The academy national of Medicinecreated on April 9, 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia celebrates 200 years of history, which represents a good opportunity to review the milestones of the institution that has twelve doctors from Rosario among its current members.
The entity, which continues its activities in its iconic headquarters at 3000 Las Heras Avenue, in the City of Buenos Aires, was the first in Latin America and one of the pioneers worldwide.
Three Nobel Prize winners arose from there: Bernardo Houssay, Luis Leloir and César Milstein.
Its weight in the history of medicine in the country is undeniable and this is reflected in the traces left by many of its members over two centuries.
Thirty-five tenured academics (residents of Buenos Aires) occupy the seats of outstanding doctors who occupied them in the past. The corresponding academic institution from all over the country is also part of the institution, among them Rosario Emir Alvarez Gardiol, Alberto Muniagurria, Roberto Tozzini, Julio Ariel Sánchez, Rafael Pineda, Hugo Tanno, Alcides Greca, José Luis Ameriso, Roberto Lisandro Villavicencio, Carlos Lovesio, Juan Carlos Figueroa Casas and Oscar Bottasso.
The Academy of Medicine has a constant and dynamic activity and three institutes operate in its facilities.
The meetings, which have become virtual since the Covid pandemic, and in which all its members participate, seek to keep the spirit of the prestigious entity active: “Study and elucidate issues related to medicine and connected sciences and promote research clinic”, Hugo Tanno explained to La Capital.
In a talk that this newspaper had with several of the current members of the institution, the names of the first Rosarios to be part of the Academy emerged, an entity that is accessed to this day through a rigorous protocol in the that the academic career of the applicant and his contributions to the medical sciences are analyzed.
Among those first members is Clemente Álvarez (corresponding member in 1932 and honorary member in 1937 when the Academy was chaired by Bernardo Houssay).
Álvarez was the creator of the Argentine League against Tuberculosis (due to his enormous experience gained in part during his training in Europe) and installed the first dispensary for these patients in 1903. He was one of the founders of the Faculty of Medicine of Rosarioof the Medical Circle, director of the then Hospital of Rosario (currently the Heca) where he worked for 50 years training hundreds of professionals in the city and author of numerous books that are consulted to this day.
Dr. José Benjamín Ábalos, born in 1882, was another of the first members residing in Rosario who formed part of the institution. He left in the city a sanitary work of enormous value.
“He was an eminent surgeon who made the first attempt at reimplantation of an upper limb, in the city. He practiced in different hospitals and sanatoriums and developed his own, the Palace Sanatorium, where the ICR operates today,” said Dr. Roberto Lisandro Villavicencio .
Discipline, rigor and art
Hugo Tanno, gastroenterologist, director of the Gastroenterology program at the National University of Rosario (UNR), trainer of several generations of specialists, is among the members of the Academy who entered while still young, since the professional path is relevant to be member of the entity, something that is usually reached beyond 60 years.
The support of his publications in prestigious scientific journals and his contributions to the teaching of medicine allowed the entry of this doctor at the age of 53, in 1996.
Tanno spoke to this outlet about this momentous anniversary of the National Academy of Medicine. He referred to the past but above all to the present and the future of professional training, the study of doctors, continuous learning, contact and exchange between the different generations, while highlighting the value of research and dissemination .
The professional recalled that a decree of the then governor of Buenos Aires, endorsed by Rivadavia, who was a government minister, allowed the creation of the Academy, which strictly speaking began to meet on April 18, 1822.
In the inaugural act Rivadavia was incorporated with the title of “Protector and perpetual president of the Academy”.
“Since then, it has been a representative institution of medical science in our country, of the importance of our universities. An entity that was formed to encourage the teaching of medicine and give it an institutional framework with members who had experience and prestige and, above all, the wisdom to know how to transmit and share their knowledge,” Tanno mentioned, adding: “Although now access is different since the arrival of the internet, the library of the Academy was of substantial importance for many professionals from all over the country and even from abroad”.
“Perhaps there are those who may think that it is a rigid space or that it does not currently make contributions, but it is quite the opposite, it is alive and promotes teaching and research on a daily basis. In fact, there are three institutes in that building, one for hematological research, another for experimental medicine (which was an initiative of Conicet) and a third institute for epidemiological research, which have permanent functions”, Tanno described.
“In the last meeting on March 22, which was held virtually and in contact with the Spanish academy, the central theme was the eradication of hepatitis C in the world, where Argentina presented very important data,” the doctor exemplified.
Regarding the value of integrating this space, Tanno said: “Without a doubt there are doctors who deserve to be there and are not part of it, but I am convinced that those who are deserve that place.”
In this regard, he said that “to enter the professional background must be unquestionable, but also, it is necessary to demonstrate everything that one has investigated, published. The evaluation is very rigorous and I think it is important that the population of Rosario knows that those who are part of the Academy are trainers of generations of professionals and that they continue to be very active in the field of teaching, from different places”.
Tanno commented: “I have no doubt that its members, like so many who love medicine, would choose to walk the same path that they have traveled in decades and decades of their profession. Teaching is the joy of sharing, it is having the privilege of exchanging experiences with young people and never stop learning. That is why my message on this bicentennial of the Academy is simple and at the same time profound: love what you do and never stop doing what you like”.