History of Latin American Dermatology

CÉSAR IVÁN VARELA HERNÁNDEZadded to the personal imprint of the illustrious colleagues who have headed the diverseschools, most programs have developed an identity of their own.Figure 48. MichelFaizalDermatology Service of the National University of Colombia, BogotáThe teaching of Dermatology began in 1886. Its first professor, Gabriel José Castañeda,gave the chair an orientation toward the teaching of tropical pathology until1898. Julio Escobar headed the chair from 1901 to 1903. Luis Cuervo Márquez continuedteaching activities, now under the name of Dermatology and Syphilography Clinic;Luis J. Uricochea participated as of 1908, and José Ignacio Uribe as of 1910; startingwith Uribe, Dermatology became catalogued as a specialized field. In 1927 Manuel JoséSilva, one of the main stalwarts of any era, implemented student care at the Water of GodLeprosarium and created the Dermatological Wax Museum. The illustrious professorGonzalo Reyes García taught from 1930 to his retirement in 1961. Professors Miguel SerranoCamargo, Carlos Cortés Enciso, José Ignacio Chala Hidalgo, Alfredo LaverdeLaverde, Guillermo Pardo Villalba and Tomás Henao Blanco collaborated during thattime. In 1936, Alfonso Gamboa Amador started out as a professor, teaching the courseon syphilography.At the end of the 1950s, Fabio Londoño González came in as a professor, in 1958launching the graduate program in the framework of the new trends in the United States.He filled the top post until his retirement in 1966. Its first resident, who graduated in1961, was Guillermo Gutiérrez Aldana, a great enthusiast and collaborator in this text,who reached the leadership position in 1965, replacing Miguel Serrano Camargo. Dr.Gutiérrez updated the service in the location, administrative and academic spheres; heupgraded the Max Museum and reformed the graduate program in 1973. In 1978 he extendedhis creative force to the National Cancerology Institute, where in 1992 he createdthe graduate course in dermatological oncology, for the design of which he turned toMichel Faizal Geagea and which was launched by Álvaro Enrique Acosta Madiedo deHart. Thus began the era of skin surgery and oncology. The second to graduatewas Víctor Manuel Zambrano. From 1978 to 1984 Fernando García Jiménez ledthe service, being remembered for his diagnostic and pathological approach. Inthat period Gerzaín Rodríguez Toro joined the Department of Pathology, at the NationalInstitute of Health. Víctor Manuel Zambrano continued in the leadershipuntil 1990. Manuel Forero came on board in those years; he launched the work onpediatric Dermatology. Joining in 1989 was Luis Fernando Palma, a pathologist ofthe National University and a dermatologist who had studied in Mexico and theUnited States; his unmatchable academic training and his humanistic traitscaused him to become an inestimable histopathological teacher; his practice is anexample of book and life knowledge. In 1992, Héctor José Castellanos Lorduybegan teaching; he headed the Service between 1994 and 1998 and reformed theacademic program. He was succeeded from 1999 to 2002 by José Rómulo VillamizarBetancourt with great human and teaching qualities. Joining as a teacherin 1991 was Michel Faizal Geagea (Figure 48), a former student, who also studied dermatologicalsurgery at the University of São Paulo and tropical Dermatology at the Universityof Amazonas (Brazil). He headed the service as of 2002, and as of 2004 was headof the Internal Medicine Department. Right from his arrival he launched the practice andteaching of dermatological, oncological, reconstructive and esthetic surgery, as well asMohs surgery. In 1999, he restarted care at the Water of God Sanatorium; in 2000 he cofoundedthe Telemedicine Center and created the Teledermatology Center, which offersteaching and contributes solutions to dermatological problems in the Colombian-Brazilian-PeruvianAmazon region.At the end of the 1990s the government, in a regrettable decision, decreed the closureof the St. John of God Hospital, a crisis which was overcome with dignity by officials,138