Analysis of Undergraduate Dermatology Syllabi at Spanish Universities: Does the Weight of Theoretical Content Match the Skin Conditions Seen in Primary Care and General Dermatology Practices? / Análisis de las características de la docencia de pregrado de Dermatología en las universidades españolas. ¿Los contenidos teóricos se aproximan a la casuística de los médicos de Atención Primaria y dermatólogos generales?

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Undergraduate dermatology courses vary in the nearly 50 Spanish medical faculties that teach the subject. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of these courses and to analyze whether the weight assigned to dermatology topics reflect the caseloads of primary care physicians and general dermatologists in the Spanish national health system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study of syllabi used in Spanish medical faculties during the 2021-2022 academic year. We determined the number of teaching hours in public and private university curricula and compared the weight of dermatology topics covered to the dermatology caseloads of primary care physicians and general dermatologists as reported in published studies. RESULTS: Most medical faculties taught dermatology for one semester. The median number of credits offered was 4.5. On average, lectures covered 24 theoretical topics, and seminars and workshops covered 9 topics. We identified a clear disparity between the percentage of time devoted to dermatology topics in course lectures and the skin conditions usually managed in primary care and general dermatology practices. DISCUSSION: The skin diseases most commonly treated by primary care physicians and general dermatologists are underrepresented in the curricula of Spanish medical faculties. The topics that should be given more weight in syllabi, or recovered for inclusion in dermatology courses, should be re-examined. Our findings show that the topics that ideally should be emphasized more are types of dermatitis, infectious skin diseases, acne, psoriasis, rashes, and the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant neoplasms. There should be additional support for the theoretical teaching of these topics.