This article aims to demonstrate the political and pedagogical thinking of Juan César García from a contemporary perspective. First, I discuss the theory of the “mode of medical production” proposed by García, inspired by Marxism. Second, I systematize elements that delineate a theory of education based on historical materialism, with a strong influence from Gramscian thought as formulated by García, in contrast to what he calls “idealist pedagogy”. Third, I highlight political and pedagogical elements in his work that need better contextualization to assess his real contribution to professional health education. Finally, I present arguments to highlight Juan César García’s contribution to the understanding of the permanence-transformation dialectic in education-work relations, focusing on the role of institutions tasked with training critical and creative subjects engaged in the historic struggle for health equity and quality of care.
Keywords
Juan Cesar García; Medical education; Health education; Pedagogical theory; Latin America