Universidad de Ciencias Medicas (UCIMED) is a medical school located at San José, Costa Rica. The school is known for teaching medicine and is recognized in the field nationally. UCIMED was originally founded in 1976 by surgeon and investigator Dr. Andres Vesalio Guzman Calleja by the name of Escuela Autónoma de Ciencias Médicas. In 1999 the medical school decided to become independent and thus changed its name to UCIMED. Three years after its name change in March 2003 the National System of Accreditation for Superior Education (SINAES) accredited the university for its teaching in medicine. In 1998 UCIMED introduced pharmacology as a major. Medicine, Pharmacy, Nutrition and Physiotherapy at UCIMED are about five-year programs. Those programs are semester based and classes are taught in Spanish. During the first five semesters students get a bachelor's degree (Bachillerato). During the fifth semester students start intensive training at local hospitals such as the San Juan de Dios and Hospital Mexico. After finishing the eleventh semester students obtain a (Licenciatura) degree.