San Juan Bautista School of Medicine (SJBSM), a Hispanic serving institution, was founded in 1978 as a private, not-for-profit medical school. It is located in the east-central region of Puerto Rico (PR), a territory of the United States in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico is a small island with a high population density (approx. 953 people per square mile, higher than all states except New Jersey and Rhode Island). SJBSM is committed to educate culturally and linguistically diverse generation of physicians and other health professionals who are responsible of the health needs of underserved and medically vulnerable populations. SJBSM is located in Caguas (population 129,604), 18 miles south of San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico. Caguas is the fifth largest city in Puerto Rico. In 1999 the Puerto Rico Department of Health and the SJBSM signed a contract for the School to create an affiliation with the Dr. Eduardo Garrido Morales Hospital (aka, Caguas Regional Hospital). Currently, the Caguas Regional Hospital is administered by the Mennonite Health System (MHS); the latter system's facilities are among the diverse sites for inpatient and outpatient clinical education available to SJBSM students.
Since its inception, SJBSM has graduated over 1,450 medical doctors. In 2011, the institution expanded its academic offerings by adding a Master's Degree in Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, in keeping with its commitment to provide high-quality healthcare education programs to meet the needs of the Puerto Rican community and to develop an integrated educational model that facilitates the teaching of team-based care. During 2020, the institution worked toward the inclusion of a Master Degree in Physician Assistant as a new academic program. After obtaining the necessary accreditations, the program is expected to start its academic offering in January, 2021. Physician Assistant was included in the institution mission statement as a career option offered by the institution.
The School has established a network of ambulatory clinics, community organizations and hospitals that are serving as centers for research, internships, for clerkship rotations, and clinical electives that includes local and national facilities. The Institution continuously with its commitment to serve the community and the medically underserved and continue research productivity.
SJBSM developed and adopted this Institutional Development Plan (IDP) to be implemented from the years 2021-2025, based on the institutional vision, mission, goals and objectives and the assessment of the previous IDP 2016-2020. This 2021-2025 IDP is organized through the institutional strategic imperatives. This planning process will support the institutional development of our organization, and will serve as a roadmap for the implementation of future strategic initiatives and action plans.
We are committed to educating a culturally and linguistically diverse generation of physicians and other health professionals. Graduates will have the knowledge, skills, values, and competence to pursue career options in medicine, public health, nursing and physician assistant, deliver high quality care services, and conduct clinical research. The school’s special interest is centered on community health, conducting research on translational community medicine, and on graduating physicians and other health professionals who are responsive to the health needs of underserved and medically vulnerable populations.
To hold a leadership position among the purveyors of quality education in community medicine and primary care to support and strengthen the efforts of state and local governments in improving the health conditions and access to care to urban and rural communities.
The Strategic Planning Core Committee, whose members include faculty, administration, staff, and governing structures had the responsibility to develop the 2021-2025 Institutional Development Plan (IDP). The mission and institutional goals guided this committee to made decisions related to planning, resource allocation, program and curricular development, and the definition of institutional and educational outcomes. The 2021-2025 IDP is linked to the SJBSM’s overall mission and considers the institution’s goals, strengths, internal and external challenges, and academic opportunities. Each strategic goal has specific initiatives and measurable outcomes that are used to track progress. After institutional approval the IDP is disseminated to students, faculty, staff and collaborators. Annually, or as necessary, members of the Committee meet to monitor action plans, review outcomes, and make needed modifications.
SJBSM adopted the IDP to be implemented from the years 2021 – 2025, based on the institutional vision, mission, goals and objectives; through strategic initiatives and institutional academic and student service imperatives. This planning process supported the institutional development of our organization, and served as a roadmap for the implementation of future academic strategic initiatives and action plans.
Strategic Planning Core Committee Members
| Team Members | Position | Responsibility | Monitor/Outcomes | Data sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Yocasta Brugal | President | Comm. Chair | All outcomes | Team members reports |
| Dr. Irvin Maldonado | Academic Dean | Member | Medical education; Discipline integration |
Graduation Questionnaire; Independent Student Analysis; AAMC, MSCHE, ARC-PA , CCNE, CEPR, and LCME reports; Learning Assessment Office reports |
| Dr. José Ginel Rodriguez | Dean of Health Sciences | Member | Discipline integration of the BSN, PA and MPH academic programs | Course Evaluation Survey Report, Student Program Evaluation Report, grade report, graduation rate, retention rates, community services activities, and research projects. |
| Mr. Carlos F. Abreu | Dean for Administration and Human Resources | Member | Information technology; Recruit and retain diverse faculty and staff; Manage School resources and expand funding sources |
Diversity and Inclusion Committee reports; number of submitted and approved external grants, financial reports, employee evaluations. |
| Mr. Fernando Gonzalez | Director of Learning Assessment Office | Member | Academic Programs Assessments | Course Evaluation Survey Report, Student Program Evaluation Report, grade report, graduation rate, retention rates, community services activities, and research projects. |
| Dr. Yolanda Miranda | Dean for Student Affairs | Member | Students Services | Student services satisfaction surveys, Admission Office, Registrar Office, Financial Aid, Counseling, Student Programs effectiveness evaluation. |
| Dr. Shirley Valentín | Faculty Representative | Member | Faculty Needs | Faculty Board Reports |
| Dr. Ana Bermudez | Liaison Officer for Accreditation Agencies, Continuous Quality Improvement Director | Member | Continuous Quality Improvements of Academic Programs | AAMC, MSCHE, ARC-PA, CCNE, CEPR and LCME reports; Learning Assessment Office reports. |
| Mr. Jorge Torres | Information Technology Director | Member | Digital Resources and Infrastructure | Information Technology Assessment |
| Mr. Carlos Altamirano | Library Director | Member | Library resources inventory for academic programs | Curriculum of Academic Program, Student evaluation survey report |
| Dr. Estela Estape | Director of SJBSM Research Center | Member | Research among faculty and students | Annual Outcomes Report of the SJBSM Research Center |
| Mr. Juan Carlos Castro | Director of Finance | Member | School resources & expanding funding sources | Financial Reports |
- Provide a medical education, with graduates well-trained in integrated and team-based care, ethics, and outcome standards to optimally manage the care of individuals and entire communities.
- Integrate the disciplines of medicine, physician assistant, nursing and public health in medical education to enhance the connection between prevention, promotion and treatment of disease and improve population health.
- Cultivate the community engagement and community-based experiences by creating collaborative alliances with public and private agencies.
- Cultivate translational, clinical, behavioral and academic research by creating collaborative alliances among basic scientists, clinical faculty and community practitioners.
- Maintain and enhance the use of information technology as a tool for teaching, research, performance measurement, faculty development, and enhancing communication within the school and surrounding communities.
- Continue to reinforce the diverse network of clinical and community sites for rotations and hands-on training to strengthen students' clinical skills, research, public health, cultural competency, and health systems management.
- Maintain an institutional environment that is conducive to and supportive of uni-professional/interprofessional education, life-long learning, research, students' services, and a culture of continuous quality improvement.
- Recruit and retain outstanding, culturally and linguistically diverse faculty, students, and staff in order to increase diversity and recognize their contributions to the learning environment.
- Continue to manage the school resources with fiscal responsibility and explore new avenues for expanding funding sources.
- Develop a system to accurately evaluate the academic and non-academic measurable outcomes of medicine, public health, nursing, and physician assistant academic programs.
Five priority areas will constitute the priorities to be addressed by the strategic planning process over the five-year period. The priority areas were selected after analyzing the School's mission and vision, institutional goals, previous institutional strategic plan, availability of resources, the Continuous Quality Improvement annual report, accreditation standards, and opportunities in the external academic environment. The five priority areas are defined as follows:
- Provide a medical education, with graduates well-trained in integrated and team-based care, ethics, and outcome standards to optimally manage the care of individuals and entire communities.
- Research development and Community engagement.
- High quality student services.
- Faculty and staff development.
- Educational and financial resources.
|
Goals |
Institutional Strategic Imperatives |
||||
|
High Quality of Education |
Research & Community |
High Quality of Student Services |
Faculty/Staff Development |
Resources |
|
|
Provide a medical education, with graduates well-trained... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Integrate the disciplines of medicine, physician assistant, nursing and public health... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Cultivate the community engagement and community-based experiences… |
X |
X |
X |
||
|
Cultivate translational, clinical, behavioral and academic research... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Maintain and enhance the use of information technology as a tool for teaching... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Continue to reinforce the diverse network of clinical and community... |
X |
X |
X |
||
|
Maintain an institutional environment that is conducive to and supportive... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Recruit and retain outstanding, culturally and linguistically diverse… faculty, students and staff... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Continue to manage the school resources with fiscal responsibility... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Develop a system to accurately evaluate... |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
1. High quality education: uni-professional and inter-professional
Goal: to ensure that all academic programs are of a consistently high quality and in compliance with the curriculum committees and continuous quality improvement’s action plans and accreditation standards.|
Activities |
Responsible Personnel |
Time Frame |
Outcome |
|
Increase the interprofessional activities between the MD, MPH, Nursing and PA academic programs |
Academic Dean & Dean of Health Sciences |
One additional activity per year |
Obtain more high quality interprofessional activities to ensure the high-quality education |
|
Recruit a group of diverse/qualified faculty for MD, MPH, Nursing and PA programs |
President/ Dean |
One per Program/ year |
Ensure a high-quality education |
|
Hire a Faculty Development coordinator |
President/ Dean |
January 2021 |
Train the faculty to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Increase faculty development activities for faculty from MD, MPH, Nursing and PA programs |
Academic Dean |
Four additional faculty development activities each year |
Train the faculty to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Improve the educational hardware & software tools |
Library Director |
10% of improvement each year |
Support the faculty with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Improve curriculum evaluation tools |
Academic Dean |
2021 |
Better evaluation tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Continue the process of acquiring the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accreditation |
Dean of Health Sciences & Associate Dean of Graduate Studies |
2022 |
MPH CEPH accreditation |
|
Continue the development of distance learning tools |
Library Director |
2021-2022 |
Support the faculty and students with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Obtain the authorization of the CEPR and MSCHE to offer the MPH program in a distance learning modality |
President/ Dean CQI Director |
2021 |
Support the students with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Create a new academic program |
President/ Dean |
2024 |
Enrich a high-quality education |
|
Improve the computer Lab infrastructure |
IT Department |
2022 |
Support the students with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Create a Graduate Resource Center |
President |
2022 |
Support the students with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Create a Virtual Anatomy Resource Center |
President |
2022 |
Enrich a high-quality education |
|
Create two study rooms for PA students |
President |
2021 |
Support the students with better tools to ensure a high-quality education |
|
Create a new Academic Building for Administration and new programs |
President |
2023 |
Enrich a high-quality education |
2. Research development and Community engagement
Goal: Expand research initiatives and collaborations and build a comprehensive approach to community engagement.|
Activities |
Responsible Personnel |
Time Frame |
Outcome |
|
Increase the research overall budget |
President/ Dean |
10% of increase at the end of 2025 |
Expand the research initiatives |
|
Develop a Community Service/Service Learning Department |
President/ Dean |
2023 |
Build a comprehensive approach to community engagement |
|
Link all the Community Service Learning activities with inter-professional education activities |
Academic Dean & Dean of Health Sciences |
2023 |
Build a comprehensive approach to community engagement |
|
Recruit a group of diverse faculty/researchers for MD, MPH, Nursing and Physician Assistant programs |
President/ Dean |
One per Program/ year |
Expand the research initiatives |
|
Recruit a research initiative coordinator |
President/ Dean |
2021 |
Support the research initiatives |
|
Link the research development (training) with the Faculty Development yearly plan |
Research Director |
2022 |
Support the research initiatives |
|
Maintain and expand the number of research affiliations and agreements with national and international universities and research groups |
President/ Dean & Research Director |
One new research affiliation per year & renovate research affiliations |
Expand the research initiatives |
|
Increase the external research grants |
Research Director |
10% of increase at the end of 2025 |
Expand the research initiatives |
|
Maintain and establish new affiliations with community programs in Puerto Rico |
President/ Dean |
One new affiliation per year & renovate affiliations |
Build a comprehensive approach to community engagement |
High quality student services
Goal: Ensure that all student services are of a consistently high quality and in compliance with the students’ necessities.|
Activities |
Responsible Personnel |
Time Frame |
Outcome |
|
Acquired strong online platform for student services |
President/ Dean |
2021 |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
|
Recruit qualified personnel to manage the student services platform |
President/ Dean |
3 new qualified personnel by 2023 |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
|
Digitalize all the students service |
Associate Dean of Students Affairs |
20% per year |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
|
Increase development activities (trainings) of the Students Affairs deanship personnel |
Associate Dean of Students Affairs |
One additional development activity per division/ year |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
|
Strength the students’ services assessment |
Associate Dean of Students Affairs |
2024 |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
|
Create an assessable help desk for the student services |
Associate Dean of Students Affairs |
2025 |
Ensure that all student services are of consistent high quality. |
4. Faculty and staff development
Goal: Enhance the faculty and staff development program to create an environment of continuous improvement of teaching, research, ethics, professionalism, diversity and scholarly activities.|
Activities |
Responsible Personnel |
Time Frame |
Outcome |
|
Strength the infrastructure for faculty development activities |
President/ Dean |
2021 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Hire a Faculty Development coordinator |
President/ Dean |
January 2021 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Acquire software & hardware tools dedicated to the faculty development activities |
IT Director |
2022 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Strength the process to identify the priorities of the faculty development activities |
Academic Dean |
2021 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Strength the process of assessment of faculty development activities |
Academic Dean |
2021 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Link the faculty development activities with the continuing education activities |
Academic Dean |
2023 |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
|
Establish collaborations with individuals or institutions that will support the faculty development activities |
President/ Dean |
One collaboration per year |
Enhance the faculty and staff development program |
5. Educational and financial resources
Goal: Diversify and strengthen funding sources for teaching, research, fellowships and community engagement|
Activities |
Responsible Personnel |
Time Frame |
Outcome |
|
Increase the Alumni activities for student fellowships |
Associate Dean of Students Affairs |
One additional Alumni activity per year |
Strengthen funding sources for fellowships |
|
Increase the external research grants |
Research Director |
10% of increase at the end of 2025 |
Diversify and strengthen funding sources |
|
Establish a fee for service/rent program for external institutions |
Dean of Administration and Human Resources |
2022 |
Diversify and strengthen funding sources |
|
Create a new academic program |
President/ Dean |
2024 |
Diversify and strengthen funding sources |
|
Increase the external service grants |
President/ Dean |
10% of increase at the end of 2025 |
Diversify and strengthen funding sources |
|
Link the faculty development activities with the continuing education activities |
Academic Dean |
2023 |
Diversify and strengthen funding sources |
