The medical school Facultad de Medicina Alberto Hurtado, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia is the third oldest in the country and the oldest private medical school. It is devoted to medical education, research, and service on ethical, humanistic, and scientific basis. Our approach emphasizes clinical training, to which we dedicate 4 out of the 7 years of our entire academic curriculum. However, research activity is mandatory prior to graduation.
These seven years are divided in general, pre-clinical, and clinical education. General education (1st year) includes courses like Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, and Social Sciences. Pre-clinical education (2nd and 3rd years) includes courses like Structure and Function I and II (Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, and Physiology), Epidemiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Psychology, Pharmacology, Pathology, Ethics, and Radiology.
The clinical education (4th and 5th year) takes place in the main hospitals of Lima; there are clinical courses in Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. This period serves as a preparation for the last two years of medical school –Externship and Internship- where our students work as a part of the medical staff of different affiliated Hospitals.
It is worthy of mention that during the last year of our Medical Training Program (Internship), our students conduct their activities during the entire year (January 1st - December 31st). Their responsibilities include History and Physical Examinations (H & Ps), coming up with possible diagnoses, suggesting workup and treatment options, and doing day/night shifts in the Emergency Room. All these activities are supervised directly by residents and attending physicians. The clerkships they fulfill during this period are the following: Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Rural Medicine.
Evaluation during medical school varies according to the different educational levels. General and preclinical courses are graded based mostly on written examinations. In clinical courses, grading is balanced between written exams and clinical skills assessments. In Externship and Internship, clerkships evaluations are primarily based on clinical judgement and professional attributes, and to a lesser extent, written exams.
Our courses are graded from 0 to 20. Students’ performance in each course is calculated using the following equivalences.
Preclinical Coursework (2nd and 3rd years)
Score | Performance |
16.00-20.00 | Outstanding |
15.00-15.99 | Excellent |
14.00-14.99 | Very good |
13.00-13.99 | Pass |
11.00-12.99 | Low pass |
<11.00 | Fail |
Clinical Clerkships (4th and 5th years)
Score | Performance |
17.00-20.00 | Outstanding |
16.00-16.99 | Excellent |
15.00-15.99 | Very good |
13.00-14.99 | Pass |
11.00-11.99 | Low pass |
<11.00 | Fail |
Externship and Internship (6th and 7th years)
Score | Performance |
19.51-20.00 | Outstanding |
18.60-19.50 | Excellent |
17.50-18.59 | Very good |
13.00-17.49 | Pass |
11.00-12.99 | Low pass |
<11.00 | Fail |
In 2014, our school introduced the use of Objective Structured Clinical Evaluations, which are taken by 4th, 5th and 6th year medical students. Starting in 2017, students need to pass their final OSCE in order to graduate.
Before graduating, students must hand in a research project as their thesis. When they complete medical school, they obtain the degree of Médico Cirujano (Physician and Surgeon) and are allowed to practice medicine at national level without supervision.
It is worth mentioning that our school complies with the AAMC “Guidelines for Medical Schools Regarding Academic Transcripts” for grading report and that students are not required to complete USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 for promotion and/or graduation.
Currently, MSPE is composed at the request of graduates who wish to apply to a Residency Training Program in the United States. The person in charge is the Director of the Undergraduate Medical Program of the School of Medicine, who is a faculty member familiar with most of the students. The sources of information are the students’ academic records, supplemented by interviews with clinical tutors when required. Narrative comments from medical school course, clerkships, or elective directors are used in the composition of this document whenever they are available. A brief interview with the graduate is also held to collect information that may be unknown to the school. Students are not allowed to review the final version of their MSPE prior to transmission.