VA Caribbean Healthcare System Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a VA-based, university-affiliated Internal Medicine program in San Juan, Puerto Rico, operating within the VA Caribbean Healthcare System's 319-bed medical-surgical-psychiatric hospital and affiliated with the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, with historical continuity as the island's first ACGME-accredited IM program since 1956. The clinical environment centers on veteran patients across a broad Internal Medicine subspecialty base (Cardiology, GI, Pulmonary, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Hematology-Oncology, Rheumatology, Infectious Disease, Geriatrics) plus dedicated PACT continuity and preoperative clinics, giving residents exposure to chronic disease management and outpatient longitudinal care typical of VA systems. The program functions within a dense multi-specialty teaching hospital hosting PM&R, Psychiatry, Neurology, Nuclear Medicine, and Surgery residents, alongside affiliation-based exchange with University Hospital and San Juan City Hospital, suggesting an emphasis on interdisciplinary clinical training over a research-first identity. Bilingual (Spanish/English) fluency is embedded in the training environment given local university affiliations and patient population, and the program appears oriented toward producing board-eligible general internists rather than positioning itself as a fellowship pipeline or research powerhouse.