New medical school opens in British Virgin Islands

 




Caribbean National Weekly reports that the British Virgin Islands will in summer 2025 open  the  first medical school. The Tortola campus of the Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) School of Medicine will officially begin classes on July 28, 2025.

At a press conference , university executives and government officials announced d that students enrolled in the four-year medical program will complete their first two years of coursework and lab training in Tortola before transitioning to one of three PHSU-affiliated campuses in Puerto Rico or the mainland United States for their clinical rotations.

 This structure aligns with accreditation requirements set by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM), which mandate that at least two years of education be completed in the U.S. or a U.S. territory.

The medical school has already secured provisional accreditation from both accrediting bodies, along with a provisional license from the Virgin Islands’ Higher Education Licensing Board under the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports.

According to school officials, interest in the program has been high, with over 900 applications submitted for just 50 available seats in the inaugural class. So far, 38 students have been accepted, with 60 per cent g from the mainland U.S., 35 per cent from Puerto Rico, and 5 per cent from other countries. One student from the Virgin Islands is among the accepted applicants.

The BVI government has awarded fully paid tuition to two local students.

 

Information source: Caribbean National Weekly

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