Abstract
With the support of and in accordance with the model of the Rockefeller Foundation, the School of Public Health of the University of Chile was established in 1943 as a training center for public health institution administrators. From the beginning its academic leaders also took the lead in the country’s health institutions, allowing the increasing knowledge of public health to be brought directly into practice concurrently with training. The military coup of 1973 halted this cycle and broke and destroyed the links between the school and national governance and policymaking; despite this, the university continued to consolidate its role as the major training institution for public health professionals. During that time the Master’s Programs in Public Health and in Biostatistics were launched, attracting students throughout the country and Latin America, but very few professors had adequate research training. Only in 2000, a decade after the return to democracy, a strategic plan was implemented to renew the School of Public Health (SPH) and reshape it for the new public health scenario in Chile. Since then efforts have been made to bring research skills up to date through PhD training and sending young professors to study abroad. Also, a PhD program was created in the SPH in 2003, and graduates are being rapidly hired in universities and the Health Ministry. The recovery of at least part of a leading role of the public health agenda should be based on the capacity to generate relevant new knowledge and advocate for its implementation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Romero H. Desarrollo de la medicina y la salud pública en Chile. Parte II. Revista Médica de Chile. 1972;100:26.
Illanes M. En el nombre del pueblo, del estado y de la ciencia. Santiago: Ministerio de Salud; 2010.
Fee E. Disease & discovery: a history of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1916–1939. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1987.
Goic GA. La escuela de salud pública: 25 años al servicio de la educación médica y la salud. Rev Med Chil. 1994;122:951–4.
Hevia P. Los inicios de la escuela de salud pública de Chile: 1943–1957. Revista Chilena de Salud Pública. 2006;10:70–7.
Fee E. The Welch-Rose Report: blueprint for public health education in: The Welch-Rose Report: A public health classic, a publication by the Delta Omega Alpha Chapter to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1916–1992. Baltimore: Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society; 1992. p.1–42.
Adriasola G, Horwitz A, Viel Vicuna B, Villalobos M, editors. La escuela de salud pública de la Universidad de Chile. Terceras Jornadas de Saludbridad. Santiago, Chile; 1954.
Viel B. Ayuda extranjera para el desarrollo de la enseñanza médica y de salud pública en Chile. Rev Med Chil. 1961;89:571–5.
Rosselot J. Origen, desarrollo y perspectivas de las instituciones de salud publica en Chile. Rev Med Chil. 1993;121:1075–85.
Jimenez de la Jara J. Abraham Horwitz (1910–2000): padre de la salud publica panamericana. Rev Med Chil. 2003;131:929–34.
Díaz S. La Escuela de Salubridad de la Universidad de Chile. Santiago: Universidad de Chile; 1957.
Geyer JC, Unda Opazo F. Curso de especialistas en salubridad para ingenieros dictado en la Escuela de Salubridad, Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Chile. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam. 1956;41:147–51.
Behm H, Gutierrez H. Demographic training in schools of public health with special reference to the University of Chile. Milbank Mem Fund Q. 1964;42:287–98.
Viel B. Abortion epidemic in Latin America. Dev Forum. 1983;11:7.
Behm H. Needed research on Latin America mortality in relation to public health. Milbank Mem Fund Q. 1965;43:S338–53.
Behm H. Recent mortlity trends in Chile. Vital Health Stat 1. 1964:1–34.
Arteaga A, Valiente S, Rosales E, Urteaga C. La hipovitaminosis A: un problema nutricional colectivo en Chile. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam. 1969;66:200–10.
Canessa I, Valiente S, Jaramillo J, Pantoja A, Garcia De Los Rios M, Mella I. Investigación de la morbilidad diabética en Chile. Rev Med Chil. 1960;88:22–8.
Ipinza. Calidad y atención integral de salud: dos conceptos inseparables. Cuadernos Medico Sociales. 2007;47:5–18.
Waitzkin H, Iriart C, Estrada A, Lamadrid S. Social medicine then and now: lessons from Latin America. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1592–601.
Medina E. Letter: health services in Chile. Lancet. 1974;2:1006.
Manuel A. The Chilean health system: 20 years of reforms. Salud Publica Mex. 2002;44:60–8.
Reichard S. Ideology drives health care reforms in Chile. J Public Health Policy. 1996;17:80–98.
Unger JP, De Paepe P, Cantuarias GS, Herrera OA. Chile’s neoliberal health reform: an assessment and a critique. PLoS Med. 2008;5:e79.
Medina E, Kaempffer AM, Lemesch C, De la Fuente M, Molina R, Soto R. Ensenanza de salud publica en la escuela de medicina. Experiencia en el Area Hospitalaria norte. Rev Med Chil. 1971;99:522–8.
Medina Lois E. Tendencias y situacion actual de la ensenanza de salud publica y medicina preventiva en la carrera de medicina. Rev Med Chil. 1980;108:945–55.
Belmar R, Fassler C, Heiss G, Lopez H, Lopez J, Weber C, et al. Ensenanza de salud publica y medicina social en el area central. Rev Med Chil. 1971;99:529–35.
Cumsille F, Pereda C, Legarreta A, Margozzini J, Mascaro J, Botteselle V, et al. Metodo para homogeneizar informacion sobre desnutricion en la ninez. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam. 1985;99:355–61.
Medina E, Kaempffer AM, Cumsille F, Medina R. Encuestas de morbilidad y atencion medica como metodo de analisis de situacion de salud. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam. 1987;102:594–605.
Medina E, Pascual JP, Cumsille F, Alegria A, Gutierrez L, Corvalan L, et al. Encuesta de tabaquismo en la poblacion general de Santiago. Rev Med Chil. 1986;114:257–62.
Defilippi C, Gomez E, Cumsille F. Relationship between small intestinal fasting motility and vomiting in dogs. Dig Dis Sci. 1990;35:406–10.
Herrera P, Arias H, Valenzuela C, Galanti M, Rivera G, Prenzel I, et al. Fiebre paratifoidea B en dos areas de Santiago. Un analisis de su significacion epidemiologica. Rev Med Chil. 1990;118:1393–400.
Dussaillant GR, Cumsille F, Ramirez A, Pacheco C, Ugalde H, Oyonarte M. La clasificacion de lesiones coronarias de la Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions predice mejor el éxito de la angioplastia coronaria que la del American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association. Rev Med Chil. 2001;129:605–10.
Solimano G, Vergara M. Salud en la América Latina del siglo XXI: el caso chileno. In: Brachet-Márquez V, editor. Salud Pública y regímenes de pensiones en la era neoliberal Argentina, Brasil, Chile y México 1980–2000: El Colegio de México; 2007.
Corvalan C, Uauy R, Kain J, Martorell R. Obesity indicators and cardiometabolic status in 4-y-old children. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91:166–74.
Burgos S, Koifman RJ, Montano Espinoza R, Atria Curi J. Tipologias residenciales en comunidades chilenas en condiciones de precariedad habitacional. Rev PAlonso FT, Garmendia ML, Bogado ME. Increased skin cancer mortality in Chile beyond the effect of ageing: Temporal analysis 1990 to 2005. Acta Derm Venereol. 2010;90:141–6.
Garmendia ML, Pereira A, Alvarado ME, Atalah E. Relation between insulin resistance and breast cancer among Chilean women. Ann Epidemiol. 2007;17:403–9.
OPS, ALAESP. La calidad de la enseñanza de la salud pública: Un desafío impostergable. anam Salud Publica. 2011;29:32–40.
Valdivieso DV, Montero LJ. El plan AUGE: 2005 al 2009. Rev Med Chil. 2010;138:1040–6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Recommended Citation: Pino P, Solimano G. The School of Public Health at the University of Chile: Origins, Evolution, and Perspectives. Public Health Reviews. 2011;33:315–22.
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Pino, P., Solimano, G. The School of Public Health at the University of Chile: Origins, Evolution, and Perspectives. Public Health Rev 33, 315–322 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391636
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391636