A "class A" institution: the struggle for the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Although the possibility of developing a medical school in Puerto Rico surfaced periodically between 1900 and 1940, it was not until World War II, when the military draft uncovered the poor conditions of the Puerto Rican population and deprived the island of many physicians, that a doctor shortage was discovered and pressures for the creation of a medical school mounted. University authorities and the A.M.A. conducted separate studies to determine the viability of such a school; both concluded that Puerto Rico could support a medical college, but endorsed only a "Class A" school. There was less of a consensus concerning the benefits and objectives of the school, its location, and the relationship between the proposed institution and the existing School of Tropical Medicine. These issues embroiled a number of academic and political parties in a struggle which lasted five years.