Universidad de Ciencias Medicas

Universidad de Ciencias Medicas (UCIMED) is a medical school located at San Jose, Costa Rica. The school is well known in the teachings of medicine and is recognized in the field nationally and internationally. UCIMED was originally founded in 1976 by surgeon and investigator Dr. Andres Vesalio Guzman Calleja with the name of UACA (Universidad Autonoma Centro Americana. However, in 1999 the medical school of UACA decided to become independent and thus changed its name to UCIMED. Three years after its name change in March 2003 the National System of Acreditation for Superior Educacion (SINAES) accredited the university for its teaching in medicine.

In 1998 UCIMED introduced pharmacology as a major. Many students get training at pharmaceutical companies located in San José.

Medicine at UCIMED
Medicine at UCIMED is an intensive program of five year and a half. The program is semester based and classes are taught in Spanish. During the first five semesters students get a bachelor's degree in Health Science (Bachiller en Ciencias de la Salud). During the fifth semester students start intesive training at local Hospitals such as the San Juan de Dios and Hospital Mexico. After finishing the eleventh semester students obtain a Licenciado en Medicina y Cirugía y el Doctorado Professional en Medicina y Cirugía or the equivalent of the M.D.

In March 2003 the National System of Acreditation for Superior Educacion (SINAES) granted the accreditation of UCIMED medical program. . This turned UCIMED into the first private university with an accredited career in medicine. Currently the university is going through a reacreditation program to improve and increase their educational standards.

Medical Rotation at Hennepin County Hospital
In February 2006 UCIMED signed an agreement of mutual cooperation with Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) This agreement allow students from UCIMED to do their internship rotation on internal medicine and surgery at HCMC. Students are fully covered by a mal-praxis insurance given by HCMC. HCMC has been listed among America's Best Hospitals by US News & World Report magazine every year since 1999.



Postgraduate Studies
UCIMED also offers postgraduate studies for medical students.

Admissions
The university require students from Costa Rica to do an aptitude test in order to enter the university. Students whoes grades in the test are not at the standard of the university are granted an interview with the Dean of Medicine to assess their motivation. Costa Rican students must also present their High School diploma and grades.

International Students Admission
International students are always welcome to the university if they the provide documentation that the university requires. The university does not require international students to do the aptitude test. The documents required by the university are as follow:


 * Fill in solicitation form.
 * Two photographs passport size.
 * Two photocopies of the passport.
 * Medical report
 * Vaccine Receipt of Hepatitis B, D.P.T, small pox, chicken pox, tuberculosis, parotidis and rubéola.
 * Two photocopies of High School diploma (authetified)*
 * Apply for psicometric test of the university
 * Apply for an interview the Director of studies to check for the comprehension of Spanish. If necessar the director will apply a test to verify the manipulation of the language.
 * Sign contract with the university
 * Certification of High School grades (authetified)*
 * Certification of University grades if available (authetified)*
 * Two photocopies of the university diploma if available (authetified)*

(*)Authetification must be done at the local embassy of the country were the documents are given. After this authentification the Ministry of Exterior and Education of Costa Rica must authentify it too.



Agreement with Kaplan Inc.
Recently UCIMED successfully signed an agreement with Kaplan, Inc. to prepare medical students for the USMLE.