“Know syphilis in all its manifestations and relations, and all other things clinical will be added unto you.” Sir William Osler Henry Foong, a dermatologist from Malaysia and a good friend, recently wrote me about a patient he’d seen with primary syphilis. The disease we used to call “lues” or notate with the Greek letter ∑ (sigma) is becoming more common in Malaysia, in his experience. This reminded me of a memorable case I saw in the late winter or early spring of 1973. At the time, I was a first year of dermatology residency at New York University. I was not a happy camper. I was tired of New … Continue reading →

In 1991, I was asked to edit a section for the Archives of Dermatology on “social and political” issues in dermatology. This became a column called “The Art and the Calling” that addressed the medical humanities. It was short-lived since the editors were not particularly interested in the humanities.  They preferred addressing the politics of medicine. “The Art and the Calling” received many positive comments and so, we will reprint the articles here and encourage our readers to submit new essays of their own.  The International Journal of Dermatology has a section called “On A Human Scale” which publishes occasional pieces and I will help you to submit there as … Continue reading →