Universidad de Ciencias Médicas

The University of Medical Sciences (Spanish: Universidad de Ciencias Médicas, UCIMED) is a private medical university in San José, Costa Rica. It is the largest and oldest private medical school in Costa Rica and one of the most prestigious in Latin America. Currently the main campus is located in the country's capital with the latest technology in medical education and one of the best simulated hospitals in the region. The university offers a great variety of degrees such as Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Microbiology and Clinical Chemistry, Licentiate of Physiotherapy, Licentiate of Nutrition and Doctor of Pharmacy. UCIMED also offers master's degrees and medical specialties such as a Master's Degree in Health Management and Specialty in Gynecology and Obstetrics. UCIMED was founded in 1976 by surgeon and researcher Andrés Vesalio Guzmán Calleja, who was one of the original founders of the national medical school of Costa Rica. It was originally named Escuela Autónoma de Ciencias Médicas (Autonomous School of Medical Sciences). It started as an initiative that was championed by Dr. Guzmán and collaborators as a response to ideological differences between the authorities of the national university of Costa Rica known as the University of Costa Rica (UCR), which was the only university who offered a medical degree. The conflict originated in part because in this particular time access to learn medicine was reserved to individuals with a specific ideological trend. Initially the campus was based in the San Juan de Dios Hospital, using the infrastructure of the hospital's psychiatric wing. The emblem of the institution bears the dome of its first grounds at the hospital. At the beginning it served as the medical school of an established university known as UACA. However, in 1999 the medical school separated from its partnership with UACA and changed its name to UCIMED establishing itself as an independent institution.