In consultations at health centres, the GP, the paediatrician and the nursing staff have faced, above all since the end of the XIX century and so far in the XXI century, the fact of having to attend to a numerous population formed of people uprooted from their community, without close relatives in the majority of cases, with different languages and cultures, and with a different way of understanding health and illness. This article analyses this phenomenon and aims to improve the understanding of health professionals and contribute to improving care for the immigrant patient.