Dr. Joel Cook grew up in Northeast Tennessee and came to Charleston to attend the College of Charleston where he graduated magna cum laude. Enamored with Charleston, he remained here for his medical school education at MUSC where he graduated second in his class. Following medical school, he completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia. His Dermatology residency was at MUSC. He then completed the prestigious fellowship in Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, Shadyside in 1997.
Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Cook joined the faculty of the Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. He currently is a Professor of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery and the division head of Dermatologic Surgery. He has held many national appointments including the board of directors of the American College of Mohs Surgery. He has published extensively on varied topics in cutaneous oncology and reconstructive dermatologic surgery and is currently the assistant editor of Dermatologic Surgery. He is the director of the followship training program in Dermatologic Surgery.
Dr. Cook is regarded as one of the country's leading experts on Mohs and reconstructive dermatologic surgery and frequently lectures at national and international meetings. His area of expertise is Mohs micrographic surgery and reconstructive dermatologic surgery. His special interest is flap reconstruction of post surgical facial defects. Dr. Cook has completed over 25,000 Mohs procedures. Dr. Cook is currently active in several clinical trials for Mohs surgery, melanoma treatments, and others.