Background:

studying Medicine in Cuba before 1959 was limited to the Faculty of Medicine of Havana University. However, in Villa Clara some hints were found that draw attention to this issue.

Objective:

to identify facts that demonstrate the existence of antecedents for the creation of a School of Medicine in Santa Clara before 1959.

Methods:

a historical documentary research was carried out during the years 2019 and 2020. Theoretical methods were used that allowed the analysis of the object of study, based on the interaction of the historical and the logical, and from the temporal and spatial dimensions; and empirical ones: documentary analysis and interviews to key informants; and comparison of sources was carried out to arrive at integrating considerations.

Results:

the facts identified, among them: the development of scientific life governed by the Pharmaceutical and Dental Medical Corps and the Society of Medicine and Surgery, as well as the growth of the network of health institutions in Las Villas province, promoted the idea to incorporate the studies of Medicine in the recently inaugurated "Marta Abreu" Central University of Las Villas, among some members of the University Council; but this intention did not find national support, fundamentally due to the lack of interest in increasing medical training in Cuba, from 1953 to 1956.

Conclusions:

there were ideas and facts in the Villa Clara society of the 1950s that constituted an important precedent for the creation of Santa Clara School of Medicine in 1966.

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