Background: Dermatology is a department mainly concerned without patients examination and treatment. But sometimes dermatologists expertise is sought for by the inpatients who are admitted in wards of other specialities. Aims: The aim of the study is to know from which departments the referrals are commonly sought for from department of dermatology and their cutaneous diagnosis and to analyse the knowledge of non-dermatologists on various common dermatoses. Materials and Methods: The study included all in patients referred to dermatology department in a tertiary care centre between January 2018 to December 2018. Results: A total of 215 referrals with dermatological diagnosis were recorded. Internal medicine (70; 32.55%), topped the number of referrals to dermatologists department followed by paediatrics (56; 26.04%), obstetrics and gynaecology (20; 9.30%), ENT (20;9.30%) and surgery (19; 8.83%). Infectious skin diseases were most common (42.79%) followed by eczema (5.58%) and drug reactions (5.11%). Before referral to the dermatology opd, a tentative dermatological diagnosis was made in 30% patients only by the referring department, and it was found to be correct in 20% of the patients, common skin conditions like scabies, psoriasis were missed. Conclusion: Maximum referrals to Dermatology department were from department of internal medicine and infectious dermatoses were the most common cause. Prompt dermatology referral from other departments helps in better patient management and there is a need for better training of nondermatologists to recognise and treat common skin disorders.

Key Words: Referral; Inpatients; Dermatology.