TORTOLA — British Virgin Islands officials on Monday launched the Ponce Health Sciences University BVI campus at the H. Lavity Stoutt College in Road Town.
It marked the fourth campus under the Puerto Rico university since its founding in 1977.
The first class, comprising 50 students from the BVI, Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland and other countries, will begin training on July 28.
“We believe our presence in the BVI will be very beneficial for the territory because it will provide a viable health education option for students in the BVI, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean region, the U.S., and other international markets,” Gino Natalicchio, PHSU president said. “The world is experiencing a physician shortage, and we believe in creating opportunities and pathways for health science students so they can achieve their goals. The school will also help generate many direct and indirect jobs in BVI and leave a positive impact not just on the economy, but on health care outcomes overall.”
BVI Premier Natalio Wheatley, a former Education minister, said that for the first time, students will be able to study medicine at an internationally accredited medical school located in the BVI. They will complete the first two years of the program at Stoutt college with clinical rotations during the third and fourth year occuring at major hospital systems in Puerto Rico and the United States.
“There are quite a number of positive implications from the establishment of this medical school in the territory for the Virgin Islands and our people. First of all, it makes medical studies more accessible and cheaper for Virgin Islanders who are interested in becoming doctors,” Wheatley said. “Virgin Islanders do not have to leave their homes and their families and go overseas to study medicine. They can do it right here, at least for the first two years, instead of having to pay costs for travel and accommodation abroad.”
He added that it’s his hope “that with the lower cost and convenience, more Virgin Islanders will take up the opportunity to enter the field of medicine and to take up positions in our local health care institutions, contributing to the health care needs of our people and strengthening our capacity within the territory. PHSU has gone the additional mile to award full tuition scholarships to up to two Belongers each year.”
Anne Peterson, dean of the PHSU-BVI School of Medicine, said she is committed to excellence in training – and results.
“If our students succeed, then we at the BVI School of Medicine succeed,” she said. “First, they need a great education, then access and success in clinical rotations, which will get them into great residency programs. My driving vision for them is that, once they graduate, they will all provide excellent care with compassion and understanding in whatever final discipline they choose.”
Wheatley said that PHSU will restore two buildings at the community college and add four class rooms. A lab is being built in conjunction with B&F Medical. There are also plans for additional construction work to expand the academic facilities for the medical school to 20,000 square feet, which will create jobs for the local construction sector, and inject funds into the economy, he said.
“As more cohorts are enrolled every year, the demand in these and other areas will also increase,” Wheatley said. “And if institutions in other fields and disciplines see the success of PHSU and decide to open campuses in the BVI, there will be even more economic activity and opportunities for the Virgin Islands to prosper.”