology from the master clinician, Dr. Harley Haynes.Dr. Hocker went on to do his internship at SCVMC in San Jose, CA before heading to The Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) for his Dermatology residency. He excelled academically and was named the Harold O. Perry Scholar at graduation, an honor given to the resident with the highest level of academic achievement during residency.Dr. Hocker then pursued the unusual path of completing Fellowships in both Dermatopathology (Univ. of Michigan) and Mohs Surgery (Mayo Clinic). The unparalleled Dermatopathology exposure and mentorship he received at Univ. of Michigan has allowed Dr. Hocker to become one of the emerging experts in Melanocytic pathology; his Mohs training at Mayo Clinic allowed him to become a skilled Oncologic/Reconstructive Surgeon.Dr. Hocker has published in academic journals and presented at innumerable Dermatology meetings. Dr. Hocker is a Board-Certified Dermatologist, Dermatopathologist and Fellow of the Mohs College.