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JAMA. 1998;280:764.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In 1578, a chair of medicine was initiated in the University of Mexico—that institution being then twenty-five years old—and was the first of the kind to be established in the New World. It was called the prima or morning class, and the professor was expected to cover the whole field of the science, as it then was taught; and it was said that he managed to do so in the course of four years. The student, as the custom then was, was required to serve a pupilage under some practitioner for a longer or shorter period. Candidates had previously to study Latin and to go through the course of arts, and astrology or mathematics, and to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1599 a second chair of medicine was founded, which was called vesperas, or evening class. In 1661 chairs of methodus medendi and of anatomy and . . . [Full Text of this Article]