History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Dermatology in Guatemala7. Length of the Master’s. a) 3 years, 15 Longitudinal units, 12 Transversal units. b)Class timetables: Each month, exam of Longitudinal units; At the end of the course,Transversal units; 10 working days of vacations per year.■ Dermatology in literature, popular Dermatology,medicine men, magicDermatology in literature, popular Dermatology, medicine men, magicEduardo Silva-LizamaFigures 30, 31 and32. Institute forDermatology andSkin Surgery:Corridor of themen’shospitalizationservice; Outpatientservice; Computerunit and libraryDermatology in literatureDON MANUEL FERNÁNDEZ’S EMBROIDERED BEDDon Juan Vásquez de Molina was a noble gentleman, the descendant of conquerorsand a skillful surgeon. His fame dates from the last decade of the sixteenth century, sincehis name appears in old documents from the year 1597. We shall refer to one of them:“In the embroidered bed, Don Manuel Fernández was in agony, the victim of an extremelyintense colic in the lower belly. Hastily, our physician appealed to carminativedrugs and to softening poultices on the painful abdominal skin. The unfortunate patientexperienced no relief and the bulb marked off the hours of his life. Vásquez de Molinagrasped the situation and, feeling the stomach, noticed it was abscessed. In a second heprepared his instruments and with a sharp blade opened the swollen skin and the abscessthat thickened the right side. Pestilential matter emerged from the very deep andthe abscess was drained. Fast relief transformed the dying face of the patient and greatadmiration emerged from all those present.”With great skill and intuition the surgeon Vásquez de Molina saved the patient, whofor the space of thirteen months lived with a fistula that did not keep him from an activeeveryday life. Why has this observation been saved in the archives? Don Manuel Fernándezdied of ulterior infections of the fistula and the family refused to pay Vásquez deMolina his fees. Don Juan was charging 500 pesos for his urgent intervention and theheirs of the late Portuguese gentleman were unwilling to pay anything, which motivatedthe lawsuit and litigation 31, 32, 33 .HOLY BROTHER PEDRO DE SAN JOSÉ DE BETHENCOURTWritings on Dermatology are scarce in Guatemalan literature; nevertheless, we cannotomit the life, work and miracles of the Holy Brother Pedro de Bethencourt, who with hisvirtues lit up the scientific poverty of Guatemalan medicine in the seventeenth century.Brother Pedro cannot be absent from a book on the medical history of Guatemala andon the history of skin disease because medicine is a loving science and charitable art; itis deeply human and social, and hospital medicine does not end with the healing but extendsthrough the convalescence.In the noble and very loyal city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala there245