The Ponce Health Sciences, University is an institution of academic excellence located in Ponce, a city on the southern coast of the tropical island of Puerto Rico.
The institution was founded in 1977 by the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. Two years later, the University decided to phase out the barely established medical program. In January 1980, the Ponce Medical School Foundation, Inc., assumed responsibility for the school’s operation. Ponce School of Medicine graduated its first class of 23 students in 1981. Since then, it has operated uninterruptedly and has graduated more than one thousand health professionals.
It offers five doctoral programs: Medical Education Program (MD); PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences; Doctoral Programs in Clinical Psychology (PsyD and PhD); and the Doctoral Program in Public Health in Epidemiology. The Program in Clinical Psychology also offers two professional certificates, the Certificate in Couples and Family Therapy and the Postgraduate Certificate in Neuroscience of Learning and a Master of Science degree in School/Clinical Psychology with specializations in Neuropsychology or Neuroscience of Learning. The Public Health Program also grants master degrees in general public health, epidemiology and environmental health. Recently (2014) the University incorporated a Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) for those students who want to supplement the undergraduate record with an enhanced science preparation in order to be eligible for admission to any of the health professions, including medicine.
The Ambulatory Center for Medical Research (CAIMED in Spanish) was initiated in 2001 and is participating in over forty clinical studies aimed at improving the quality of healthcare being offered to our population.
PHSU Wellness Center, an intramural multispecialty ambulatory healthcare center, was inaugurated in 2001. It also serves as a teaching site for clinical clerkships.
Affiliations with prestigious educational and scientific institutions, training programs and healthcare services (both in the continental U.S. and in Puerto Rico) have also been established.
The institution was chosen by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, to operate one of 62 Regional Extension Centers (RECs) in the United States, in order to help primary care physicians successfully adopt and implement health information technology.
Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences was acquired by Arist Corporation in September 2014, to operate Ponce Health Sciences University. Unique in mission but global in its vision, Arist is developing a global network of affiliated health sciences universities and related institutions that are driven by a common and unrelenting commitment to superior student preparation that leads to excellent patient care and discoveries that improve the human condition.
