Historical and cultural roots of Natural Medicine marks in Santiago de Cuba

Abstract

The training of health professionals increasingly requires scientific updating and the knowledge and information on the history of Traditional Natural Medicine, in particular, the marks that make up the territorial cultural identity.  The objective of this work is to argue the historical and cultural roots of Traditional Natural Medicine marks in Santiago de Cuba. A qualitative investigation was carried out, of an exploratory descriptive- explanatory level, based on the hermeneutic paradigm centered in the historical-logical, analytic-synthetic methods, bibliographical review and documentary analysis of the referenced documents. From a universe of 70 marks identified in the referenced scientific literature, a sample of 38 marks was assumed that facilitated the knowledge of the natural medicine origins in 3 historical and cultural periods. The research provided an argued theoretical structure of the roots of the marks belonging to the Natural and Traditional Medicine of Santiago de Cuba based on a relevant historical cultural approach. It also revealed a chronology of the marks categorized into three periods: emergence, development and transformation.