History

Private Polytechnic Higher Education Establishment, which resulted from the conversion of the Rehabilitation School.

vista aérea da escola fotografia antiga da escola
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The Pioneering Reference School

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The Alcoitão School of Health Sciences is a Private Higher Polytechnic Education Institution, established from the conversion of the Rehabilitation School, under Decree-Law No. 185/94 of March 31. The Founding Entity is the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), a non-profit public utility institution founded over 500 years ago, engaged in the fields of solidarity, social action, and health.

The ESSALCOITÃO was established in 1994 from the conversion of the Alcoitão Rehabilitation School (ERA), created by Decree No. 22034 on June 4, 1966. At that time, the ERA was part of the Alcoitão Rehabilitation Center, an institution dependent on the SCML. The SCML’s experience in training healthcare professionals in rehabilitation dates back several years earlier, with the establishment of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy courses in 1957 and Speech Therapy in 1962. Despite its recent integration into the national education system (1994), the ESSALCOITÃO has accumulated over 45 years of experience in training Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech and Language Therapists, being the first school in Portugal to train these professionals.

vista aérea da escola

History

The historical memory of the evolution of this educational institution, leading to its current status as a higher education school, spans five decades, during which three distinct phases can be identified. These correspond to changes in the nature of its oversight, which can be summarized through the following milestones:

1st PHASE – CREATION

Private Nature Status

On the initiative of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy courses were launched.

Start of the Speech Therapy course.

Official Creation of the Rehabilitation School, by Ordinance No. 22034, of June 4, of the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance, integrated into the Rehabilitation Medicine Center, an institution of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa. (Through this Ordinance, the 7th year of high school is now required as conditions for entry into ERA).

Creation of the 1st Provisional Statute of the School and the Provisional Board of Directors. This stage marks the separation of the Rehabilitation School from the Alcoitão Rehabilitation Medicine Center (CMRA), although only partially. The Director of the CMRA is no longer the Director of the ERA, which marks its pedagogical autonomy, but due to it not having an autonomous budget and the Administrator of the CMRA continuing to be, inherently, the Administrator of the school, it was not endowed with financial and administrative autonomy.

2nd PHASE

Acquisition of Public Nature status

By Decree – Law No. 480/77 of 15 November, the School’s dependency passes from Santa Casa da Misericórdia to the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance and the School’s Board of Directors is provisionally confirmed. This evolution is associated with the fact that the Rehabilitation Medicine Center, with which the school was associated since the beginning of its creation, was “nationalized”, becoming part of the public sector network. Financial and administrative dependence on the CMRA was thus maintained.

By Decree – Law nº 371/82, of September 10th, the Pedagogical supervision of the School passes to the Department of Human Resources for Health, of the Ministry of Health. The school is now covered, although maintaining some particularities of administrative and pedagogical management, by the same legislation that governs the Technical Schools of Health Services, in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra.

Study Plans are approved at national level, to be in force in all public schools.

3rd PHASE

Return to Private Nature status

Reintegration of the School at Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Lisbon by Decree – Law nº 274/91, of 7 August, with confirmation by the Board of Directors. However, financial and administrative dependence on the CMRA remained. The process begins towards the integration of the School into the national educational system, at the level of polytechnic higher education, and the preparation of its individualization in relation to the CMRA. This movement coincides with the integration of Technical Schools of Health Services into the National Educational System at the level of Polytechnic Higher Education, which would be implemented by the DL – which created the Higher Schools of Health Technology in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra.

Through the conversion of the Rehabilitation School into a Private Higher Education Establishment, with the approval of the Study plans, awarding the bachelor’s degree, in accordance with the 1st Statute of the School – (Alcoitão Rehabilitation School), under the legislation in force.

Now as a Polytechnic Higher Education School

Approval and registration of the 2nd Statute of – (Alcoitão School of Health Sciences), under current legislation (see annex 3).

Publication of the Statutes of the Alcoitão School of Health Sciences and Teaching Career Regulations, in Diário da República – II Series – Notice nº 15 935/98 (2nd series), nº 232 of 08-10-1998. (see Annex 4).

Authorization for the operation of two-stage undergraduate courses.

Publication of the amendment to the Statutes of the Alcoitão School of Health Sciences, in Diário da República – II Series – Notice nº 3422/2004 (2nd series) nº 64 of March 16 (see attachment 5).

Adaptation of study plans to the Bologna Process (academic year 2008-2009).

The ESSALCOITÃO is currently governed by the Statute of Private and Cooperative Higher Education. However, the fact that its Founding Entity is dependent on various ministries gives it a very specific condition.