Abstract

This text reproduces a speech given by Dr. Mario Testa on June 28, 1973 in the main hall of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The words of introduction preceding the text, written by Testa himself, provide the context of not only the historical moment the university was experiencing, just days after Rodolfo Puiggrós took office as the rector within the university's political overhaul, but also the meaning given to the project of pedagogical renovation. This project proposed redefining the relationship between the university and society, originating such projects such as the Instituto de Medicina del Trabajo (Institute of Occupational Medicine), the Instituto de la Madre y el Niño (Mother and Child Institute) and the Instituto de Patología Regional (Regional Pathology Institute) in the Faculty of Medicine; the Centro de Producción de Medicamentos de Base (the Center for Basic Drug Production) in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry; and the Centro de Erradicación de Villas de Emergencia (Center for the Eradication of Shantytowns) in the Faculty of Architecture, among many others. Republishing these words, spoken almost 40 years ago, is a way of continuing to put into discussion the type of education and training health professionals receive with public funds.