History of Latin American Dermatology

JULIO E. BAÑOS, ENRIQUE HERNÁNDEZ PÉREZ, LEANA QUINTANILLA SÁNCHEZwas elected vice-president for two consecutive periods, from 1984 to 1992, and later appointedpresident of the CILAD from 1992 to 1996.Up to the present, he has published over 200 scientific papers both in Spanish and inEnglish; he wrote two books: Dermatological Clinic and Practical DermatologicalSurgery, both with many editions. He has also collaborated with various chapters in internationalbooks and is editor of various international scientific journals. In more recentyears, his main interest has focused on dermatological surgery.His current posts are: head of the San Salvador Dermatology and Cosmetic SurgeryCenter; head of the Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Service of the Santa Teresa NationalHospital; certifier and examiner for the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery;President of the Meso-American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery; member of the InternationalGroup of Dermatological Therapeutics; Head of the Cosmetic Surgery Program approvedby the CILAD and by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. He is frequentlyinvited as a lecturer to different countries of Latin America and Europe.Around 1970, Drs. Enrique Flores Díaz and Fernando Adolfo Cruz Argumedo also arrivedin the country, after having completed Dermatology studies at the Pascua DermatologyCenter. Dr. Flores Díaz studied at Stanford University; he was an assistantprofessor of the Chair of Dermatology of the Medical School and dermatologist of theBenjamín Bloom Children’s Hospital; together with Juan José Rodríguez, he gave a boostto Pediatric Dermatology.Dr. Cruz carried out other studies at the Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, and, upon hisreturn, joined the Chair of Dermatology at the El Salvador University Medical School asan assistant professor.Among the dermatologists who studied under the tutelage of Dr. Hernández Pérez, itis worth mentioning Julio Eduardo Baños, who, after having completed the three yearsof graduate studies in Dermatology, moved to Mexico City in 1979. There, he completedthe specialization in the sub-field of Pediatric Dermatology under the guidance of Dr.Ramón Ruiz Maldonado, Head of the Dermatology Service of the DIF (formerly IMAN) NationalInstitute of Pediatrics in that city. Upon his return, he completed studies incryosurgery with the late Dr. Gilberto Castro Ron at Caracas’ Luis Razzeti Oncology Institute.He worked as an assistant professor of the Chair of Dermatology at the El SalvadorUniversity Medical School and collaborated with Drs. Hernández Pérez (chief),Enrique Flores Díaz and Adolfo Cruz in teaching the Medical School’s undergraduatecourses and the graduate courses at the Dermatology Residency. He began the practiceof cryosurgery at the Rosales Hospital and at the Benjamín Bloom Children’s Hospital,where he was a doctor of the outpatient office and a consulting dermatologist of the entirehospital. He was the head of the Dermatology Service of the Salvadorian Institute ofSocial Welfare. He was on various occasions the president of the El Salvador DermatologicalSociety (now Association). He participated as a national delegate of the CILAD andwas the vice-president of the CILAD for Central America on two occasions, from 1996 to2003.At present, forty dermatologists, who graduated in different countries of Latin America,work actively in El Salvador. ■October 2005220