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Any medical practitioner, no matter how specialised and experienced, must recognise their limitations. There are times when shared care is in the patient’s best interest. Ideally, this will involve appropriate and timely referral to the practitioner most likely to achieve the best outcome for that lesion in that patient. Many factors weigh into that decision including the site and size of the lesion, the histopathology, as well as patient factors such as immunosuppression and the patient’s preferences. However, complications that result from dermatologic surgery occur at times despite best practice and patients will expect that most of these complications can be dealt with by the practitioner who carried out the procedure. Occasionally, referral to another specialist is warranted. These scenarios test our professional skills. It is an important part of informed consent to discuss with the patient at the preoperative consult the risks and complications that could arise, as well as the concept that referral to another practitioner may at times be required to get the best outcome.