Dr Christian Diehl is author of ‘OB-GYN Surgeries: Why We Should Recommend to Our Patients a Preventive Management for Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars’, recently published in Clinical Medicine Insights: Women's Health.  We asked Dr Diehl to tell us about the background to the paper.

To start please tell us about the genesis of your paper. Why did you consider it to be important that it should be written? How does it advance existing knowledge in the field?

I have always believed that the significance of remaining scarring for patients was underestimated by surgeons (not only OB/GYN surgeons) in terms of the psychological impact, especially concerning the cosmetic stigma in a world where aesthetic concerns are growing.

When writing a paper what challenges do you face? How did these challenges impact this particular paper? Is there anything you plan to do differently in the future to avoid them?

I'm always concerned by practical applications that doctors can draw from my papers regarding changes in their behavior when facing their patients.

Why did you choose to submit it to this journal? What qualities of the journal did you find particular appealing? How long have you been aware of the journal? Did publishing a paper in the journal alter your view of it?

I decided to submit my paper to Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health because it is an open access journal, not a subscription journal, and this can increase the impact and visibility of the paper. I learnt about the journal approximately 6 months ago and publishing in it did not alter the favorable opinion I had prior to publishing.

How has the writing of this paper and its underlying research changed or developed your views or understanding of the field? How has this affected your future research plans?

I was made aware that there was potential interest in this subject coming from our patients and I plan to study this matter more in depth.

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