Origin Robert Willan's systematic classification of skin diseases from 1798; the American Academy of Dermatology (originally the American Academy of Dermatology and Syphilology) was founded 14 to 15 January 1938 in Detroit.
The specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the skin, hair and nails. It emerged as a scientific discipline distinct from general medicine in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as physicians sought to classify skin diseases by their visible morphology rather than unverified theories of internal cause. Several national schools developed roughly in parallel in England, France and Austria. In the United States the specialty organized nationally in 1938.
Facts
Origin PeriodRobert Willan's systematic classification of skin diseases from 1798; the American Academy of Dermatology (originally the American Academy of Dermatology and Syphilology) was founded 14 to 15 January 1938 in Detroit. 2 Years of Training Classification
Type/Classification FAQs
How did dermatology become a discipline separate from general medicine?
It grew from classifying skin diseases by appearance rather than by theories of internal cause.
Physicians in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries began classifying skin diseases by their visible morphology rather than by unverified theories of internal cause. Robert Willan's systematic classification of skin diseases from 1798 is a landmark of that shift. Several national schools developed roughly in parallel in England, France and Austria, and in the United States the specialty organized nationally in 1938.
Connections
Associated With
Rosacea, Conditions Chronic inflammatory skin condition of the face; dermatology specialty.
Scabies, Conditions Skin infestation by the Sarcoptes scabiei mite; dermatology specialty.
Notable Specialists
Source Adolf Jarisch (source article)
Albert Neisser, Healers Dermatologist and venereologist who identified the gonococcus in 1879.
Source Anne-Charles Lorry (Wikipedia)
Source Clinton Thomas Dent (Wikipedia)
Source Eduard Arning (source article)
Source Erich Hoffmann (source article)
Source Ernest Besnier (Wikipedia)
Surgeon who developed Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer, now a dermatologic procedure.
Source Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia (Italian): Girolamo Mercuriale (Wikipedia, Italian)
Source Gustav Simon (physician) (Wikipedia)
Source Hermann Edler von Zeissl (Wikipedia)
Source Herta Oberheuser (Wikipedia)
Source Ian Bruce Sneddon (RCP Museum)
Source Iwan Bloch (Wikipedia)
Source Johannes Fabry (Wikipedia)
Source Jonathan Hutchinson (Wikipedia)
Source Joseph Jakob Plenck (Wikipedia)
Source Joseph Rollet (Wikipedia)
Source Joseph Škoda (Wikipedia)
Source Joseph von Lindwurm (Wikipedia)
Source Julius Scriba (Wikipedia)
Source Lisamaria Meirowsky (source article)
Source Paul Gerson Unna (Wikipedia)
Source Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave (Wikipedia)
Source Raymond Sabouraud (Wikipedia)
Source Theodor Morell (Wikipedia)
Source Thomas Addison (Wikipedia)
Source Türkan Saylan (Wikipedia)
Treats
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Medical specialty
WikipediaClassification tableQuote, Classification table
Medical specialties that focus on the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of disease.
2. The Founding of the Academy
The History of Dermatology Societyhistoryofdermatology.org Founding of the AAD page, main article text on the 1938 organizational meetingQuote, historyofdermatology.org Founding of the AAD page, main article text on the 1938 organizational meeting
Forty years ago a small group of dermatologists gathered at the Statler Hotel in Detroit for the organizational meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
3. Robert Willan and the history of dermatology
Royal College of Physiciansrcp.ac.uk Willan article, second paragraph of main body
Willan made his major contribution to dermatology through his rigorous classification of skin diseases.
Robert Willan biography, account of Description and Treatment of Cutaneous Diseases
The first part appeared in the beginning of 1798.
View the Source 4. Dermatology (Wikipedia)
LeadQuote, Lead
A dermatologist is a specialist medical doctor who has undergone advanced training (typically 4 years beyond medical school)
Theodor Morell (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Theodor Morell, Article text [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Theodor Morell, Article text [specialist-in]
his practice becoming fashionable for treatment of skin and venereal diseases
Iwan Bloch (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Iwan Bloch, Article text, specialtyQuote, Notable Specialists: Iwan Bloch, Article text, specialty
was a German dermatologist, and psychiatrist
Paul Gerson Unna (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Paul Gerson Unna, Lead [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Paul Gerson Unna, Lead [specialist-in]
was a German physician specialized in dermatology
Herta Oberheuser (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Herta Oberheuser, Education and Nazi Party membershipQuote, Notable Specialists: Herta Oberheuser, Education and Nazi Party membership
having specialized in dermatology
Johannes Fabry (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Johannes Fabry, Leben, first paragraphQuote, Notable Specialists: Johannes Fabry, Leben, first paragraph
konzentrierte sich fortan auf die Dermatologie
Clinton Thomas Dent (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Clinton Thomas Dent, Lead paragraph or Medical career sectionQuote, Notable Specialists: Clinton Thomas Dent, Lead paragraph or Medical career section
He also had a special interest in dermatology.
Julius Scriba (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Julius Scriba, Biography, subjects taughtQuote, Notable Specialists: Julius Scriba, Biography, subjects taught
taught surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology and gynecology
Joseph von Lindwurm (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Joseph von Lindwurm, Lead sentenceQuote, Notable Specialists: Joseph von Lindwurm, Lead sentence
was a German medical doctor and dermatologist born in Aschaffenburg.
Joseph Jakob Plenck (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Joseph Jakob Plenck, Lead paragraphQuote, Notable Specialists: Joseph Jakob Plenck, Lead paragraph
He is now known as a pioneer dermatologist.
Eduard Arning (source article)
Notable Specialists: Eduard Arning, Biography [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Eduard Arning, Biography [specialist-in]
In 1887 he became a specialist of dermatology and venereal disease in Hamburg
Joseph Škoda (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Joseph Škoda, Lead and biographyQuote, Notable Specialists: Joseph Škoda, Lead and biography
was a Czech-Austrian medical doctor, medical professor and dermatologist
Erich Hoffmann (source article)
Notable Specialists: Erich Hoffmann, Article body [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Erich Hoffmann, Article body [specialist-in]
was a German dermatologist
Adolf Jarisch (source article)
Notable Specialists: Adolf Jarisch, Lead [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Adolf Jarisch, Lead [specialist-in]
was an dermatologist from the Austro-Hungarian Empire who specialized in the care of venereal disease
Ernest Besnier (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Ernest Besnier, LeadQuote, Notable Specialists: Ernest Besnier, Lead
was a French dermatologist and medical director of the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris
Raymond Sabouraud (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Raymond Sabouraud, Lead [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Raymond Sabouraud, Lead [specialist-in]
He specialized in dermatology and mycology
Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave, Lead sentenceQuote, Notable Specialists: Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave, Lead sentence
Pierre Louis Alphée Cazenave (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ kaznav]; 5 May 1795-9 April 1877) was a French dermatologist who practiced medicine at the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris.
Hermann Edler von Zeissl (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Hermann Edler von Zeissl, Lead sentence [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Hermann Edler von Zeissl, Lead sentence [specialist-in]
Austrian Jewish dermatologist
Gustav Simon (physician) (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Gustav Simon (physician), Article text, field of practiceQuote, Notable Specialists: Gustav Simon (physician), Article text, field of practice
was a German medical doctor, pathologist, and dermatologist
Lisamaria Meirowsky (source article)
Notable Specialists: Lisamaria Meirowsky, LeadQuote, Notable Specialists: Lisamaria Meirowsky, Lead
was a German dermatologist and pediatrician
Joseph Rollet (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Joseph Rollet, Lead and career text [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Joseph Rollet, Lead and career text [specialist-in]
was a French surgeon, venereologist and dermatologist
Ian Bruce Sneddon (RCP Museum)
Notable Specialists: Ian Bruce Sneddon, Closing paragraphQuote, Notable Specialists: Ian Bruce Sneddon, Closing paragraph
In his day Ian Sneddon was such a figure in dermatology.
Thomas Addison (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Thomas Addison, PhysicianQuote, Notable Specialists: Thomas Addison, Physician
developed a special interest in skin diseases, and a reputation in the area
Wikipedia (Italian): Girolamo Mercuriale (Wikipedia, Italian)
Wikipedia (Italian)Notable Specialists: Girolamo Mercuriale, OpereQuote, Notable Specialists: Girolamo Mercuriale, Opere
Oltre a questo originale argomento scrisse opere di pediatria, di balneoterapia, di malattie della pelle, di tossicologia.
Türkan Saylan (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Türkan Saylan, Lead, dermatologyQuote, Notable Specialists: Türkan Saylan, Lead, dermatology
A professor of dermatology at Istanbul University
Jonathan Hutchinson (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Jonathan Hutchinson, Lead, dermatologyQuote, Notable Specialists: Jonathan Hutchinson, Lead, dermatology
was an English surgeon, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, venereologist, and pathologist
Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo, Lead and BiographyQuote, Notable Specialists: Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo, Lead and Biography
known for discovering the itch mite as the cause of the skin disease scabies
Anne-Charles Lorry (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Anne-Charles Lorry, Lead, dermatologyQuote, Notable Specialists: Anne-Charles Lorry, Lead, dermatology
who pioneered in psychiatry and dermatology
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
While English-language medical history generally credits Robert Willan (London) as the founder of modern dermatology for his 1798 morphologic classification of skin diseases, historians of the Austrian and German traditions instead credit Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra and the New Vienna School for founding the discipline, arguing von Hebra introduced a genuinely pathological rather than purely descriptive approach. French medical history similarly credits Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert of Paris. No single national tradition's claim is universally accepted; each is the origin point within its own historiography.
A dissenting reading, from Cosmoderma (open-access dermatology journal)Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra: Founder of modern dermatology, Cosmoderma
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