History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Ecuadorian Dermatologycreation of the University, there was a decree by which a Chair of Medicine assigned tothe hospital was created (Figure 15).In 1868, the Azuay University Board was founded and organized as a dependency ofthe National School created in 1870 by Jesuit fathers, called St. Louis and,since 1910, Benigno Malo; it did not have its own premises or professors; it initiallyoccupied the premise of Dominican fathers, which was later acquiredafter negotiations. The premises were located at the current Santo DomingoSquare that is now occupied by the Octavio Cordero Palacios School 14 .Official Founding of the University of CuencaIn October 1867, during the government of Dr. Jerónimo Carrión, the physicianlegislators Juan Bautista Vázquez and Luis Cordero Carrión obtained the approvalof the decree by which the University with its Law and Medical Schools was created inthe city of Cuenca; it was officially inaugurated on January 1, 1868 2, 14 .With the certification of the University of Cuenca, the Medical School was also inaugurated,its first Dean being Dr. Agustín Cueva Vallejo (Figure 16), born in Cuenca in1820, graduated in Quito in 1843, died in 1873 (2, 15); in addition to the aforementionedlegislators, Drs. Agustín Cueva, Manuel Coronel and Antonio Ortega were its promotersand initiators 14 .By the end of the eighteenth century, there were already hospitals in Quito,Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja and Riobamba; there were treatment and pharmacy services,but only the natives went to them, and entering them was considering a sign of misfortune.In Cuenca, the hospital operates since 1747 under the management of the Bethlehemites;at that hospital, Fray Santiago de las Ánimas worked as surgeon, and in 1779he practiced an autopsy on “the swordsman Zabala” 5 .The Hospital of the Bethlehemites operated in San Blas until 1872, whenit was replaced by the Hospital of the Common, called “St. Vincent de Paul,”in honor to the patron and founder of the Order of the Sisters of Charity, theonly nurses who worked in it during the one-hundred years of existence ofthe hospital 16 (Figure 17 and 18). On August 28, 1869, by legislative decree,it was officially provided for that the Executive Power place the hospitals ofthe Republic that had sufficient funds under the management of the Sistersof Charity; the appropriate contracts were signed and all the pertintent measuresadopted to achieve this important aim; in October of the same year, the contractfor the official establishment of the Sisters of Charity in our country was signed in Paris,and was approved on December 4 of that year by the Minister of Foreign Affairs 5 .In 1868, teaching began at the Cuenca Medical School, in all likelihood with a syllabusreproducing that of the University of Quito; this syllabus was reduced to five years in thefirst stage. The lack of financial means and the scarcity of professors meant that the planwas largely theoretical, and various chairs were occupied by the same professor. Thefirst Dean of the Medical School was its founder, Dr. Agustín Cueva Vallejo, born inCuenca on August 24, 1820; in 1838, he traveled to Quito to study Medicine and obtainedhis Ph.D. degree. In 1856, he went to Europe, where he trained with the great mastersof the time: Trusseau, Ricord, etc.; Dr. Cueva Vallejo held the deanship until 1873, justbefore his death; he was removed due to political conflict. He was succeeded by Dr. JoséOramas 14, 15 .Toward that time (1870), reference was made in the city of Quito to the healing powerof the condurango plant (Gonolobus condorango), used by Dr. Camilo Cáceres, surgeon ofthe Quito Hospital, who claimed to have successfully used it in the treatment of thigh cancer,eyelid cancer, syphilis and blennorrhagia, as well as on scrofulous ulcers.On August 24, 1870, the Governor of Azuay transcribed to the Minister a communicationFigure 14. Arrival ofthe Lord of Girón inthe city of CuencaFigure 15. First venueof the University ofCuenca207