Social medicine beyond the medical curriculum: A Latin American historical perspective

Current debates in social medicine and global health have emphasized the medical curriculum as a means to foster awareness, reflexivity, and sensitivity among medical students and practitioners. Yet, this curricular focus may come at a cost, risking a narrowing of the scope of social medicine by neglecting broader historical, political, and ideological forces. This article argues for a reorientation that situates contemporary social medicine within longer histories of geopolitical struggle, using Latin American social medicine (LASM) since the mid-twentieth century as a critical lens. LASM illustrates how political regimes, international institutions, and social movements have influenced medical training, the scalability of health initiatives, and community-engaged activism. By integrating historical, ideological, and political analysis, this perspective positions LASM not merely as a regional case study but as a site of theoretical production, offering insights for social medicine, global health, and decolonial approaches to training, infrastructure, and activism.