The path to modernity: a personal testimony to the restructuring of the Department of Dermatology, Vargas Hospital, Caracas, Venezuela.

In the late 1950s and early1960s, there was a concerted effort to modernize teaching, training, and patient care in the Vargas Hospital of Caracas, Venezuela. The above included the development of research in the frame of postgraduate training. This effort was to be helped by USA funds and institutions but could only be achieved by the work of Venezuelans, sharing a vision of progress. Dermatology spearheaded this initiative, and the fruit of this was the exponential development of Venezuelan Dermatology and the creation of the National Institute of Dermatology on the grounds of the Vargas Hospital. The purpose of this contribution is to review these events that happened more than half a century ago from my own perspective. I sincerely hope that these lines could serve as an inspiration to the younger generations that toil today under less-than-favorable conditions.