50 Ordinary Graduation
Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC)

Rector's words

Madam President of the Board of Regents, Lic. Laura Acra
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Board of Regents
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Academic Council and directors, teachers and collaborators of INTEC
Guest speaker, Dr. Pedro Ureña
Graduates and Graduates
Family and related
Ladies and Gentlemen

With this graduation ceremony, we symbolically close a cycle of special relevance in the training of those who in a very short time will become INTEC graduates. And as on every occasion, I begin my words with the expression of a feeling of pride, because as Rector I have witnessed the dedication, responsibility and enthusiasm with which the current graduates took on the challenge of developing as professionals and growing as human beings. . Therefore, my main objective is to congratulate each and everyone for the achievement achieved, and to thank all the people who have supported them along the path that today concludes successfully to give way to new experiences.  

I know, graduates and graduates, that the task has been very arduous, and in some moments some or some could have wondered if that of "life is harder than INTEC" is true. So I want to reward you not only with the award of a diploma, but also by sharing some good news that clearly shows the type of university that you are a part of. To Engineering students, I will tell you that just three days ago we received the results of the evaluations from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology regarding compliance with the Standards established by that body for the Engineering schools of our country. In this sense, I am pleased to inform you that the eight INTEC degree programs received an A rating, thus being the only institution that achieved the highest rating in each of its programs. If we add this to the fact that this week we received confirmation that three new programs had been accredited by an international agency, we can conclude that… INTEC Engineering continues to be INTEC Engineering. Congratulations, Engineers and Engineers, for such an impressive achievement!

Similarly, I have a small gift for the graduates of the area of ​​Health Sciences. My present consists of informing you that in this year, INTEC Medicine graduates obtained the highest percentage of approval in the annual exams for entry to Medical Residences, surpassing the students of all other universities and thus reiterating our undisputed leadership in the scope of that career. To the graduates of the Business area, I inform you that at this time we are immersed in the accreditation process that covers all our programs, in a task that, once it has been successfully concluded, will serve to certify that all careers in This area has an international quality standard.

And, of course, I cannot stop praising the work of our Social Sciences and Humanities area, which is also beginning an accreditation process for its Psychology career, and of our Basic and Environmental area, whose graduates of the Bachelor's Degree in Actuarial Mathematics constitute one of the greatest pride of our institution. All these evidences, along with many others that it would be impossible to summarize at this time, honor the vision set forth in our current strategic plan, in which INTEC set itself as a medium-term goal to be recognized, nationally and internationally, as a model. university, for its academic quality, for the quality of its processes and for its contribution to the development of society.

But all those achievements would be irrelevant if they were not put into action for the benefit of the Dominican men and women. That is why, in addition to its teaching and research work, our institution continues to play an important role in various national areas, in which it contributes its scientific objectivity, its academic prestige and its political plurality to the best ends. For several months, to cite just one example, our university has been hosting an event of transcendental relevance, such as the tripartite discussion for the reform and modernization of the Labor Code that has been in force since 1992. The objective of this process is double: on the one hand, increasing employment and improving the living conditions of workers, and on the other, increasing the competitiveness of the companies established in our territory.

In this framework, we have encouraged the development of a fruitful dialogue, through which partial agreements have been reached in various aspects, including mediation and conciliation mechanisms in labor disputes, mechanisms for appealing labor sentences, the rules for carrying out collective agreements and for the operation of workers' unions, among others. Currently, the three parties (i.e. government, business unions and workers unions) are evaluating the options that have been put on the table on the thorniest issues, and it is expected that in the near future we will be able to reach definitive agreements on all pending issues, among which the protection of maternity, the conditions of domestic work, the rules to terminate a labor contract and the regulation of the working day stand out.

For obvious reasons, these agreements will have a significant impact on the dynamics of the labor market and will determine the evolution of our living conditions over the next decades. On our part, we guarantee our best effort to ensure that the results achieved are of benefit to the majority, in correspondence with our commitment to Dominican society.

To end these brief words, let me now introduce our guest speaker to all of you. Dr. Pedro Ureña is a graduate of the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo INTEC, where he graduated with honors in 1990. Later, he continued his specialization studies at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami, Florida, where he completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. In 1996 he was admitted to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island to continue his specialization as an Interventional Cardiologist, and graduated as such in 1997. Since that time, this doctor has developed an impressive professional career, in the which highlights the following achievements:

• First Corevalve Percutaneous Aortic Valve Implant in Central America and the Caribbean.
• First Percutaneous Aortic Hummingbird Valve Implant in the world.
• First Implantable Automatic Defibrillator Implant in the Dominican Republic.
• First Coronary Bioabsorbable Stent Implant in the Caribbean and Central America.

In the management field, from 2008 to 2013 he served as President of the Medical Council at the Centers for Advanced Medicine, Medical Conferences and Telemedicine (better known as CEDIMAT). As an academic, he has been coordinator and principal investigator of several studies, and pedagogue at the Residency of Internal Medicine at the Salvador B. Gautier Hospital, as well as a “Teaching Fellow” at the Brown University School of Medicine. At the community level, he is the Founder of “Heart Care Dominicana”, a foundation for the care of poor people with health problems. Finally, Dr. Ureña currently presides over the First Dominican Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and serves as Medical Director of Associated Cardiovascular Medicine (MCA).

For all these experiences, the words of our guest have a special value, and I ask that we receive him with a loud applause. Thanks a lot!