El protomedicato en España / Promedicate in Spain

ABSTRACT

Protomedicate, a Royal Medical Court devoted to preserve higher academic proficiency and moral standards in the medical profession, was first conceived by the law-oriented monarch Alphonse X, the Wise one (XIII A C) and fully applied in the Iberian Peninsula and its Aemrican Colonies about mid XVIth century. Candidates were required to prove their knowledge and manual skills in the presence of the Protomedical and three examiners appointed by the King. According to legal regulations, surgery candidates had to accomplish a four year practice under the supervision of an experienced surgeon. Protomedicate was a unique, peculiar institution developed in Spanish speaking lands. Whereas in England, France or Italy medical teaching was delivered through scientific Academies, Royal Colleges and rarely in Universities, in Sapin it was almost exclusively performed by the Protomedicate