A review is made of current teaching practice in Latin America. The impact of research about teaching is assessed. It is argued that the usual role of teaching laboratories as a place just to measure physical constants is a sad waste of time and resources. Also the usual format of lectures is considered inefficient and a plea is made for the return to some kind of personalized instruction. Universities are compared to hospitals. This similitude suggest that the most important changes are related to administrative decisions. The conclusion is rather pessimistic, since the main educational defects arise from factors not easily dealt with.