This study analyzes how the first women physicians in Mexico formed associations. The period studied begins in 1887 -the year in which the first female Mexican doctor received her title- and concludes in 1937 -when it was not mandatory to present a thesis in order to graduate, but performing Social Service was obligatory-. Our universe of study consists of 27 women doctors, including the pioneering woman in Mexico and the first female physicians in San Luis Potosí and Puebla. Earlier research focused on how early female medical students in Mexico formed organizations, and the nature of those groups. This approach is very versatile as, among other things, it allows us to reach conclusions as to the moment that Mexican medicine was living when those women were active. Despite the support of government and university authorities for their studies, their later incorporation into the medical guild and the wider society was neither automatic nor easy, so for their own self-protection they created and joined academic and social organizations.

En este artículo se analiza la manera en que se asociaron las primeras médicas mexicanas. El periodo de estudio parte de 1887 -año en que se tituló la primera doctora- y concluye en 1937 -cuando para graduarse de médico cirujano ya no era obligatorio hacer tesis, pero sí realizar el Servicio Social-. El universo de estudio está constituido por 27 mujeres, entre las que se incluye a la pionera en todo el país y a las primeras de San Luis Potosí y Puebla. Previamente no se había investigado cómo y en qué grupos se asociaron las primeras mujeres que estudiaron y ejercieron la medicina en México. El tratamiento es versátil porque, entre otros, permite establecer conclusiones sobre el momento que vivía la medicina mexicana cuando ellas estuvieron activas. Aunque tuvieron el apoyo de las autoridades gubernamentales y universitarias para estudiar medicina, su incorporación al gremio médico y a la sociedad en general no fue ni fácil ni automática, por lo que, a manera de autoprotección, crearon y se unieron en agrupaciones académicas y sociales.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in 1906 for their contributions to the knowledge of the structure of the nervous system. This has been one of the mostcontrovertial chapters in Nobel Prize history because both scientists interpreted the same histological fenomenon in a different manner. Even though both were convinced of their own ideas, one of them did not have the feeling of triumph that one would expect for the recepient of the greatest distinction wich a scientist dreams of. Based on the analysis of speeches that were offered by both scientist during the prize ceremony, I try to understand how Cajal and Golgi assumed this honor and how they perceived the same circumstance.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal y Camillo Golgi recibieron el Premio Nobel en 1906, por sus aportaciones al conocimiento de la estructura del sistema nervioso. Este ha sido uno de los capítulos más controvertidos en la historia del Nobel, ya que parece que ambos científicos interpretaron de modo diferente el mismo fenómeno histológico. Aunque los dos estaban plenamente convencidos de sus propia idea, no tuvieron el mismo sentimiento de triunfo que se supone experimentaría el recibir la máxima distinción con que sueñan todos los científicos. Basada en el análisis de los discursos que ambos ofrecieron en la ceremonia de premiación, intento explicar como Cajal y Golgi asumieron ese honor y como percibieron de diferente forma la misma circunstancia.

This article focuses on the life and work of the Mexican physiologist Daniel Vergara Lope, a pioneer of Mexican medical science. Vergara Lope was the first to describe the physiologic mechanisms of adaptation to high elevations in a scientific opus that resounds with a profound sense of nationalism. The historical, social, and personal crises he experienced during his life and his own complex personality were determining factors in the mediocre status that history has assigned to him.

Se destaca la vida y la obra del fisiólogo Daniel Vergara Lope, como uno de los pioneros de la ciencia médica mexicana. El doctor Vergara Lope fue el primero en describir los mecanismos fisiológicos de adaptación a la altura y su ciencia se distingue por permear un profundo sentimiento nacionalista. Las crisis históricas, sociales y personales que vivió, así como su personalidad compleja, fueron determinantes en el sitio mediocre que la historia le asignó.

A evolução da saúde pública mexicana foi gradual. Nos séculos XIX e XX desenvolveu-se paralelamente às mudanças políticas e sociais do país. Na primeira metade do século XIX o cuidado com os doentes dependia parcialmente da caridade religiosa. Depois, instituiu-se a beneficiência pública, consolidada pelo presidente Benito Juárez (1856), forma de atendimento continuada por Porfirio Díaz (1880-1910). A partir da Revolução (1910-1917) surgiu o princípio de assistência pública como obrigação do Estado para com a sociedade. Atualmente, a assistência à saúde, e a seguridade social conjugam-se em um conceito de medicina institucional que compreende a investigação, o ensino e os serviços prestados à sociedade. Este trabalho é uma análise do desenvolvimento da saúde pública mexicana nos dois últimos séculos. Faz referência às doenças e seu controle, ao aparecimento das instituições e à evolução do conceito de saúde pública na história mexicana.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its growth accompanied the country’s political and social changes. In the early half of the nineteenth century, care for the sick depended in part on religious charity. So-called public beneficial care was later introduced and consolidated under president Benito Juárez (1856) and then continued under Porfirio Díaz (1880-1910). The Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) brought the notion that public-health assistance is the State’s social responsibility. Health care and social security are now both part of so-called "institutional medicine," which also encompasses research and teaching on public health. This analysis of public-health care in Mexico examines the question of diseases and their control, the emergence of institutions, and the development of the concept of public health.