Dermatologist Stories From India

By Rajan T.D. MD

"Dermatologists make rash judgements" say our colleagues in a lighter vein, even though they are the ones who scribble notes to refer cases for our opinion. When the dermatologist opines that it is a case of, say, Haemorrhagic Chicken Pox, they exclaim, "I, too, thought so but wasn’t sure!" So, here we are - we have discovered our raison d’etre! Our job, it seems, is to help physicians, surgeons, paediatricians, gynaecologists be sure of their diagnosis!

The early days as a Dermatology resident is quite unnerving having to confront criticism from other branches of Medicine about the inability to offer a cure for many dermatoses or provide answers particularly to baffling questions from patients about the prognosis of Pemphigus, relapses in Psoriasis or the recurrences of Urticaria. It takes him or her quite a while to argue that neither do others have answers for Rheumatoid arthritis, Ischaemic Heart disease or Diabetes. One of our senior teachers once aptly put it, "The whole world needs Dermatologists, even if it is just to say that this is a case of Lichen planus and there is no definitive treatment for it." This statement attempts to clear the confusion of many young, confused, resident doctors in Dermatology departments everywhere about their perceived role in healthcare.

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