Physicians, medicine and politics during Rosas period

Abstract

During the Rosas' period, the academic and university space experiencied a constant process of politicization. The imposition of the cintilla punzó as a sign of accession to the regime, the deficit of the university budget resulting from war, the dismissals and appointments of ‘new’ teachers, the various conflicts within the faculty are some of the elements that give an account of this situation and that are usually used to indicate a stagnation moment in the university life, generally in the sciences development and particularly in medicine. Nevertheless, it will be argued that the politicization of the physicians academic field does not seem to have necessarily shaped an entrance to a ‘medieval stage’. The Rosas' regime would not finish dismantling the complex and diverse university medical life, but it would embed in it, marking it with its features and implications.