E-docs – emerging trend in dermatology
Posted on: 28/Oct/2014 11:05:14 AM
Most people think that the most important prerequisite for consulting a skin specialist is to have a deeper look at your condition. This however is disagreed by quite some doctors with the Indian society of teledermatology.
According to a dermatologist and president of the Indian society of teledermatology, Dr Jayakar Thomas, the primitive need to gain expertise in specializing in dermatology is to inspect pictures taken on WhatsApp or take an avid look through video conferencing and identify the patient’s problem. It is this which they have taught for several years, say the doctor.
The procedure of consulting through video conferencing kick-started in 2007 and this has now got expanded to an array of 218 dermatologists. This has shown tremendous growth. The way it started was very simple and they had just one or two case for every single week. Nowadays, there are about 5 to 6 cases every day which certainly is a good sign of growth.
Most number of patients is from Dubai and West Asia. Patients from south East Asian regions including Singapore and Malaysia stand in the second position in total number of patients. According to doctors, patients come flowing in from almost every country, and there has been a significant growth in this industry. Among the most common troubles they come up with are psoriasis and allergic skin rashes.
Such doctors are given the term e-docs – interesting!
Nearly every patient who approaches such e-docs gets to know about such doctors through the online medium by visiting websites. In most cases, the physiology of getting treated from one’s own place plays to be beneficial.
It is to be noted that such doctors however do not have any license to prescribe medicines to most countries. Owing to this reason, directives are sent to the doctor or a consultant and are requested to provide the necessary medication and follow-up mails.
