Medical immigration, therapeutic market and professional disputes in Buenos Aires (late 19 th century). A case study

Abstract

In the final decades of the 19th century, medicine in the city of Buenos Aires underwent rapid transformations, not only in relation to the therapeutic devices available or the renewal of its scientific knowledge, but also in relation to its internal composition and its participation in a growing mercantile logic. Thus, the massive arrival of foreign physicians and the consolidation of a commercial network of medical products and services were two of the most significant factors at that time. These elements are explored in this article through a case study. The work carried out in the city between 1889 and 1895 by a spanish doctor, who opened private institutes, edited periodicals and maintained a conflictive relationship with his Argentine colleagues, is examined. The analysis of a varied documentation concerning that foreign doctor allows to shed light on aspects so far little described in the world of health in the River Plate region.