Welcome to Dermatology, the first in our Patient Care clinical practice guide series that will be featured as special supplements to the Medical Post in 2008. We hope you’ll read them and keep them as valuable and practical reference materials.

We are fortunate to have Toronto dermatologist Dr. Benjamin Barankin, our longtime Patient Care dermatology columnist, as author of our cover article on diagnosing and treating a wide range of common skin conditions in the primary-care setting.

We have also compiled a research digest on the latest news and studies in the dermatology field, provided a Q&A forum answering relevant questions from fellow MDs and pieced together an illuminating “By the numbers” feature on category prescription figures, marking changes in the past five years.

We are also delighted to have Canadian Dermatology Association president Dr. Jack Toole of Winnipeg aboard to share the CDA vision, outline the need for enhanced awareness of dermatology issues, and let us in on the tremendous contributions and research progress being made by Canadians here and around the world.

Our series continues in April with Pain Management, followed in June by Cardiology, September with Women’s Health and November with Diabetes. They are all topics that resonate widely with Canadian physicians, and our goal is to give you greater understanding in effecting treatment for your patients. Enjoy.

Rick Campbell is editor and associate publisher of the Medical Post.

Email rick.campbell@medicalpost.rogers.com