Scholarly Note: American Medical Development in Colonial Puerto Rico

Consistent with its civilizing mission, the United States sought to enhance healthcare development in its new Puerto Rican colony, one of the spoils of the Spanish-American War. American military physicians rapidly cured the population of their devastating hookworm affliction and the Rockefeller Foundation soon began exporting this imperialist triumph to the far corners of the world. Leveraging that success, the Porto Rico Anemia Commission evolved into the Institute of Tropical Medicine, predecessor to the University of Puerto Rico's School of Tropical Medicine. Issues of agricultural development would also impact insular healthcare, uniquely driving aspects of medical development. Efforts to export American successes to broader Latin America provide useful perspectives as the United States seeks to influence other underdeveloped global areas in the twenty-first century.