Cruz-Coke R
Unidad de Investigación Histórica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile.
Rev Med Chil. 1992 Sep;120(9):1062-9.
In the mid XVIII century medical education was started in Chile with the foundation of the University of San Felipe. However, King Charles the Third expelled the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire in 1767 resulting in clear deterioration of medical development. Jesuits concentrated the cultural elite of the country and had the best professionals and libraries. A restrictive intervention from the Spanish government led to the establishment of a "Protomedicato" whose first director was Dr Jose Antonio Rios who remained in office for 40 years. At the end of the Colonial period, only 4 latin physicians and 3 bachelors in Medicine had graduated from the Universidad San Felipe, from an initial enrollment of 38 students in half a century. Only 5 among 25 doctors practicing in Chile in the first half on the XIXth century had been born in this country. This shortage was a severe handicap in the fight against smallpox and other plagues. Only the foundation of 2 hospitals (San Borja and Valparaíso) can be mentioned as positive actions coming from the Spanish government, and this was possible by using funds confiscated from the Jesuits. It was only after the establishment of the Republic and the foundation of the University of Chile, that medical development could again flourish in this country.
18世纪中叶，随着圣菲利普大学的成立，智利开始了医学教育。然而，1767年查理三世国王将耶稣会士驱逐出西班牙帝国，导致医学发展明显恶化。耶稣会士汇聚了该国的文化精英，拥有最优秀的专业人员和图书馆。西班牙政府的一项限制性干预措施导致成立了一个“医疗委员会”，其第一任主任是何塞·安东尼奥·里奥斯博士，他任职长达40年。在殖民时期结束时，半个世纪里最初招收的38名学生中，只有4名拉丁裔医生和3名医学学士从圣菲利普大学毕业。在19世纪上半叶智利执业的25名医生中，只有5名出生在该国。这种人才短缺在抗击天花和其他瘟疫的斗争中是一个严重的障碍。西班牙政府的积极举措只有建立2所医院（圣博尔哈医院和瓦尔帕莱索医院），而这是通过使用没收自耶稣会士的资金才得以实现的。直到共和国成立和智利大学建立之后，该国的医学发展才再次蓬勃起来。
