The first lessons on History of Medicine, lectured by Francisco de Assis e Sousa Vaz (1797-1870), in the School of Medicine and Surgery of Porto, have records in 1836. The program in this subject included seventeen lessons that presented in a pedagogical and pioneer way the General History of Medicine and was part of the seventh discipline, taught in the fifth year of the medical course. With scarce periods of interruption, the teaching of History of Medicine continued in the Medical School of Porto associated with General Pathology, Pathological Anatomy, Legal Medicine and Professional Deontology. It gained autonomy in the period of Maximiano Augusto de Oliveira Lemos (1860-1923), Luís José de Pina Guimarães (1901-1972), Maria Olívia Pires Firmino Rúber de Meneses (1932-1990) and Amélia Assunção Beira de Ricon Ferraz (born 1961). Most of the programmes chosen for the teaching of this subject are known. The teaching staff of the Medical School of Porto made countless efforts to demonstrate the usefulness of a regular course of History of Medicine, accepting the surcharge of contents and time, writing several research works and the program of the discipline, acquiring national and foreign medical books to increase a specialized library and organizing the Museum - the Museum Maximiano Lemos of History of Medicine, center of medical-historical research and important archive of national medical heritage.