One of Dr. Elle de Moll’s goals in launching her medical dermatology practice in New Canaan one year ago was changing patients’ lives by detecting skin cancer early, as well as using medicines to treat debilitating conditions.
And in the past year—as her staff at Elite Dermatology Physicians (here on Instagram, where has grown from three to 10 women—de Moll has diagnosed more than 140 basal cells and 60 squamous cells, both non-melanoma skin cancers, 13 invasive melanomas and 40 dysplastic nevi or skin lesions that require treatment.
“So these are big, measurable milestones in terms of our ability to find patients and screen them here,” de Moll said on a recent afternoon from her office at the corner of Cherry Street and East Avenue. “Those are the patients we’ve seen here. We’ve also been doing skin cancer screenings at the Schoolhouse Apartments, and I work closely with the Norwalk Fire Department doing their skin cancer screenings biannually. And we hosted a first responders’ skin cancer screening for the state here in May, which we’ll repeat again this spring, with Skin Cancer Awareness Month. So we’re really reaching out to first responders who are at a particularly high risk for skin cancer and that’s outside of my traditional business hours. They’re not patients per se, but it’s volunteerism and giving back to the community.”
It’s the community that de Moll, her husband and children also call home, where her practice has rapidly gained a loyal following. In a town and county where there’s a large focus on aesthetics and injectables, de Moll’s practice offers something different, such as skin checks, eczema treatments and “warts frozen off,” she said.
“Whatever the case may be, I can be here to provide that service,” de Moll said.
Some patients are reporting life-changing improvements.
For example, Ashley Convey said that she had suffered for years with “an embarrassing and very painful condition” (hidradenitis suppurativa) that “causes painful boils and scarring.”
“I had seen numerous doctors: infectious disease specialists, dermatologists, and primary care physicians,” Convey said. “I was repeatedly dismissed. I was told my condition was simply due to my weight and that losing weight would make it go away.”
Yet de Moll immediately recognized what was happening and “gave me a clear diagnosis and several effective treatment recommendations that have drastically improved my symptoms and quality of life,” Convey said.
“She prescribed both oral and topical medications that have helped prevent new boils and reduce pain from existing ones,” she said. “For the first time, I felt truly heard by a doctor. Dr. de Moll never made me feel judged or dismissed. Having a doctor take the time to diagnose and treat my condition properly has been life changing.”
Originally from Wilton, de Moll earned her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Post college, de Moll completed an internship with the Yale program of Internal Medicine at Norwalk Hospital, where she was recognized as “Intern of the Year.” She would go on to complete her dermatology residency at Icahn School of Medicine, where she served as Chief Resident. She then pursued two fellowships: one in melanoma, and the other in dermatopathology.
Laura Budd, the executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, said the community is “lucky to have a top dermatologist located right downtown.”
“Dr. de Moll has embraced her role as a physician and educator—make sure to follow her on Instagram—and has become an asset to the community,” Budd said.
As a local business owner, de Moll said she’s found Budd and the Chamber an “amazing” resource and has connected with several other business owners, including Jo Bloom at Cherry Street Cheese, Dr. Jennifer Stewart at Look New Canaan and Pam Robinson at the Spice & Tea Exchange.
Asked how she felt on occasion of her one-year milestone, de Moll said, “I feel really welcomed by the town and I’m grateful that the town’s been so receptive, and the medical community here in New Canaan has been receptive. They’ve incorporated me into taking care of their patients, because they’ve been here a lot longer than me. There is the kind of need for medical dermatology that I hoped there was.”
De Moll added that she has been able to meet rising demand by growing, most recently with Physician’s Assistant Madison Ricks “to help offload a lot of more urgent needs.”
“She [Ricks] is still not doing skin cancer screenings—I keep that in my hands, I think that’s my responsibility as a physician,” de Moll said. “And she helps with a lot of acute day-to-day issues to try to increase access to medical care. Because again, we take insurance—many, if not most insurances—and we really want to be here for the poison ivy’s and the Lyme Disease and the toenail fungus. And there’s little problems, but we also take care of more complicated skin diseases. I have patients with mucus membrane pemphigoid, and different blistering diseases, serious life-threatening drug rashes, and I enjoy taking care of those patients in the community, as well.”
Her vision for the future of Elite Dermatology Physicians is to grow “and meet all of the needs of the town so that when you call and want to book a skin check, it’s not a four month wait,” de Moll said.
“I have to bring other amazing providers on to help me do that,” she said. “Because right now, I’m a limited resource. Just the number of hours in a week is finite.”
Asked for her message to the community on marking one year downtown, de Moll said “thank you.”
“Everyone’s been really kind,” she said. “We’re grateful to be here and New Canaan’s really that town and the areas around where people want to stay in town and support local business if they can. And dermatology is one of those fields that’s been rapidly growing and being bought up by bigger businesses, so they’re not owned by people who are part of the community. I think if you’re not part of the community, you don’t care as much about it.”