ABSTRACT
The volunteer Medical Services in Spain present a story of often selfless dedication under fire and with limited resources. Some of the doctors and nurses who went to Spain lost their lives in front-line service; others were wounded. All worked long hours under the most difficult conditions imaginable. Like the other volunteers, they were motivated by antifascism, leaving their jobs, their families, and their homes to place themselves at risk on the eve of a worldwide struggle. Because their motivation was not only humanitarian but also political, their story represents the founding moment of modern medical activism both here and abroad. Thus in America, the Medical Services in Spain provided the inspiration for the medical activism of the civil rights era and for the gift of ambulances to Nicaragua decades later. They leave us a special legacy about the social meaning and political responsibility not only of the medical profession but also of the professions in general.
