San Juan Bautista NEW LCME Accreditation

[Manuel714]

Been told it just happeneed: NEW LCME accredited school technically in the USA as of June 15, 2007. Best choice for students in waiting lists, few positions remain for the class of August 2007.

[Genossa maximillian]

If that is true then I have to say I told several people so. A little bit over a year ago, when two of our illustrious contributors-moderators were questioning how good of a school it was and obviously they did not knew what they were talking about. I encouraged a lot of people to enroll there, it was only 10k a year. But I was put down, specifically by 2 moderators in this club. If this is correct, and in fact they got the LCME stamp, time has proven me right. Now, LCME, I can only assume tuition will go up, as well as their requirements.

I just love when this happens.

Originally Posted by Manuel714

Been told it just happeneed: NEW LCME accredited school technically in the USA as of June 15, 2007. Best choice for students in waiting lists, few positions remain for the class of August 2007.

[Genossa maximillian]

Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista earned the LCME approval.

™ El Nuevo Día

I feel vindicated, since some people posted information about the school by hearsay, did not knew anything about the school or what was going on with the LCME process, among them 2 moderators, Az and Junni who have been proven wrong in their speculation, as I knew all along.

Congratulations to the school. For those who followed my advice and joined over other Caribbean schools and or Mexico schools, you are now in an LCME school. Of course you will not find it in the LCME web page yet, because the list dates to February 2007, the accreditation is in effect June 2007.

Peace to all

Max

[AUCMD2006]

Originally Posted by Genossa maximillian

Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista earned the LCME approval.

™ El Nuevo Día

I feel vindicated, since some people posted information about the school by hearsay, did not knew anything about the school or what was going on with the LCME process, among them 2 moderators, Az and Junni who have been proven wrong in their speculation, as I knew all along.

Congratulations to the school. For those who followed my advice and joined over other Caribbean schools and or Mexico schools, you are now in an LCME school. Of course you will not find it in the LCME web page yet, because the list dates to February 2007, the accreditation is in effect June 2007.

Peace to all

Max

if the approval is in effect june 2007 wouldn;t you be in fact attending a non accredited school prior to that? or do they make it retro-active to when they lost lcme accreditation to begin with.

i actually visited the school while in PR when i was stranded there for a day along with university of PR and the place was a disaster, the hospital their students rotate at was about as bad as i have seen in the states...probably something close to the old cook county but about a tenth the size. i was skeptical that it would get lcme back and contrary to what you beleive you can't enroll in a school hoping it will be lcme accredited sometime in the future when it lost it a few years back anymore than you can safely enroll in a non cali school hoping that it will be done by the time you graduate

in the same sense those who enrolled in saba are vindicated and glad they took the chance...what about students at st chris, st luke, mcl, kigezi, imsa, global, oceania, etc...doesn't seem like the gamble is worth it most of the time eh?

[Genossa maximillian]

The school is in Caguas not San Juan, some 35 kilometers from San Juan, on your way to Ponce. Traditionally facilities and infrastructure in P.R. are smaller and sub-par compared to mainland U.S., that is a fact. Even with its short commings P.R. produces excellent physicians from these schools, and this one is no exception.

Regardless of your argument, it is LCME approved, better option for those seeking licensing in all states, you will be a US grad, not an IMG, that is my point. Prior to that students could still sit for the NBME, as many did and are practicing in the U.S., I personally know some of them, great friends of mine. Do more research.

If you have an issue with them getting LCME tell the LCME, obviously they did their home work based on their expertise, which I assume, is better than ours. Where did you get the information that it lost it's LCME, it applied to have one, you can PM me to discuss the issue because I have known this school since 1978, when it was founded in Hato Rey, on top of an old supermarket, then moved to Bayamon, then to Caguas and it never had LCME. Quote me the year they had it, from when to when and when they lost it, document it please. They applied a number of years ago and did not get provisional accreditation because it was argued that Puerto Rico had too many medical schools already (Ponce, UPR and Bayamon did a good job lobbying against it), those are facts my estimate friend, not hearsay.

Concerning the students from the schools you mentioned, irrelevant, those were foreign schools on foreign soil. We are discussing a totally different case here, this is a school that has been in business probably before some people here were born. It was never a get-rich-quick scheme for the founders as the schools you mentioned, please, there is no comparison, not even close my friend.

San Juan Bautista was never a gamble, and I always recommended it as a viable alternative and always will.

Let me know.

Max

Originally Posted by AUCMD2006

if the approval is in effect june 2007 wouldn;t you be in fact attending a non accredited school prior to that? or do they make it retro-active to when they lost lcme accreditation to begin with.

i actually visited the school while in PR when i was stranded there for a day along with university of PR and the place was a disaster, the hospital their students rotate at was about as bad as i have seen in the states...probably something close to the old cook county but about a tenth the size. i was skeptical that it would get lcme back and contrary to what you beleive you can't enroll in a school hoping it will be lcme accredited sometime in the future when it lost it a few years back anymore than you can safely enroll in a non cali school hoping that it will be done by the time you graduate

in the same sense those who enrolled in saba are vindicated and glad they took the chance...what about students at st chris, st luke, mcl, kigezi, imsa, global, oceania, etc...doesn't seem like the gamble is worth it most of the time eh?

[AUCMD2006]

i have no issue with them getting lcme, the more the better! i just said from the looks of it the school/hospital didn't look like it had any money invested in infrastructure since its foundation because the carpet and walls looked like they were bought from a brady bunch garage sale. and trust me being from miami, chicago, and detroit i have seen my share of run down hospitals...oh i can throw bakersfield kern medical center on that list and actually that is what it looked like..kern

as for accreditation what i read was that they had been reviewed for it and did not receive it, i assumed it was a review of accreditation it had already gotten and not a new application that was my mistake for assuming it had lost it. i think someone pointed that out a few years ago also but now it will stick to memory

and i agree 10000000% that it is a better option than any carib school now but not 4 monhs, 10 months, 5 years ago because there was no guarantee that it would get lcme accred. trust me i would go there in a heartbeat over sgu, auc, ross, saba as of today but not back in 2003 when i started because all that coursework would have been null and void for licensure in the US unless they made the accreditation retroactive and imagine they would only make it retroactive to the application date and not to 1978 when the school started correct?

either way this is an outsanding opportunity for those students that can enroll there, man i would have liked to live in PR for a few years maybe get to see some of my wife's family

[Genossa maximillian]

Definitely a great new opportunity. The hospital you are talking about was the former Hospital Regional de Caguas, like almost all public hospitals in P.R. they have poor infrastructure, if you visit the 78 municipalities of the Island, Oh my G-d, you will cry. The school bought it when the government made a health care reform, that turned out bad. The school seized the opportunity to own their own hospital. Hospital Regional de Carolina is another of these bad looking hospitals. They used to call it "el matadero".

By the way, I do know one doc that around 5 or six years ago graduated from there and is practicing in the US, he took his NMBE , passed them and did residency in Boston. No problems for him, it took some legwork but it was not impossible to get licensed when it was in the limbo of not being LCME.

I do not believe the accreditation is retroactive, I don't see how it could happen legally speaking. Up to the LCME head honcho's I guess. For those already enrolled it is great news as well as for those who were admitted for the next class.

Max

Originally Posted by AUCMD2006

i have no issue with them getting lcme, the more the better! i just said from the looks of it the school/hospital didn't look like it had any money invested in infrastructure since its foundation because the carpet and walls looked like they were bought from a brady bunch garage sale. and trust me being from miami, chicago, and detroit i have seen my share of run down hospitals...oh i can throw bakersfield kern medical center on that list and actually that is what it looked like..kern

as for accreditation what i read was that they had been reviewed for it and did not receive it, i assumed it was a review of accreditation it had already gotten and not a new application that was my mistake for assuming it had lost it. i think someone pointed that out a few years ago also but now it will stick to memory

and i agree 10000000% that it is a better option than any carib school now but not 4 monhs, 10 months, 5 years ago because there was no guarantee that it would get lcme accred. trust me i would go there in a heartbeat over sgu, auc, ross, saba as of today but not back in 2003 when i started because all that coursework would have been null and void for licensure in the US unless they made the accreditation retroactive and imagine they would only make it retroactive to the application date and not to 1978 when the school started correct?

either way this is an outsanding opportunity for those students that can enroll there, man i would have liked to live in PR for a few years maybe get to see some of my wife's family

[mike james]

is this school taught in english? i cant seem to find this info anywhere on the school website...& do u have to be a Puerto Rican or at least some connection to PR?

[Genossa maximillian]

Spanish and english, mostly spanish, textbooks in english, used to be a school kind of for Puertoricans but not a requirement.

Originally Posted by mike james

is this school taught in english? i cant seem to find this info anywhere on the school website...& do u have to be a Puerto Rican or at least some connection to PR?

[honeybeemd]

This is a late comment. Commentator Max is correct in all respects. San Juan Bautista has always been a good school- from the beginning. They had high standards. The AMA did not like the school because it was begun without consulting the proper professional bodies. And the AMA had a valid point of irritation. However, years of high standards and hard work cannot be ignored. Many top medical pros were trained there - including top practitioners in Puerto Rico. Medical Boards tend to grant approval to all the prior graduates from non-accredited years, in light of
a school receiving LCME approval. Importantly,the San Juan Bautista school had other accreditations,both from the Puerto Rican Authorities and from the Central States prior to getting the LCME. It is a good school. In the end however,you yourself must prove yourself in medicine.The school is important, but is secondary to the physician -and
incredibly talented physicians doing great public good have on occasion
been prepared at mediocre institutions. In the end, it is you against the
grim reaper- so read, think and listen to your patients. Regards,honeybeemd