From the History of the Croatian Dermatovenereological Society - The Croatian Medical Association and an Overview of Important Information Regarding the Journal Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica.

Everything included in this overview is a list of facts without analyses, which makes this a purely factual overview. The circumstances of the preparation for the foundation of the Croatian Dermatovenereological Society - the Croatian Medical Association (hereafter CDS-CMA) and the journal Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica (hereafter ADC) Geopolitical changes in former Yugoslavia following 1990 and the Homeland War (1991-1995) led to new circumstances in almost all areas of social activity and the need for a restructuring and further development of professional physicians associations in our Homeland. In such new conditions, it was necessary to appropriately organize the professional work of our dermatovenerologists with the aim of founding and maintaining their professional ties to each other and to our colleagues abroad. The aforementioned appropriate organization primarily meant the founding of the Croatian Dermatological Society and the journal for Croatian dermatovenerologists, the first professional journal in the history of dermatology and venerology in our Homeland. Legal regulations for the founding of CDS-CMA and the journal ADC The legal regulations resulted from the conclusions and decisions of the 99th annual assembly of the Association of Croatian Physicians (hereafter ACP) that took place on the 26th of February 1991 (1), at which, at the suggestion of Prof. Mirko Gjurašin, PhD, the president of CMA, it was renamed to the Croatian Medical Association (CMA). Furthermore, on the basis of article 12 of the Statute of CMA, the creation and activity of professional societies of CMA was enabled, which replaced the Sections of ACP (1), and soon there appeared the Regulation of the work of the professional society of CMA. Finally, on the 30th of September 1991, CMA left the Alliance of Yugoslav Medical Societies (1). More detailed information on the aforementioned events can be found in reference 1, and the data on historical, political, national, and military aspects of the war against our Homeland can be found in the article of the esteemed member of CMA, Prof. Eduard Klain, PhD (2) and in the message by Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac, PhD (3). Preparations for the founding of CDS-CMA and ADC Ideas concerning a new founding of the Croatian Dermatological Society - CMA (hereafter CDS-CMA) and the first journal in the history of Croatian dermatovenerologists developed during 1990 and 1991. These suggestions were discussed in the meetings of the Professional college of the Department of Dermatology and Venerology at the Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb (hereafter CHC Zagreb), and were formed at the meeting of the Professional college of the Department on the 27th of January 1992, when the Professional college provided the following suggestions, which the secretary of the Dermatovenerological Section of CMA (Primarius D. Paljan, MD, MSc) gave to the president of the Dermatovenerological section of CMA, Prof. V. Čajkovac, PhD. The suggestions were as follows: 1) for the Dermatovenerological section of CMA to leave the Association of Yugoslav dermatologists; 2) to found a Croatian Dermatological Society; 3) to found a Croatian Journal of Dermatology; and 4) to inform colleagues from clinics abroad with the state in Croatia. Of course, Prof. Čajkovac immediately agreed with all of these suggestions. Afterwards, on the 9th of October 1991, I presented the members of the Professional college of the Department of Dermatology and Venerology of CHC Zagreb and the members of the Chair of Dermatovenerology at the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb (hereafter SM Univ. of Zagreb), with the suggestions regarding the founding of the Croatian Dermatological Society - CMA and the founding of a Journal of Croatian Dermatologists (4,5). Both suggestions were accepted unanimously (4). After accepting the abovementioned suggestions, my colleagues and I undertook a number of consultations, and from the Department of Dermatology and Venerology of CHC Zagreb I sent out invitations to all the members of the Dermatovenerological Section of ACP (hereafter Section) to a meeting in the lecture room of the Clinic on Šalata, scheduled for the 29th of May 1992 (6). At that meeting, I notified the members of the Section of the decisions made at the 99th annual assembly of CMA on the 26th of February 1991, as well as of the fact that the CMA had left the Alliance of Yugoslav Physicians Societies on the 30th of September 1991 (6). Also, following the example of many other medical professions, I told the members of the Section about my suggestion regarding the founding of CDS-CMA. Therefore, on the 29th of May 1992, CDS-CMA was founded again* (6). On that occasion, a temporary Board of directors of CDS-CMA was also chosen, and Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac, who was the president of the former Dermatovenerological Section of ACP, was chosen as the president of the Board (6), while the following were chosen as members of the Board (6): Primarius Zlatka Čabrijan, MD (Rijeka), Adalbert Stašić, MSc, MD (Rijeka), Assist. Prof. Vjekoslav Stipić, PhD (Split), Primarius Boris Petričić, MD (Zadar), Prof. Ivan Dobrić, PhD (Zagreb), Assist. Prof. Teodora Gregurek-Novak,PhD (Zagreb), Primarius Jasna Lesić, PhD (Zagreb), and Primarius Aida Pašić, MD (Zagreb). Titles according to the state in 1992. Why was CDS-CMA founded again? To understand this question, it is important to know the following: a) On the 22nd of November 1920, the Dermatological Section of the Physicians Association (7) was founded in the Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia (quotation from reference 7); b) this Section acted until the 19th of January 1941, when a formal session was held in the lecture room of the Clinic on Šalata under the title of the 1st (jubilee) meeting of the Croatian Dermatovenerological Society of the Croatian Medical Association, which was opened by its president, Prof. Kogoj (7); c) therefore, it is apparent that the Croatian Dermatovenerological Society of the Croatian Medical Association was founded on the 19th of January 1941, and the forerunner of the Society was the former Dermatological Section of the Physicians Association (7); the name Croatian Dermatovenerological Society of CMA has been used in professional publications since then (8); d) at the extraordinary session of the Croatian Physicians Society (probably a reference to ACP) held on the 30th of September 1945, the name of the Association of Croatian Physicians was changed to the name Croatian Medical Association, and since then the Croatian Dermatovenerological Society has appeared in professional publications under the name of the Dermatovenerological Society of the Croatian Medical Association (9); e) later the name Dermatovenerological Society - CMA was replaced with the name Dermatovenerological Section of ACP, but I am not familiar with the exact date of this change; f) the name Dermatovenerological Section of ACP existed until the 29th of May 1992, when, as it was stated above, the CDS-CMA was founded (6). NOTE: The original name of the Society founded on the 29th of May 1992 was the Croatian Dermatological Society of the Croatian Medical Association (CDS-CMA), and later this name was changed to the Croatian Dermatovenerological Society of the Croatian Medical Association (CDVS-CMA), which is the name used by the Society nowadays. The election of the Assembly and the regular Board of Directors of CDS-CMA On the 10th of July 1992, in the same lecture room in which the meeting was held on the 29th of May 1992, there was a meeting on the newly founded CDS-CMA (6). According to the book of regulations of the CMA, which was established over time, the Assembly of CDS-CMA was elected, and at the suggestion of the Assembly the following attending colleagues were elected to the regular Board of Directors of CDS-CMA, along with Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac as the president (6): Primarius Zlatka Čabrijan, MD (Rijeka), Adalbert Stašić, MD, MSc (Rijeka), Assist. Prof. Vjekoslav Stipić, PhD (Split), Primarius Boris Petričić, MD (Zadar), Prof. Ivan Dobrić, PhD (Zagreb), Assist. Prof. Teodora Gregurek-Novak, PhD (Zagreb), Primarius Jasna Lesić, PhD (Zagreb), and Primarius Aida Pašić, MD (Zagreb). Titles according to the state in 1992. Branches of CDS-CMA As we can see, colleagues from all university centers existing at the time (Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb) were elected to the Board of Directors, in which Branches of CDS-CMA were later founded. Therefore, from the beginning of the creation of CDS-CMA, it has been our goal to found CDS-CMA with four Branches (Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Zagreb), which is how the Society is structured even today. NOTE: Since there were no representatives from Osijek at the meeting held on the 10th of September 1992, the Assembly suggested that the president of CDS-CMA-Osijek Branch enter the Board of Directors after the Branch is founded (6). The election of the president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer of CDS-CMA Through a secret ballot, the members of the Assembly elected the following from among the members of the Board of Directors to a term of four years (6): Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac, PhD as the president of the Board of Directors of CDS-CMA (on the basis of the accepted work program), Prof. Ivan Dobrić, PhD and Assist. Prof. Vjekoslav Stipić, PhD as the vice president of the Board, Primarius Zlatka Čabrijan, MD and Assist. Prof. Teodora Gregurek-Novak, PhD as secretaries, and Primarius Aida Pašić, MD as the treasurer of the Board of Directors of CDS-CMA. The founding of the ADC and its organizational overview from Vol 1, No 1 to Vol 4, No 2 At the aforementioned meeting of CDS-CMA held on the 10th of July 1992 (6), I presented my suggestions from the 9th of October 1990 (4), which were accepted by the members of the Professional college of the Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb and the members of the Department of Dermatovenerology of the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, regarding the need for founding a Journal of Croatian Dermatovenerologists, i.e. a journal of CDS entitled Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica (ADC) (4). I remind the reader that the need for founding a "professional publication" (quotation from reference 7) was expressed as early as 1920, at the founding of the Dermatological Section of ACP (7). The election of the management of the Journal Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica At the meeting held on the 10th of July 1992, the following were elected to the management of Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica (with no titles): Vladimir Čajkovac as the chief editor (with the instruction that he should choose his own co-workers) (6). Several days after the meeting of the 10th of July 1992, the following colleagues were appointed to certain positions in the journal: Ivan Dobrić as the deputy to the chief editor, Dragomir Budimčić as the technical editor, and Branko Baričević as the secretary of the journal. However, Dr. Budimčić resigned, so Branka Marinović was appointed to his position from Vol 1, No 4. After Dr. Baričević left for a position in diplomacy, Branka Marinović was elected to his position in the journal from Vol 4, No 2, while Mirna Šitum was elected to fill in the former position of Branka Marinović from Vol 4, No 2. Following the election of the journal's management and after certain consultations in the country and abroad were completed, members of the Editorial board and the Editorial council** were also elected, as well as the language consultant and the translator for the English language***. *, **, ***: names and surnames of the elected colleagues are visible in the imprint of the listed volumes and issues of the journal. The titles of the particular colleagues are not included, with only the names and surnames stated (according to the statements in the journal's imprint) Addresses and the journal's office Addresses: - for Vol 1, No 1: Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica, Department of Skin and Venereal Diseases of the Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Vinogradska cesta 29, Zagreb, Croatia; - from Vol 1, No 2: Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica, Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb and School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Šalata 4, Zagreb, Croatia* (see detailed information in the imprint of the listed volume and issues of the journal). The journal office Until Vol 3, No 1-2, the journal office was located on the abovementioned addresses. From Vol 3, No 1-2, a special journal office was founded, and the office manager was Ivan Dobrić, the former deputy of the chief editor, with Aleksandra Basta-Juzbašić being elected to take over Dr. Dobrić's former position from Vol 4, No 1. I. Dobrić performed the duties of the office manager until Vol 3, No 4, when this position was removed, and from Vol 4, No 1 the journal's office is yet again listed with the abovementioned address of the journal*. With the removal of the duties of the manager of the journal office, i.e. since Vol 3, No 4 (end of 1995), Prof. Dobrić no longer performed any duties in the journal, and this remains so to this day. The reason for the founding of the abovementioned office of the journal: chief editor Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac, PhD was also the head of the Department of Dermatology and Venerology of the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, and also worked in the Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Vinogradska cesta 29, Zagreb. However, all the duties connected to the journal (preparation, correspondence, fax, requesting article reviews, sending notifications, contacting the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, contacting Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, contacting the printing office) were performed by the head office of the Department of Dermatology and Venerology at the Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb and the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, which was, of course, tied to the expenses. Those expenses were charged to the Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, but for the purposes of booking the expenses, an agreement was reached with the Directorate of Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, according to which the expenses were booked to the journal's office and approved by the manager of the journal's office, who was then also the head of the Department, in accordance with the powers of the head of the Department according to the Temporary decision regarding the organization of Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb from 1991. To conclude, the existence of the journal's office and its manager was of a purely pragmatic nature at the time. (For the purposes of verifying the accuracy of the abovementioned information see the imprint of the listed volumes and issues of the journal.) The first issue of ADC (Vol 1, No 1) The first issue of the journal was published at Christmas time in 1992 (10), and It was printed in Zagrebačka tiskara (which was later renamed to Grafoplast), Preradovićeva 21-23, Zagreb. The journal's expenses were covered from the following: a) membership fees for CDS-CMA; b) donations, or subscriptions to the journal of pharmaceutical companies; c) financial support of the Ministry of Science (for the year 1994); d) the help of the Directorate of Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb; and e) financial assets from the research task "Lyme borreliosis" (leader: Prof. Dobrić). All financial business of the journal was performed through the account of the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. Indexing the journal Thanks to all the authors who sent in their articles to our journal as well as the reviewers from our country and abroad, from January 1994 Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica is included in the Excerpta Medica Embase database. In April 1993, the journal was already a candidate for the inclusion in Current Contents. See the letter from the institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, USA, dated 8th of April 1993, Mrs. Helen Szigeti, Publication Selection (Figure 2). Special thanks In the name of former associates, I extend a special thank you for the preparation for the founding of CDS-CMA to the following: a) All members of the Department and Clinic for Dermatology and Venerology of Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb and the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb (who are listed in reference 5), as well as all colleagues from the former Dermatovenerological Section of ACP who accepted the invitation to the meeting held on the 29th of May 1992. Of course, I hereby also extend my gratitude to all those colleagues who did not attend that meeting, but explained their absence in a way that was then appropriate; b) Prof. Klaus Wolff, MD, the president of the Executive Board of the International League of Dermatological Societies, who allowed me to follow the work of the Assembly of Delegates of the International League of Dermatological Societies as a delegate of CDS-CMA (on the basis of a previously signed agreement) (New York, the 15th of July 1992); c) Prof. Stuart Maddin, MD, the general secretary of the Executive Board of the International League of Dermatological Societies, who I met with in New York some time before the beginning of the abovementioned Assembly. On that occasion, Prof. Maddin gave me many useful pieces of advice on the work of CDS-CMA and ADC (11). NOTE: Prof. Mario Gligora, PhD (an active participant at the 18th World Congress of Dermatology, New York, 1992, 12-18 June) also visited New York at that time, with whom I discussed at length, as I had done on numerous occasions prior to that, the future work of CDS-CMA and ADC, and his advice on the founding of CDS-CPA and ADC, which I presented on preparatory meetings to my colleagues, were very useful for my co-workers and myself when founding the Society and the journal; d) For everything stated above, I extend a special thank you to Prof. Mario Gligora, PhD Of course, certain pleasant events come at the very end, in order that we remember them for as long as possible. I wish here to extend special gratitude for the founding of CDS-CMA to Prof. Vladimir Čajkovac, PhD, the president of the former Dermatovenerological Section of ACP, who, after the renaming of ACP to CPA, which created the conditions for the founding of CDS-CMA and the journal ADC, always helped us with useful advice and eagerly supported each of our abovementioned initiatives. All collaboration with Prof. Čajkovac was very pleasant and useful. We repaid his favor by nominating him and electing him to the position of the first president of CDS-CMA and the first chief editor of ADC. To conclude, this article gives an overview of the important data on the founding of CDS-CMA (later CDVS-CMA) as well as the important information on ADC (until Vol 4, No 2). On my behalf and on the behalf of all my co-workers, I extend my congratulations for their achievements to everyone who continued working in CDS-CPA (later CDVS-CMA) and the journal ADC (after Vol 4, No 2), which is nowadays indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Index Medicus/Medline, Embase/Excerpta Medica, Chemical Abstracts Service, Biomedicina Croatica (see ADC Vol 21, No 3, 2013). I hope the current president of the CDVS-CMA, Prof. Mirna Šitum, PhD, as well as the current chief editor of ADC, Prof. Branka Marinović, PhD, who is also the general secretary of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology, will enjoy many new achievements in our CDVS-CMA and the journal ADC. It is unnecessary to emphasize the importance of the fact that we have such a respectable journal in our Homeland. NOTE: The honorable duty of preparing this text was entrusted to me by the president of the CDVS-CMA, Prof. Mirna Šitum, PhD, at the meeting of the Executive Board of CDVS-CMA held on the 16th of April 2012 (for the purposes of an oral presentation of this data at the 3rd Croatian Congress of Psychodermatology with international participation, Split, 4-7 October, 2012, and again at the meeting of the Executive Board of CDVS-CMA, held on the 7th of June 2013 for the purposes of the web page of CDVS-CMA).