Student Life
Student Life
Located in Puerto Ricos lush tropical southern plain, Ponce is known as the pearl of the south (La Perla del Sur). The epic panoramas of the central mountain range of la cordillera meet the calm sapphire waves of the Caribbean Sea.
PHSU’s campus has features such as modern teaching facilities, research laboratories, library, and more.
Students create the heart and soul of PHSU community. With over 30 student interest groups all PHSU students are actively encouraged to participate in off-campus activities and community service initiatives.
The Ponce and larger Puerto Rico community are PHSU’s home. Since 1977 a core mission of the university is to encourage our students to explore our island and to serve those in need.
Experience Our Campuses
Ponce
Experiencing the expanded campus of Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) is an immersion into a thriving ecosystem of education, innovation, and community engagement. Situated in the heart of Ponce, Puerto Rico, the campus now boasts an enhanced infrastructure, reflective of the institution’s commitment to excellence and growth. As students traverse the newly constructed facilities, they encounter state-of-the-art classrooms, research labs, and collaborative spaces designed to foster interdisciplinary learning and research. The expansion not only signifies physical growth but also amplifies PHSU’s impact on the region’s economic and social landscape. With increased capacity and resources, the campus continues to serve as a catalyst for healthcare innovation and workforce development, empowering students to address the evolving needs of diverse patient populations. From its expanded footprint emerges a vibrant hub of academic inquiry, poised to shape the future of healthcare delivery and contribute to the well-being of communities locally and globally.
San Juan
Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) offers the opportunity for people in the metropolitan and surrounding areas to start a career in the discipline of psychology and medical sciences in a prestigious institution with high qualified faculty. We are located in Santurce, near the Sagrado Corazón train station. In addition, our students have medical service centers, businesses and emblematic tourist attractions of Puerto Rican history close to the campus. Our Campus counts with a swimming pool, gym, green areas, library, cafeterias and sports facilities. Our center is monitored 24 hours a day by security personnel and has a broad and secure parking area.
White Coat Ceremony
Each year, a White Coat Ceremony is held for first-term students entering the four-year Doctor of Medicine program at the School of Medicine. The White Coat Ceremony is an important milestone in students’ lives because it marks their entry into this noble profession.
Student Associations
Several of PHSU’s student associations include:
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) is an independent national organization of medical students. In individual schools AMSA plays an active role in student life through community service projects, workshops and speaker presentations. These activities help keep medical students aware of the world around them.
National membership in AMSA provides many advantages. Members receive The New Physician, AMSA’s national magazine, each month.
Other benefits include discounts on certain medical texts, availability of health and life insurance, and opportunities for students wishing to spend a few months working abroad. AMSA is open to all medical students and their participation is welcome.
Medical students have a place in organized medicine through student membership in the American Medical Association (AMA). Each accredited medical school in the U.S. can be represented in the AMA-Medical Students Section (AMA-MSS) by a delegate and alternate delegate, who are the voting members. Nevertheless, assemblies are open to all medical students, and any student may submit a resolution to AMA-MSS for consideration.
Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) is the only national honor medical society in the world. Its goal can be expressed in a phrase: to recognize and perpetuate excellence in the medical profession. Organized nationally in 1902, the PHSU chapter was chartered in 1990.
Medical students, faculty, and alumni can be selected for AOA membership. Scholastic achievement, is a prime consideration, but is not the sole criterion for election. Integrity, leadership, and devotion to the welfare of one’s fellowman are important attributes. A maximum of one sixth of each graduating class may be inducted into the honor society. Membership may also be extended to faculty and alumni who have established themselves as local or national leaders in clinical practice, medical education or biomedical research.
Each year the honor society sponsors a variety of activities aimed at enriching educational environment such as the community service projects designed by its members to achieve the principle
behind the society’s motto which is “worthy to serve the suffering”.
Specialty Interest Groups have the purpose of helping the medical student learn more about the specialty as a career of choice. It also prepares the students for the resident matching process and promotes activities in the community. Some interest groups are
Family Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and others.
The Graduate Student’s Association (GSA) is a fully autonomous student body that represents all graduate students to the community of Ponce Health
Sciences University (PHSU). The GSA formally represents the interests, ideas, and suggestions of the graduate students and helps individual graduate students with specific problems related to all aspects of the graduate program.
One of the main goals of the GSA is promote communication between the graduate students themselves, as well as between the school’s administration and its various departments.
The PsyD Student Association was founded in l999 as a forum for discussion of recent issues in Psychology. Its mission also includes support to the student body and community service.
PHSU Tuna: It is the first tuna of a School of Medicine in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean; it aims to create a group for any student of our institution who is interested in a space of brotherhood, music and service.
Link to contact info for each group
Living in Ponce
To learn more about living in Puerto Rico the State Department of Puerto RIco has prepared “Campus Puerto Rico”, a valuable resource to any perspective student:
http://www.campuspuertorico.pr.gov/index.php/en/
If you are interested in learning more about the city of Ponce below is a link to the City’s official webpage
Safety & Security
As stated in the crime awareness and campus security act (Jeanne Clery Disclosure Security Policy) you are able to request a copy of PHSU’s security and safety report. If you have any questions about this report feel free to contact Betsy Rodriguez, Safety officer.
Below is a list of key contact information for campus safety.