The Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), formerly Ponce School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

for-profit university Proprietary colleges are for-profit colleges and universities. They are operated by their owners or investors, rather than a not-for-profit institution, religious organization, or government. Because they are not funded by tax money, their lon ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

and St. Louis, Missouri. It awards graduate degrees in Medicine (MD), Clinical Psychology (PsyD and PhD), Biomedical Sciences (PhD), Medical Sciences (MS), and Public Health (MPH and DrPH). The university has 360 students in its medical school and, as of 11 February 2019, was authorized to increase the student body at the medical school to 600 which, when fully in place, will make it the largest private medical school in Puerto Rico and one of the largest under the American flag.

History

Research Bldg at Ponce School of Medicine in Barrio Playa in Ponce, PR (DSC00769)

In January 1980 a group of lay and professional leaders in southern Puerto Rico established the Ponce Medical School Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, for the purpose of providing continuity to the Medical Education Program (MD Program) originally developed by the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in 1977. In July 1980, the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico (CHE-PR) authorized the Foundation to operate a medical school under the name Ponce School of Medicine. In 1981, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited the school to grant the

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

degree. In 1983, the institution applied for funds under the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS) and the Research Center in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program. A Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (PhD) was initiated in 1988, and in 1992 the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico (CHE-PR) accredited the PhD Program and authorized PHSU to award a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Biomedical Sciences. In January 1995, the academic institution moved to a new campus with additional facilities. A Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program (PsyD Program) was begun in 1999 which was later expanded to offer a PhD in Psychology, Professional Certificate in Couples and Family Therapy, and Postgraduate Certificate in Neuroscience of Learning. In August 2002 a Master's of Public Health (MPH) program was started with specialization in Epidemiology, Environmental Health, and General Public Health. A DrPH in Epidemiology is also offered. On 5 September 2014, the Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences was acquired by Arist Corporation, which itself is an investment of global media, services and education company Bertelsmann. The university has a campus in St. Louis, Missouri. In March 2020 the school "announced an $80 million investment toward creating a new medical school" near their downtown location and on the former Pruitt-Igoe site.

Research

The Ponce Research Institute (PRI) at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) performs research in the basic, behavioral, public health, and clinical sciences. Research areas include non-communicable diseases (cancer, women's health, gastrointestinal disorders), health disparities, infectious diseases (HIV, dengue), neurosciences and behavioral sciences, genetics, and community health outreach (obesity, smoking). In 2002, an academic partnership was established with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, with involvement of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. T ...

. A grant awarded to the

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon ...

Neuro-Oncology Blood Brain Barrier Program has given many PHSU students the opportunity to participate in research and clinical fellowships. On 4 December 2014, Andreas Charalambous, executive dean of the University of Nicosia Medical School (UNMS), and David Lenihan, president and CEO of PHSU, signed an agreement to promote academic cooperation and collaboration in research.

Licenses and accreditation

The Ponce Health Sciences University is accredited by the following entities: *

Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico ''Their mission'' is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access to all the students. The Council of Education of Puerto Rico es, Consejo de Educació ...

(CHE-PR) *

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

Liaison Committee on Medical Education The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is an accrediting body for educational programs at schools of medicine in the United States and Canada.''Glossary.'' ACGME website. The LCME is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Co ...

(LCME) *

Council on Education for Public Health The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health. T ...

(CEPH) *

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

(APA) *

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is the body responsible for accrediting all graduate medical training programs (i.e., internships, residencies, and fellowships, a.k.a. subspecialty programs) for physicians in the ...

(ACGME) The university is

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among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

Notable alumni and members

* Admiral Joxel García, USPHS, MD, MBA - Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the

Public Health Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

, former Assistant Secretary of

Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

, and representative of the United States of America on the Executive Board of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

. * Charles Cuprill Oppenheimer - Trustee Emeritus

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences Medical schools in Puerto Rico Educational institutions established in 1977 Universities and colleges in Ponce, Puerto Rico 1977 establishments in Puerto Rico Education in Ponce, Puerto Rico