History of Latin American Dermatology

History of pediatric Dermatology in Mexicoand pediatric events there are courses or symposiaon this specialized field.In 1973, the residency of the Pediatric Dermatologyspecialized field was organized at the DermatologyService of the current National Instituteof Pediatrics, consisting of two years for pediatriciansand one for general dermatologists, with myparticipation as Full Professor and Dr. Tamayo asAdjoint Professor. Residents work an eight-hourshift. We soon realized that the training for pediatricianswas insufficient, and in 1986 the residencyperiod was increased to three years. Up to2004, 83 specialists in Pediatric Dermatologyhave been trained, coming from Mexico and fromall of Latin America. The specialization course,which at first was recognized by the Institute andby the Health Secretariat, has since 1989 also been recognized by Mexico’s AutonomousNational University.It is worth pointing out that our specialization course was the first and for many yearsthe only one in the world. Many of the pediatric dermatologists it trained hold importantposts in Mexican and foreign institutions.The doctors who belong to the Service and have contributed significantly to its achievementsare: Dr. Amelia M. Laterza, of Argentine nationality, who was an adjoint physicianfrom 1979 to 1989; Dr. Carola Durán Mckinster, adjoined from 1989 to 2002 and currenthead of the Service; Dr. María de la Luz Orozco Covarrubias, who has been at the Servicesince 1992, and Dr. Marimar Sáez de Ocaríz who joined the Service in 2002.The scientific output of the Service reaches 288 articles — of which 190 were publishedin indexed international journals — and five books on Pediatric Dermatology.Some of the Mexican pediatric dermatologists who graduated from the DermatologyService of the National Institute of Pediatrics and are currently in charge of Dermatologyservices in their respective cities are: Dr. Teresa Sánchez Gómez, at the Pediatric Hospitalof León (Guanajuato); Dr. Carolina Palacios López, at the Dermatology Service of Mexico’sGeneral Hospital; Dr. Angélica Berrón Ruiz, at Mexico’s Institute of Perinatology; Dr.María E. Moreno Aguilar, at the Poblano Children’s Hospital; Dr. Lourdes Trevizo deMoreno, at the Chihuahua Pediatric Hospital, and Dr. Alejandro García Vargas, at theGuadalajara Dermatology Institute.Other dermatologists who practice Pediatric Dermatology at important hospitals in thecapital are: Dr. Guadalupe Ibarra, who replaced me at Mexico’s Children’s Hospital andwas in turn replaced by her student, Dr. Carlos Mena Cedillos; Dr. Mario Magaña Garcíaat the Pediatric Hospital of Mexico’s General Hospital, author of the book Pediatric Dermatology,published in 2000; Dr. Gregorio Podoswa, who was succeeded by his student,Dr. Edmundo Velázquez Arellano, at the Pediatric Hospital of the Medical Center; Dr.Norma Violante at the Hospital of the Race, both of the Mexican Institute of Social Welfare;Drs. Angélica Beirana and Enriqueta Morales at the Pascua Dermatology Center.We doctors who first devoted ourselves to Pediatric Dermatology came from generalDermatology; in a self-taught way, with the daily contact with Pediatrics and with children,we became pediatric dermatologists. It is somewhat paradoxical that those of uswho launched the specialized field and its teaching do not have the diploma that all ourstudents possess.I have tried to be objective in writing this historical account; I am aware that morethan that, it looks like an autobiography, and actually, it is. I have been an actor on thisstage where Pediatric Dermatology has developed for thirty-five years. If I have omittedDr. Ramón RuizMaldonado271