Forty Years of Basic Courses in Medical Hydrology in O Carballiño: Stories

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In 1985-1986, the first two editions of the Basic Courses in Medical Hydrology were held in O Carballiño (Ourense). These training activities exemplified collaboration, deep interest, and commitment to hydrotherapy, under the auspices of entities such as the O Carballiño Town Council and the Health Directorate of the Galician Regional Government’s Ministry of Health, and with coordination between the Chair of Preventive Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine (University of Galicia) and the Chair of Medical Hydrology of

the Complutense University of Madrid. Four decades after those courses, the University of Vigo developed the Expert in Hydrotherapy, Water, and Health program, with professors such as Dr. Gestal, director of the USC-Galician Spas Chair of Medical Hydrology, and Professor Araujo, the current dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Vigo-Ourense Campus. Both are living legends of the original Medical Hydrology courses from the 1980s. Likewise, distinguished figures in the history of medicine and hydrotherapy in Spain, such as Professor Armijo Valenzuela, Professor San Martín Bacaicoa, and Drs. Miguez and Carro Otero, contributed to this period of genuine scientific and academic awakening in the culture of SPA and mineral-medicinal water in Galicia. The author proposes a contextual and historical framework, while
also reviewing the profiles of several of the speakers in these courses from
the medical, scientific or political fields of the time, some of whom continue to develop scientific work related to Hydrotherapy and others who, although they have passed away, deserve mention in their curriculum and considering their scientific or healthcare legacy in relation to Medical Hydrology.