Community Ties

We aim to be a relevant actor in Chile’s development by contributing to the formation of high-level professionals and specialists.

The UC School of Medicine trains their alumni to become agents of change committed to finding solutions for Chile’s health challenges. We aim to be a relevant actor in Chile’s development by contributing to the formation of high-level professionals and specialists. However, we are additionally involved in many other initiatives that further strengthen the relationship between Chilean society and the members of this faculty.  

  • Ancora Family Health Network: provides comprehensive health care services within the Chilean public health system for thousands of people in the Puente Alto and La Pintana communes.
  • National Health Survey (ENS): Two versions of the National Health Survey (2009-2010 and 2003) were delegated to the UC Faculty of Medicine by the Ministry of Health and developed by professors in the Public Health Department. This nationally representative survey measures the widespread health problems faced by the Chilean population (age 15+), and provides significant input for the production of health policies in Chile. The Faculty of Medicine will also lead the third National Health Survey.
  • Surgical Program for Congenital Heart Disease: The UC CHRISTUS Health Network is one of three entities that treat operable congenital heart disease through the Explicit Health Guarantees (GES) system, thus providing a valuable contribution to the public health system. This network is the only health care provider for some of the more complex congenital pathologies.
  • Clinica Familia: The Faculty of Medicine established an associated teaching agreement for undergraduates and postgraduates with the Clínica Familia for palliative care and the Fundación por la Dignidad del Hombre (Foundation for the Dignity of Man), where terminally ill low-income patients seek treatment. The Faculty contribute to technical and professional resources, including students of the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and the new health sciences careers (Physical Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Audiology and Speech Therapy).  This is a clinical facility for Family Medicine scholarship holders and volunteers from other specialties.
  • Josefina Martínez Hospital Foundation: is a clinical facility for the UC Faculty of Medicine, and the only health center in Chile and Latin America exclusively dedicated to the treatment of pediatric respiratory diseases. The hospital is financed by the Josefina Martínez Foundation, which is controlled by PUC through its Faculty of Medicine, since 2009.  In 2014, the hospital added the pediatric dentistry unit for hospitalized patients and outpatient treatment. This hospital has become a reference center for the southeast Santiago area in child respiratory pathologies and oxygen-dependent patients, and most emergency cases a transferred here from other hospitals.
  • UC Center for Downs Syndrome: was established in 2011 when several different disciplines joined to create a model for the inclusion of people with Down Syndrome. In Chile, cases of children with Down Syndrome has increased, as well as their life expectancy, reaching 60 years. People with this condition require tools to become self-reliant during their adulthood. The new UC Center for Down Syndrome building, located in Campus Oriente, promotes social inclusion through collaboration among different professionals working with children, teenagers, and adults with this condition.  
  • Support for América Solidaria Foundation:  Since 2010, the UC Faculty of Medicine has provided vaccination and health recommendations for volunteers of the América Solidaria Foundation who conduct social work in the region’s most vulnerable countries. This alliance strengthens the commitment of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile to train professionals with a vocation for social work, supporting volunteering initiatives that include students, teachers, and staff members.
  • Center of Bioethics: created in 1993 to develop, expand, and refine teaching, research, service, and outreach efforts in the field of bioethics, the center promotes a well-founded bioethical “Natural Law” and the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. This center plays a key role in the humanistic education of health professionals and helps the Faculty to teach the anthropological dimension of health sciences, offering their students a space for self-reflection of their medical ethics.
  • The Rural Health Works (TSR): This voluntary work group began within the UC Faculty of Medicine. For over a decade, the group has performed activities for the treatment, promotion, and prevention of health issues in socially and economically vulnerable rural communities of Chile. Since its foundation in 2002, thousands of students have participated in the group, benefiting residents in a number of regions, mainly from the IV to the VII Regions of Chile. The Rural Health Works (TSR) voluntary group conducts participatory workshops, preventive check-ups, home visits, and health education activities. Even though UC Nursing and Medical students lead the program, it is open to faculty members and students in health programs of other universities. 
  • Rural Internship in Nursing: Nursing students participate in rural internships as part of their final training. There are rural clinical settings in the communes of Villarrica, Curarrehue, Vichuquén and Pelluhue. This clinical experience takes place at urban and rural family health centers, rural emergency medical facilities, and rural medical stations. This field experience program, evaluated very positively by communal authorities, began in 1995 in Chile’s IX Region. The VII Region was included in 2010.

 

Other Associated Teaching Programs of the Faculty of Medicine

  • ECMO, ventilator support for premature infants in Neonatology
    • High Risk Pregnancy Program
    • Acompañares: pioneer program dedicated to support families having a pregnancy compromised for a life threatening fetal condition.
    • Committees of infectious disease experts for respiratory viruses, immunization clinics and winter campaigns.  
    • Sleep Center 
    • Sports Medicine
    • Transplant Program 
    • Cancer Program 
    • Advanced Center for Chronic Disease (ACCDiS)
    • Obesity Treatment Center (CTO)
    • Mental Health and Neurosciences
    • Thyroid Center
    • Endocrinology Laboratory and high blood pressure management in children 
    • Interventional Cardiology 
    • Multiple Sclerosis Unit
    • Food Allergy Program
    • Free from Tobacco Program and smoke-free

Associated Clinical Facilities

• Complejo Asistencial Dr. Sótero del Río, Servicio de Salud Met. Sur Oriente
• Hospital Clínico Metropolitano La Florida Dra. Eloísa Díaz Inzunza, Servicio de Salud Met. Sur Oriente
• Fundación Josefina Martínez de Ferrari
• Centros de Salud Familiar, Servicio de Salud Met. Sur Oriente
• Clínica Familia, Fundación por la Dignidad del Hombre
• Hogar de Cristo
• Hospital de Urgencia Asistencia Pública (HUAP)
• Armada de Chile
• Clínica Meds S.A
• Hospital Regional de Talca
• Servicio de Salud Bío Bío , Hospital de Los Ángeles
• Hospital del Niño Roberto del Río
• Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna (Fundación Profesor Anibal Ariztía)
• Corporación Municipal de Educación, Salud y Atención de Menores de Puente Alto (COSAM CEIF)
• Municipalidad de Puente Alto
• Corporación Municipal de la Florida, Municipalidad de la Florida
• Municipalidad de la Pintana (6 CESFAM + SUC)
• Municipalidad de Macul
• Municipalidad de Vichuquen
• Asociación Chilena de Seguridad
• Instituto Nacional del Tórax
• Instituto de Neurocirugía Dr. Alfonso Asenjo
• Instituto Chileno de Terapia Familiar
• Liga Chilena contra la Epilepsia
• Clínica Psiquiátrica del Carmen (San Juan de Dios)
• Servicio Nacional de Menores
• Pequeño Cotolengo
• Coaniquem
• Fundación Las Rosas
• Instituto Nacional del Cáncer