Dermatology

OVERVIEW

The present skin department has its roots in St. Joseph’s Leprosy Hospital which was founded by Fr. Augustus Muller in 1890. In 1926, Dr. Aloysius Felix Coelho took charge as a Medical Officer after completing his training at the School of Tropical Medicines, Calcutta. He continued to serve the hospital for 35 years. The real boost came with the arrival of Swiss doctors on the scene. They belonged to a very enthusiastic, world famous agency, Swiss Emmaus, working very hard for the eradication of leprosy. The late Fr. Marian Fernandes brought about the collaboration of Swiss Emmaus and since then St Joseph’s Leprosy Hospital is carrying on its work on most modern lines. In 1962 Dr C. Heinz took charge as the Superintendent, after completing his training in leprosy and reconstructive surgery at Vellore. In 1970 Dr. Sr. Immaculate Rodriguez, after completing her graduation in Medicine from Italy, took charge as the Superintendent of St. Joseph’s Leprosy Hospital. She continued the good work of leprosy detection, treatment, education and reconstructive surgery. This hospital came to be known as skin department in 1979.

1990 was the turning point in the history of St. Joseph’s Leprosy Hospital as it celebrated its centenary. The department which was hitherto known as a leprosy hospital started treading the education and academic path. The Government of Karnataka gave permission to start post-graduation course in Dermatology, Venereology & Leprosy, affiliated to Mangalore University. Prof. J.N. Shetty joined as the Professor & Head and the course was inaugurated in 1991 with two M.D. and two diploma candidates. This P.G. Course in Dermatology served as a forerunner to the stupendous growth of the institution in the educational field, because the following year saw seven other P.G. courses being commenced in the various other disciplines of medicine. Needless to say that this made the task easy for the establishment of the prestigious Fr. Muller Medical College in 1999. Dr. Nandakishore B took over as the HOD in 2001 and served till 2009. Dr. Ramesh Bhat took over as the HOD in 2009 and served till 2016. Dr. Sukumar D took over as the HOD in 2016 and served till 2020. Dr Jacintha Martis is the present head of the department. Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy currently offers 7 MD seats under Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences recognised by the NMC.

The department is also actively involved in Research and Publications. The department was also involved actively in organizing the 43rd National conference of IADVL DERMACON 2015 which was attended by more than 3,500 delegates and was considered as the biggest ever medical event in this part of the state. We have also organized DERMAZONE SOUTH (Zonal Conference) in the year 2017, MID DERMACON 2021 (National Conference), Intercontinental Grand rounds Virtual CME in 2022 (727 participants from various 23 countries attended the CME), MULLER DERMA – alumni conference in 2023.

Currently we are associated with Global Partnership for Education and Care (GPEC) Programme facilitated by the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS).

We were awarded the prestigious Sasakawa Health Foundation Leprosy project grant through Sasakawa Health Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.

Our staff and post graduates are actively involved in National and International research, community projects and interventional trials.

Considering the service rendered by the department to the community and to the speciality of we have been awarded the BEST DERMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT in KARNATAKA three times in the following years : 2014, 2018 and 2023.