EDITORIAL
SBD and the future perspective for scientific progress
A historical retrospective of SBD (Brazilian Society of Dermatology), in 90 years of existence, since its foundation in 1912, makes it possible to register interesting events in the growth of scientific-cultural progress.
Recently, the Pró-Memória project, idealized by Paulo Rowilson Cunha, a member of the board in 2001, which culminated with the book História da Dermatologia no Brasil (History of Dermatology in Brazil), facilitated the consultation and finding of the elements to consubstantiate this editorial.
Fernando Terra, Dermatology professor from Rio de Janeiro, had the merit of establishing the society, affiliating 18 distinguished doctors, of which only 10 were dermatologists - in the list of founders we find: Adolfo Lutz, Adolfo Lindenberg, Paulo Parreiras Horta, Gaspar Vianna, Juliano Moreira, Silva Araújo and others. Some of them worked at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz and were engaged in microbiology research. The first editorial was published at Archivos Brasileiros de Medicina - making references to "tropicalism" and the importance of laboratorial research.
The first SBD meeting took place on March 1st, 1912, at the amphitheater of the 19th Infirmary of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Rio de Janeiro. The following scientific meetings were held mostly at the São Miguel division of the Santa Casa, on Rua Santa Luzia.
In the agenda, there would always be the presentation and discussion of the most important topics in Clinical Medicine, Public Health, therapeutics and the main diagnoses procedures. The topics presented at the meetings would serve as subjects for debates at the Academia Nacional de Medicina (National Academy of Medicine). One of the aspects that deserve underscoring is the constant presence of sick people to be examined, and the discussion of their diagnoses as well as the most adequate therapy for each case. Syphilis, leprosy, leishmaniosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, yaws, deep and superficial mycosis were often reason of debates.
The successful initiative of Fernando Terra was confirmed already in the first year of the foundation of SBD, since it counted with 81 members - 52 from the Federal District, 13 from Minas Gerais, 8 from São Paulo, 2 from Bahia, 1 from Rio Grande do Sul and 1 from Espírito Santo.
The new specialty attracted other collaborators in the ambit of Mycology, Histopathology, experimental research; to mention a few: Área Leão, Hildebrando Portugal, Aguiar Pupo, Olympio da Fonseca.
The example of what happened in Rio de Janeiro produced good results in the main capital cities of the country - São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador, Recife, Belém, Niterói.
Regional offices and then district offices were set up, following the same model of the main office. The scientific meetings always followed the same pattern - conferences, discussion of clinical cases and presentation of papers on the most troublesome dermatoses. Brazilian and foreign professors were invited, which made the meetings even more valuable.
The next step was the promotion of dermatological meetings by three macro regions (Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte), North/Northeast, Mid-West, etc. During these meetings it is possible to verify the high standard of the scientific contributions and the increasing number of participants.
The development of the scientific activities during annual meetings was a notable consequence of the dimension attained. The 57th annual meeting, held in Porto Alegre, indubitably showed the high standard of organization, comparable to the best in the world.
Continuing Medical Education reaches its summit in the conferences given by Brazilian and foreign visitors. There are a variety of technical and practical courses that comprehensively examine all the current topics in the specialty - some examples of which are dermatopathology, dermatologic surgery, laser therapy, mycology, cosmiatry, pediatric dermatology, psychosomatic aspects of dermatology.
The presentation of posters has reached exceptional quality. Parallel symposiums on specific topics are ethically sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, which has developed in a praiseworthy manner, stimulating, by giving prizes, young dermatologists who have conducted investigative papers. Besides scientific-social recognition, our meetings have offered suitable space for the presentation of new books and CDs by Brazilian dermatologists. Examples of publishings from recent meetings: Dermatologia Básica(Basic Dermatology) (Azulay & Azulay; Sampaio & Rivitti; Cucé & Festa Neto); Dermatologia Pediátrica(Pediatric Dermatology) (Gabriela Lowy e col); Câncer da Pele(Skin Câncer) (Garrido Neves, Lupi e Talhari); Acne da Mulher Adulta (Acne in Adult Women) (Cláudia Maria R. Sá); Técnicas de preenchimento(Filling Techniques) (Orofino, Rosane); DST/Aids (STD/Aids) (Talhari & Garrido Neves), Herpes(Herpes) (Lupi, Silva, Pereira Jr.); Toxina Botulínica(Botulinic Toxin) (H., Dóris e col).
SBD takes advantage of the days which precede the annual meetings to hold important meetings of administrative nature, congregating the presidents and ex-presidents of the regional offices, delegates, the managers of the qualified services, the members of the committees that deal with the most pertinent subjects for the good performance of the society. At the annual associated members meeting, the proposals to modify and update the by-laws are examined, together with other proposals of collective interest and the newly elected members of the board are invested. Choosing the seat for the meeting is decisive to safeguard the success of the following meetings.
Some considerations deserve to be made about Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia, SBD's official journal that bimonthly publishes scientific articles, of which: the content, the care with the presentation of the papers after consulting specialists and the translation into English represent significant achievements. Our journal is referred to as one of the 20 best publishings in the medical field in Brazil.
There are other publishings that complement the regional news: Jornal Dermatológico, DermaRio, Pinhão, Jornal da Pele, for example.
At present SBD has 4.753 members, 25 regional offices, 15 scientific departments and supervises 56 qualified services.
We are convinced that the above-mentioned facts, extracted from the proficuous story of SBD, permit to foresee a scientific future of maximum prosperity.
"We, human beings, are finite. A well-organized scientific community, with history and well formed, as is SBD, lasts."
Fernando Augusto de Almeida - President of SBD, 2001/2002.
"The future is the projection of the past, conditioned by the present."
Braque - 1880-1963
REFERENCES
1. Carneiro, G. História da Dermatologia no Brasil. SBD, Rio de Janeiro, 2002.
2. Consultoria - Prof. René Garrido Neves.
Leninha Valério do Nascimento
Chief Editor
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
05 June 2008 -
Date of issue
Oct 2002
