San Juan Bautista School of Medicine

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The San Juan Bautista School of Medicine —or Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista in Spanish— is a medical school located within the San Juan Bautista Medical Center in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The school offers studies in general practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, primary care, and psychiatry.

[edit] History

Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista was founded in 1978 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's a non profit corporation, incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. On June 22 of 1979, it was authorized by the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico to offer studies pertinent to the M.D. degree.

The Institution has continued to develop through the years, and it moved its facilities to the city of Caguas in 1988, one of the most important urban centers in Puerto Rico. Nearly 150,000 people live in this progressive city of Puerto Rico.

Caguas is located in the East-Central region of the island, 18 miles south of San Juan the Capital City of Puerto Rico. Due to the short distance between Caguas and San Juan, it is accessible to ports and airport facilities, thus permitting the fast movement of people and merchandise. This element facilitates commercial, industrial and tourism expansion.

On February 1998, the Middle States Association (MSA), granted Candidacy for Accreditation Status to the School. The self-study design was accepted and the School was authorized to start its self-study process in April 2001.

Thanks to this Candidacy, Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista was certified on November 1998 to participate in the Title IV Program of the Department of Federal Education, specifically in the Federal Family Education Loan program.

Through the Puerto Rico Health Reform, there was the opportunity of buying hospitals from the government. The School of Medicine saw the possibility of growth and presented a proposal to buy Caguas' Regional Hospital, Dr. Eduardo Garrido Morales, and on July 1, 1999 took control over its operations under the name of San Juan Bautista Medical Center.

On June 2004, Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-662-5606. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for the Higher Education Accreditation.

Up to June 30, 2006, Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista has graduated a total of 825 medical doctors that have been integrated successfully to provide health care in Puerto Rico and abroad.

During the month of November, San Juan Bautista Medical School will receive the LCME team visit as a final step in the program accreditation process. As part of the accreditation procedure a process of reconsideration is being held with a final decision to be announced on June 2007.

Académicos Regionales y sus instituciones afiliadas. Estos Centros Médicos Académicos Regionales reforzarían los hospitales que se han privatizado, proveyendo algunos servicios especializados en las comunidades que sirven, y hoy día, en vista de los problemas de amenaza territorial y nacional.

"Los Centros Médicos Académicos Regionales cubrirían las siguientes regiones con sus Hospitales o Centro Médico correspondiente: Región Metro y Noreste — Escuela de Medicina de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Región Central — (Caguas) — Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista, Región Noroeste — Escuela de Medicina Universidad Central del Caribe, Región Sur-Oeste — Mayagüez — Ponce, Escuela de Medicina de Ponce. Los Hospitales correspondientes serían: Hospital Universitario de Adultos, Hospital Pediátrico Universitario, y los componentes de ASEM necesarios para la docencia e investigación (UPR), Hospital San Juan Bautista de Caguas, Escuela de Medicina de San Juan Bautista, Hospital Universitario Ramón Ruiz Arnau Universidad Central del Caribe y Hospital Ramón Emeterio Betánces, Escuela de Medicina de Ponce. Esta enumeración no limita el surgimiento de nuevos centros médicos académicos, los cuales vendrán a reforzar la labor de los ya existentes"

"Es imperativo destacar que es compulsoria la acreditación por el Gobierno de Puerto Rico de las facilidades que utilicen los Centros Médicos Académicos Regionales, ya que esto estimula la excelencia en la práctica de las profesiones relacionadas a la salud en beneficio de la población a ser servida. Además, será requisito indispensable conseguir la acreditación de los programas de Internado y Residencias por el ACGME ("Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education") y de las Escuelas de Medicina por el "Liaison Committee on Medical Education", o "LCME"."