The present article analyzes the foundation of Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) by discussing the role played by health sciences in the development of São Paulo's society, mainly in the 1930's. The participants in the project intended to meet the demands for universities and medical assistance by defending specialized knowledge and scientific competence as the base for social development through science, education and health. EPM was gradually created with the participation of non-academic agents and institutions that were important for the institution official and social recognition and permanence. Thus, in the beginning of the 1940's, it was decisive to build a hospital for the school - Hospital São Paulo. This article also intends to contribute to the understanding of the functions science has in social organization while dealing with the constituting processes of the specific medical field.
History of Medicine; Higher Education; institutions; São Paulo