Training future dermatologists in psychodermatology.

The contents and design of a psychodermatology training programs (PTP) preparing future dermatologists to cope with the psychosomatic features of their practice are discussed. This program focuses on the psychosocial factors that may provoke, precipitate, and aggravate dermatoses. It singles out the secondary illness reaction which is the result of the particular somatopsychic consequences of the visibility of dermatoses, its repercussion on the patient's body image, and on his or her social and sexual life. The benefits and the risks of a grounding in psychodermatology as well as the dermatologist's specific resistance are pointed out.