This year, the Swiss Society of Dermatology and Venereology celebrates its 100th anniversary. During the annual congress in Montreux, a book on the history of the professional society was presented*, but above all, a look ahead was taken. An impressive performance show of the dermatology departments of Swiss hospitals depicted the high level of medical dermatology. Prof. Michel Gilliet, Lausanne, as conference president, gave a brief interim review during a break.
Prof. Gilliet, it was the turn of Lausanne and you as conference president to celebrate the “Centennial” of the SGDV. The past, but above all the present and future of Swiss dermatology were on the agenda. Are you satisfied with the progress?
Prof. Gilliet: Yes, I am very satisfied. I knew three years ago, when I was appointed to Lausanne, that this special meeting would fall to the team of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology at the CHUV and to me, and we gladly accepted this honorable task. We were not alone, but many people were involved in the planning and preliminary work.
The tripartite division into clinical, aesthetic and surgical dermatology and a certain imbalance in favor of the “beauticians” and an over-specialization were partly deplored. How do you see it?
Diversity is one of the core characteristics of our specialty; in training, emphasis is placed on ensuring that a dermatologist can cover everything. What a colleague specializes in is then secondary, but he should do it well. Along with the plastic surgery-oriented specialties and medical oncology, our specialty has had to multiply efforts in dermatosurgery and dermatooncology in recent years as we experience a veritable skin cancer epidemic.
A big issue for the future is to be staffed. What about the next generation of dermatologists?
It looks good, the subject is interesting enough, we don’t have any worries about new recruits. Dermatology is a very innovative subject and important findings for other disciplines also come from our research. We should be proud of this, but not rest on our laurels.
Interview: Susanne Schelosky, M.D.
*Spirit and Soul of Swiss Dermatology and Venerology 1913-2013. Neuchâtel: Editions Alphil 2013. ISBN 978-2-940489-46-6.
