_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 518 http://www.mjms.mk/ http://www.id-press.eu/mjms/ ID Design 2012/DOOEL Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2017 Jul 25; 5(4):518-520. Special Issue: Global Dermatology https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2017.118 eISSN: 1857-9655 Public Health Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology as an Essential Part of the Modern Dermatology in Bulgaria Georgi Tchernev 1* , Ilia Lozev 2 , Torello Lotti 3 , Uwe Wollina 4 , Serena Gianfaldoni 5 , Claudio Guarneri 6 , Jacopo Lotti 7 , Katlein França 8 , Atanas Batashki 9 , Anastasiya Chokoeva 10 1 Medical Institute of Ministry of Interior (MVR), Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, General Skobelev 79, 1606 Sofia, Bulgaria; 2 Medical Institute of Ministry of Interior, Department of General, Vascular and Abdominal Surgery, General Skobelev 79, 1606 Sofia, Bulgaria; 3 University of Rome “G. Marconi”, Rome, Italy; 4 Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Friedrichstrasse 41, 01067 Dresden, Germany; 5 University G. Marconi of Rome - Dermatology and Venereology, Rome 00192, Italy; 6 Universita degli Studi di Messina - Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Dermatology, Institute of Dermatology, A.O.U. "G. Martino", Messina 98122, Italy; 7 Department of Nuclear, Subnuclear and Radiation Physics, University of Rome "G. Marconi", Rome, Italy; 8 Institute for Bioethics & Health Policy; Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine - Miami, FL, USA; 9 Department of special Surgery, Medical University of Plovdiv, bul. "Peshtersko shose" Nr 66, 4000, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 10 Medical University Plovdiv - Dermatology and Venereology, Vasil Aprilov 15A , Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria Citation: Tchernev G, Lozev I, Lotti T, Wollina U, Gianfaldoni S, Guarneri C, Lotti J, França K, Batashki A, Chokoeva A. Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology as an Essential Part of the Modern Dermatology in Bulgaria. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2017 Jul 25; 5(4):518-520. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2017.118 Keywords: dermatology; dermatologic surgery; dermatologic oncology; melanoma; island flap. *Correspondence: Professor Dr Georgi Tchernev PhD, Chief of 1) Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatologic Surgery, Medical Institute of Ministry of Interior (MVR), General Skobelev 79, 1606 Sofia; 2) Onkoderma- Policlinic for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, General Skobelev 26, Sofia, Bulgaria. GSM: 00359885588424. E-mail: georgi_tchernev@yahoo.de Received: 02-May-2017; Revised: 04-May-2017; Accepted: 20-May-2017; Online first: 18-Jul-2017 Copyright: © 2017 Georgi Tchernev, Ilia Lozev, Torello Lotti, Uwe Wollina, Serena Gianfaldoni, Claudio Guarneri, Jacopo Lotti, Katlein França, Atanas Batashki, Anastasiya Chokoeva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Funding: This research did not receive any financial support. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Abstract Dermatosurgery and dermatooncology are an integral part of dermatology as a speciality, and this postulate is strictly respected in a high percentage of European dermatological units. Due to the fact that a number of other specialties interweave with the subject of therapy - the surgical treatment of the patient with skin tumors, the positioning of dermatosurgery as part of dermatology is generally controversial (according to some), and at the same time is often the subject of a number of debates and conflicts. These include maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, regenerative and reconstructive surgeons, surgical and medical oncologist, etc. The advantages of these specialities are mainly based on good medical practice and good surgical techniques that are applied. In contrast, their disadvantages are based on the lack of good awareness of the initial surgical approach as well as the need for time-adjusted and accurately performed additional surgical interventions which should befurthermore careful scheduled with the relevant oncology units. Losing this thread, in practice, it turns out that we are losing the patients themselves or, looking laconically, we are working with reduced efficiency and effectiveness. Although for the last 15 years the positions of these sub-sectors in Bulgaria had been underdeveloped, a certain ascent has been observed nowadays or from a couple of years ago. This advance is undoubtedly due to the influence of the German Dermatological School, presented by Prof. Dr. Uwe Wollina, Head of Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology in Dresden, Germany, as well as due to other respected representative of the Italian Dermatological School - in the face of Prof. Dr. Torello Lotti, Head of the Dermatology Unit at G Marconi University of Rome, Italy. Introduction Attested in English in 1819, the word dermatology derives from the Greek δέρματος (dermatosis) [1], genitive of δέρμα (derma), "skin" [2] (itself from δέρω dero, "to flay") and -λογία -logia. Readily visible alterations of the skin surface have been recognised since the dawn of history, with some being treated, and some not. In 1801 the first great school of dermatology became a reality at the famous Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, while the first textbooks (Willan's, 1798–1808) and atlases (Alibert's, 1806– 1814) appeared in print during the same period [3]. Dermatosurgery and dermatooncology are an integral part of dermatology as a speciality, and this postulate is strictly respected in a high percentage of European dermatological units. Due to the fact that a number of other specialties interweave with the subject of therapy - the surgical treatment of the patient with skin tumors, the positioning of dermatosurgery as part of dermatology is generally controversial (according to some), and at the same time is often the subject of a number of debates and conflicts. These include maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, regenerative and reconstructive surgeons,