Dr. Mona Mofid, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist specializing in melanoma, skin cancer and medical dermatology, was named one of San Diego's Top Doctors for 2026, her ninth recognition by the San Diego County Medical Society and San Diego Magazine. The Physicians of Exceptional Excellence distinction recognizes approximately the top 5% of San Diego physicians, selected by fellow doctors based on whom they would trust to care for their own family and friends.
The repeated peer selection matters beyond a single award cycle. In a market where patients increasingly compare providers online, a ninth consecutive Top Doctor nod gives consumers a durable, physician-vetted signal that is difficult for competitors to replicate. It also underscores how professional reputation in specialized fields such as melanoma and skin cancer screening is built over decades rather than through short-term marketing.
Dr. Mofid's recognition extends beyond peer voting. She received the 2026 Top Specialist Award from Sharp Community Medical Group (SCMG) for outstanding patient satisfaction while maintaining a perfect 5.0-star patient rating on Sharp HealthCare's official physician website. She was also named among the Three Best Rated Dermatologists in San Diego for 2026 by ThreeBestRated, which evaluates physicians on reputation, patient reviews, experience and other quality measures. Together, these honors combine physician judgment with patient experience data, a combination that payers, employers and referral networks increasingly use when assessing specialty care.
The patient perspective illustrates why such recognition can influence care-seeking decisions. One patient, who endured more than 15 years of complications following cancer treatment despite consulting numerous physicians, described Dr. Mofid on Healthgrades as "the embodiment of the medical trifecta: heart, soul and smarts." The patient credited Dr. Mofid's compassion and creative treatment approach with dramatically improving their quality of life.
The honors extend to Dr. Mofid's physician assistants. Juan Kojima, PA-C, and Natalie Lennon, PA-C, both received Sharp Community Medical Group's 2026 Top Advanced Care Practitioner Awards for outstanding patient care, highlighting the team's commitment to clinical excellence, compassion and personalized attention. For patients with complex dermatologic conditions, team-based recognition can be as relevant as an individual physician's award, because care is often delivered across multiple providers.
Dr. Mofid is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her medical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she subsequently served as Clinic Director of Dermatology and Co-Director of the Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Clinic. For more than 20 years, she has served as Medical Director of the American Melanoma Foundation, promoting melanoma prevention, early detection and public education. Her San Diego practice focuses exclusively on medical dermatology, particularly melanoma, skin cancer screening, prevention and treatment, and managing complex dermatologic conditions. More information is available at www.drmonamofid.com.
The broader implication is that independent and peer-driven recognitions can serve as practical quality markers in a health care sector where consumers face abundant, often conflicting, information. For the dermatology industry, the 2026 awards reinforce that measurable patient satisfaction and physician trust remain central to reputation, referral flow and patient retention.
