Eficacia de un curso intensivo básico en la enseñanza de la dermatoscopia: estudio piloto en dermatólogos mexicanos.

Background: Dermoscopy is a non invasive technique useful for the diagnosis of different kinds of skin lesions, specially pigmented lesions. Its use increases sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Objective: To confirm the increase in diagnostic accuracy of pigmented lesions, assessed dermoscopically by a group of dermatologists who attended to a short basic dermoscopy course. Participants and methods: Before and immediately after the basic dermoscopy course, an exam was applied to the attendants, a total of 37 dermatologists participated in the study. Results: Average score in test after the course was almost 20 points higher than the test previous to the course (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The results of this study show an improvement in diagnostic accuracy when dermatologists attend to a short basic dermoscopy course, increasing scores almost 20 points when assessing dermoscopic images of pigmented lesions. This knowledge, if applied to daily clinical practice, will allow an opportune diagnosis of pigmented lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]