Central University of the Caribbean

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Universidad Central del Caribe

Established:	1976
Type:	Private
Location:	Bayamón, Puerto Rico, USA
Interim President:	Jose Ginel Rodriguez, M.D.
Colors:	orange/green
Website:	[1]

The Universidad Central del Caribe (Central University of the Caribbean) is a private non-profit university in Bayamon, Puerto Rico offering graduate studies and professional certifications in health sciences. It was founded in 1976 in the municipality of Cayey, but since 1990 all its facilities have been integrated into one campus at the grounds of the Dr. Ramón Ruiz Arnau University Hospital in Bayamón.

[edit] Accreditations

The Central University of the Caribbean is accredited by the following organizations:

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
Committee on Allied Health Education of the American Medical Association
Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico
Liaison Committee on Medical Education

[edit] History

The Universidad Central del Caribe was founded in 1976, in Cayey, Puerto Rico, as a private non-profit institution, incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The first educational units established were the School of Medicine, with the four-year program leading to the M.D. degree, and the Radiologic Technology Program.

Both programs have been duly authorized and accredited by the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico. Their accreditation process requires survey visits every four years. The last one took place in December 1996 and resulted in renewed accreditation in 1997.

In 1989, this accrediting body authorized the Graduate Program in the Biomedical Sciences within the School of Medicine. This program offers Masters in Science and in Arts in Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Microbiology. The program leading to the M.D. holds full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). As of May 2000, the Medical School has graduated 1,590 physicians serving the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Hispanic communities in the United States. The Radiologic Technology Program holds full accreditation by the Committee on Allied Health Education of the American Medical Association. This Program has awarded 458 degrees from its inception to May, 2000.

In 1984, the University began what has been a very successful contractual relationship with the government's hospital facility for the Northeastern Health Region. As a result of this arrangement, the Dr. Ramón Ruiz Arnau Hospital was established as the University Hospital. In addition, the network of municipal health centers that provide primary care services within the health region became a site for clinical teaching. A progressive evolution of this educational service consortium is underway, providing for the development of an academic medical center that will avail the island of additional educational programs in various Health Sciences disciplines. Four graduate medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are based in the University Hospital.

Since September, 1990, all University facilities have been integrated into one campus at the grounds of the Dr.Ramón Ruiz Arnau University Hospital in the city of Bayamón. Since then, the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico authorized and accredited four new programs in the University: in 1993 the Certificate Program in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, and in 1996 the Substance Abuse Counseling Program. The Substance Abuse Program offers the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling and the Master of Health Sciences in Substance Abuse Counseling. Certificate Program in Mammography was authorized in 2000, and two Certificates in Computerized Tomography and in Magnetic Resonance were authorized in 2002 and the new bachelor in Sciences in Diagnostic Images was approved in 2006 under the auspice of the Medical Imaging Technology Program.