TRAINING

Year of family medicine established: 19788

Type of Training: Residency Program

Length of Training: Training involves 6 years of Medical School, followed by 3 years of a Residency Program

Number of institutions that offer family medicine: University of Puerto Rico

Number of family medicine residents graduating each year: Three out of four residents stay in the mainland. The reason why many work outside of Puerto Rico is because it typically takes six, seven or eight months before they can start working as they don’t have provider numbers, stated by Dr. Humberto Guzman.

PRACTICE

Number of family doctors: Overall, there are 9,546 registered physicians. Specifically, in San Juan there are 132 family doctors.

Physician to population ratio: On average, the ratio of family physicians to patients is 180 per 100,000 people.

DALY: N/A per 100,000 individuals (Due to all Causes).

Life Expectancy:

• Females 2017: 83.9 years

• Males 2017: 76.3 years

Mortality rate 2017:

• 2017 Males: 148 per 1,000 male adults.

• 2017 Females: 64 per 1,000 female adults.

Infant Immunization-HepB3: % of 1-year-old children received: N//A%

College of Family Physicians (Y or N):

• No

Family medicine in Puerto Rico has been granted hospital privileges within the metro, such as Pavia Hospital, HIMA Bayamon, Auxilio Mutuo, and more. Family medicine is not fully recognized by the government, as Dr. Pablo Marrero stated “…but it is unfortunate that one does not feel the support of the government”. Individuals still do not recognize the importance of a family physician.

PRACTICE

There is a shortage of primary care deliverers in Puerto Rico, thus they needed to recruit nurses. After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico recruited as many as 45 health care professionals, those include nurses. They also have pediatricians, internists and obstetricians and gynecologists, though need more. Family physicians in Puerto Rico provide services to both ambulatory patients and inpatients. They take great pride and care in our practice, as stated by Dr. Marina Almenas. In Puerto Rico, clinical interventions involving direct patient care is the predominant health care model.