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Dean’s Message

The greatest gift in life is to be able to heal.  To have the knowledge and skills to promote health and cure illness; both physical and mental.  And to use those talents to advance science to achieve the best diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Ponce Health Sciences School of Medicine is a Scientific Home. Here, students learn interactively through our dynamic classroom.  You combine the traditional anatomical sciences cadaver lab with high-tech three-dimensional anatomical software.  They interact daily with seasoned successful researchers in the areas of Neurosciences, Infectious Diseases, Cancer, and many others.  And they study in a warm, cozy environment where faculty and staff know our students and are continuously watching for their wellbeing.  An enhancement of our main campus in Ponce is that students are trained in a bilingual (English-Spanish) academic environment that prepares them to serve both the Puerto Rican as well as the growing Hispanic population in the USA. Students at our St. Louis campus are likewise in a truly diverse environment that enhances cultural competence and prepares them better to serve underserved communities. They also have the opportunity to learn Spanish through our Language Support Program.

Our medical students do their clinical rotations in diverse settings:  from rural clinics to tertiary-care hospitals, both in Puerto Rico, as in the USA.  Our biomedical sciences students publish in widely known peer reviewed scientific journals and present in prestigious national meetings.  Most of them continue post-doctoral training at renowned institutions in the USA.

Throughout our more than 46 years in Ponce, we have graduated more than 3,000 physicians, biomedical scientists and master in science in medical sciences.  The vast majority of them are successful practitioners and scientists either at Puerto Rico or the USA.  This is evidence of compliance with our mission to educate bilingual ethical professionals who provide compassionate, culturally competent health care and generate high impact research to reduce health disparities in the populations we serve in Puerto Rico and the US, through high quality education in a diverse environment

Image of Dr. Olga Rodriguez de Arzola

Olga Rodríguez de Arzola, MD, FAAP

Dean of Medicine Ponce Health Sciences University

Welcome to Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine!

Our Mission
To educate bilingual ethical professionals who provide compassionate, culturally competent health care and generate high impact research to reduce health disparities in the populations we serve in Puerto Rico and  the US, through high quality education in a diverse environment.

Academic Programs

Doctor in Medicine

The Medical Education Program at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU-SOM) is a 4-year program with a duration of 166 weeks. It grants a doctor of medicine degree (MD degree). The Program consists of two years of pre-clinical (basic science) courses in the core disciplines of Gross Anatomy, Histology and Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology/Immunology and Neurosciences.

PhD. in Biomedical Science

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Biomedical Sciences is an integrated, interdepartmental program in the basic biomedical sciences that seeks to provide trainees with a broad-based two-year core curriculum followed by advanced courses and dissertation research leading to the Ph.D. degree.

Master of Science in Medical Sciences

The Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) is an integrated, multidisciplinary interdepartmental program in the basic medical sciences that is designed to provide trainees with a broad-based one-year core curriculum followed by a comprehensive examination leading to the Masters (MS) degree.

BINARY PROGRAM

Accreditation

The Medical Education Program is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

Ponce Health Sciences University’s medical education program at Puerto Rico is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The accreditation includes all of its campuses in Puerto Rico, and its campus in Saint Louis, Missouri.

LCME contact information

LCME Secretariat

Veronica M. Catanese, MD, MBA
LCME Co-Secretary and Senior Director, Accreditation Services

Barbara Barzansky, PhD, MHPE
LCME Co-Secretary and Director, Undergraduate Medical Education

Robert B. Hash, MD, MBA
Assistant LCME Secretary and Associate Director, Undergraduate Medical Education`

You said,
We did

  • CANVAS Improvement Project
    • CANVAS Common Shell across all courses
    • Additional information tab
  • Video Improvement Project
    • Course video content updated
    • Videos available in English and Spanish
    • Closed Captioning Added
  • Organ System-Based Integrated Curriculum Project
    • Implementation for AY 2025-2026
  • Exam Questions Reviewed and Updated
  • Integrated Exams for 2nd Year
  • Osmosis Platform Available for All PHSU-SOM Students
  • Pre-Clinical Classes Digital Calendar

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Thank you for inquiring into
 Ponce Health Sciences University 
for your education

We are working on providing you with an improved and updated application experience. You will soon receive information about the launch of our new application portal for the 2023-24 academic year

For MD Secondary Application click HERE

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