This paper reviews the past fifty years of Oaxacan ethnomedical research. We focus on how this work has contributed to a broader understanding of cultural processes and social organization on Oaxaca. Special attention is devoted to describing the relationships between Oaxacan ethnomedical paradigms and views of the sacred, supernatural and spiritual; how humoral theories of illness etiology have informed anthropological research; and how interactions between ethonomedical and biomedical systems are transforming both systems.