School of Tropical Medicine (Puerto Rico) facts for kids
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School of Tropical Medicine
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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School of Tropical Medicine - Univ. of Puerto Rico
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 Location in Puerto Rico
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| Location | Ponce de León Ave, Barrio Puerto de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
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| Area | 3.9 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Rafael Carmoega |
| Architectural style | Neo-Plateresque |
| Part of | Puerta de Tierra Historic District |
| NRHP reference No. | 83002297 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | September 29, 1983 |
The School of Tropical Medicine (which in Spanish is Escuela de Medicina Tropical) was an important school in Puerto Rico. It was started in 1926 by a law passed by the Puerto Rican government. Its main goal was to continue research on anemia and its causes. This research had begun with earlier groups like the Anemia Commissions. The school worked on its own until 1949. Then, it became part of the School of Medicine at the University of Puerto Rico.
Contents
History of the School
Fighting Anemia in Puerto Rico
Captain Bailey K. Ashford was a doctor in the United States Army. He came to Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. While working at a hospital in Ponce, he was the first to find and treat North American hookworm in 1899. Hookworm is a type of parasite that can make people very sick.
Dr. Ashford learned that hookworm was a major cause of anemia (a condition where your blood doesn't have enough healthy red cells) in Puerto Rico. He decided to start a campaign to treat people for this parasite. His efforts helped cure about 300,000 people. This was about one-third of Puerto Rico's population at the time! His work also lowered the death rate from this type of anemia by 90 percent.
Ashford and another doctor, Isaac González Martínez, asked the government to start a program to fight hookworm and anemia. In 1904, the government created the Puerto Rico Anemia Commission. Ashford was a founding member and served on it until 1906. This was a big step for medical research in Puerto Rico.
In 1911, Dr. Ashford, along with doctors Isaac Gonzalez Martinez, Pedro Gutiérrez Igaravides, and Walter King, suggested creating an Institute of Tropical Medicine. This institute would continue the important research started by the Anemia Commissions. In 1912, the local government agreed and set up the Institute of Tropical Medicine.
Starting the School of Tropical Medicine
In 1924, Antonio R. Barceló, who was the President of the Puerto Rico Senate, was in New York City. There, he met professors Jose Antonio Lopez Antongiorgi and Abraham L. Goodman from Columbia University's Medical School. They talked about how important it was to have a medical school in Puerto Rico. This school would focus on studying tropical diseases.
Senator Barceló liked the idea. On June 23, 1924, he helped pass a law that gave Governor Horace Towner the money needed to start the school.
The School of Tropical Medicine officially opened in 1925. It was only the second school in the United States and its territories to focus on tropical diseases. The first was Tulane's School of Tropical Medicine, started in 1913. The school was built in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan. Its building is special because it shows the Neo-Plateresque architectural style. In 1926, a new law changed the Institute of Tropical Medicine into the School of Tropical Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico. It was run with help from Columbia University.
After a long career in the Army, Dr. Ashford became a full-time teacher at the school. He continued his research on tropical medicine, especially anemia, with doctors Isaac González Martínez and Ramón M. Suárez Calderon.
Dr. González Martínez did a lot of research on parasitology (the study of parasites), bilharzia (a parasitic disease), leprosy, and typhoid fever. While at the school, he started a science journal called Anales de Medicina de Puerto Rico. He also wrote a chapter about his findings on intestinal bilharzia in a book.
Dr. Suárez Calderon found good ways to treat a type of anemia called tropical sprue. He also used new methods like electrocardiography (checking heart activity) and radioisotope (using radioactive materials for medical tests) in clinics. He also helped identify and treat the disease that causes heart rheumatism. After Dr. Ashford passed away, Suárez Calderon continued his work on anemia. In 1938, he shared his scientific findings on tropical sprue.
In 1927, the school offered classes in tropical medicine and nutrition. Many students went on to study more at Columbia University. By May 1930, the University of Puerto Rico started offering Master of Arts degrees to students who studied at the School of Tropical Medicine.
In 1931, William B. Castle and his helper Cornelius P. Rhoads studied hookworm and tropical sprue. They looked at how these diseases related to anemia. They found that liver extract could help some patients. Dr. George C. Payne continued to study anemia in 1936 and 1937.
Becoming the UPR School of Medicine
The agreement between the University of Puerto Rico and Columbia University for the School of Tropical Medicine ended in 1948.
In May 1949, the Puerto Rican government allowed the creation of the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, also known as the UPR School of Medicine. The old School of Tropical Medicine became part of this new school. The first students started classes in August 1950. On September 29, 1983, the building where the School of Tropical Medicine was located was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special historical site.
See also
In Spanish: Escuela de Medicina Tropical (Puerto Rico) para niños
- National Register of Historic Places listings in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- University of Puerto Rico
- University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
