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Preserving Hispanic Culture through Medical Education

Health Care July 2025 PREMIUM

Photo courtesy of Dr. Mario Del Angel Guevara

 

For over 25 years, the University of New Mexico has offered Curanderismo courses on traditional Hispanic and Indigenous healing, now expanding online and in medical campuses to enhance cultural competency and ancestral knowledge in diverse health-related professions

For the last 25 years, Curanderismo - traditional medicine of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest - has been offered as an academic experience at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Currently, a series of face-to-face and online courses, in both English and Spanish, are offered to university students and community members from a diverse array of professions, including the humanities, social and medical sciences. These courses focus on the traditional use of medicinal plants and healing rituals used for hundreds of years by Hispanic and Indigenous communities, mainly in Mexico and many parts of the United States. Every year, these classes welcome an important number of professionals from New Mexico, out-of-state and other countries   in diverse fields such as medicine, nursing, psychology, massage therapy, social work, and counseling. Students  and practitioners in these fields learn about and practice the ancient health wisdom  shared by healers known as curanderos by gathering  in Albuquerque, NM for the 2-week summer Curanderismo Traditional Medicine without Borders class. In the following section, you will learn about the content of the courses and the current initiatives being implemented for teaching these courses in medical campuses across the United States.  

The Teaching of Curanderismo Traditional Medicine in Medical Campuses

The Curanderismo traditional medicine courses at the University of New Mexico are offered by the Department of Chicana & Chicano Studies and cross listed with 12 other academic departments. These courses discuss the incorporation of diverse Hispanic and Indigenous ancestral healing methods based on experiential learning through a series of traditional medicine classes offered at the Main and Medical campuses. Although these courses are offered in a university setting, they are open to all community members regardless of their level of education or profession, through the Center for Continuing Education. As Drs. Torres & Del Angel Guevara (2023) mention: “This pedagogy is a unique approach to the reclaiming of ancestral perspectives into the university curriculum that have an enduring impact in the students enrolled in these courses.” Currently, in collaboration with Deans and Department administrators, and mainly due to interest among Hispanic and Native American medical students, the Curanderismo traditional medicine courses are offered for academic credit as an elective course at the College of Pharmacy and the College of Nursing at the University of New Mexico. Future plans include offering the same opportunity to students in the University of New Mexico’s School of Medicine. Dr. Mario Del Angel Guevara, Director of the Curanderismo Traditional Medicine Program, hopes to expand his current initiative in the Medical Campus to other universities. Currently, he is working on an initiative to make these courses available through online education to high school and college students in other states by meeting with School Principals and college administrators.

Students and practitioners in the health professions report multiple reasons for taking the Curanderismocourses; among the most common is the need for reclaiming their culture and reconnecting with their ancestry, as a new generation of Hispanic and Native American medical professionals. Another important reason reported by the students has been interest in developing cultural competencies for offering better health care services to patients in minority groups, including immigrants from Latin America, U.S. Hispanics and Native Americans from different tribes. Since New Mexico is a Hispanic-majority state and one of the states with the highest Native American population, it is understandable that the community feels the need to teach, learn and preserve their cultural heritage in and through their professions. Understanding, rather than disregarding or delegitimizing ancestral ways of viewing health and illness, has become an essential part of the medical training for many young Hispanic and Native American medical professionals.

According to an internal student survey, approximately 60% of the students who have taken the face-to-face summer Curanderismo courses since 2019 have a graduate education, 70% identify as Hispanic, and 84% are women. Equally impressive, 46% of students are practicing professionals in a health profession or social work, and 70% already had some knowledge, were familiar with, or had experience with Curanderismo prior to taking the course.

Current Traditional Medicine Courses

Courses are currently offered year-round in the Spring, Summer and Fall terms. There is only one face-to-face course in the month of June, offered in Albuquerque, where healers from the U.S. and all over the world gather to give lectures, demonstrations, and workshops. Once a year, the Curanderismo program organizes a traditional community health fair where attendees receive traditional medicine treatments at the University of New Mexico campus, open to the general public and free of charge, although donations are accepted. The rest of the year, online courses are offered. Below, you will see an overview of the existing course offerings:

·      Curanderismo Part 1: The Art of Traditional Mexican Folk healing.

o   8-week online (non-live). 4.5 CEUs[1] offered. Offered year-round.

·      Curanderismo Part 2: Global Perspectives of Traditional Healing

o   8-week online (non-live). 4.5 CEUs offered. Offered year-round.

·      Curanderismo Traditional Medicine without Borders. Face to Face.

o   Once a year in June. 2-week Face-to-Face. 4.5 CEUs offered.

·      Curanderismo Traditional Medicine without Borders. Live Online.

o   Once a year in July. 3-week Live Online. 1.8 CEUs offered.

Upon completing 3 courses (Spring, Summer and Fall) through UNM Continuing Education, the students receive a certificate and digital badges. More information on these courses can be found in Curanderismo.unm.edu

If your institution/organization would like to establish a cross listing or collaboration and offer your students this unique curriculum, please contact Dr. Mario Del Angel Guevara at curanderismo@unm.edu. Through an interinstitutional collaboration, your students will be able to register for any of these courses at a much more accessible rate through the University of New Mexico and receive academic credit in your home institution/organization. 

 

References

Del Angel-Guevara, M., & Torres, E. (2023). Teaching Latinx Traditional Medicine Curanderismo in Higher Education. International Conference on Social and Education Sciences., 1.

 

 

About the Author

Dr. Mario Del Angel Guevara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chicana & Chicano Studies and Director of the Curanderismo Traditional Medicine without Borders Program at the University of New Mexico.



[1] CEUs: Continuing Education Units which are required for licensure board requirements in many professions.

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