Text by Charmaine A. Lingdas
Dr. Charlotte M. Chiong has been reappointed as the Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) for the third time, underscoring her dedication to innovation and excellence in medical education. This reappointment recognizes her exceptional leadership, steadfast commitment to advancing medical education, and her visionary projects that have significantly impacted UPCM and the broader medical community.
Reflecting on her tenure, Dean Chiong remarked, “At the start of my deanship, I had many ambitious plans for the College. However, the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic disrupted these plans. My team and I quickly adapted, developing new programs and initiatives to support our UPCM community and the Filipino people during these challenging times.”
During her second term, Dean Chiong successfully guided UPCM through the transition back to face-to-face activities, incorporating new technologies and lessons from the pandemic into a forward-thinking medical education framework. Her administration follows the “InSPIRE” framework—Infrastructure, Science and Discovery, Partnerships for Progress, Innovation and Leadership, Resource Generation and Stewardship, and Embracing Resiliency and Wellness.
Under Dean Chiong’s leadership, UPCM has launched several notable projects:
Dean Chiong emphasized aligning research with the National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA), enhancing collaboration, and fostering innovation. Key initiatives include:
“As we approach our 120th founding anniversary next year, we must be ready to embrace a future we are determined to shape here and now. It’s time to advance medical education in our country, particularly during this crucial period of Universal Health Care and the Doctor Para sa Bayan Act,” Dean Chiong said.
Her administration will also focus on enhancing medical education with new degree programs, such as the Doctor of Medicine-Master of Public Health (MD-MPH) dual degree and the Strategic Mentoring and Research Training (SMART) program, to better prepare graduates for the challenges of universal healthcare.
Dean Chiong announced the next phase of digital transformation, which includes enhancing the virtual campus and training students and faculty to utilize online resources like UpToDate. The portal will also connect users to key UP resources, including the UP Manila Library and Acta Medica Philippina.
She plans to continue elevating science and discovery at the College by aligning the research agenda with the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and NUHRA. Dean Chiong aims to further develop local biomedical devices through UP SIBOL, supported by Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and other agencies, to drive innovation in surgical and health-related technologies.
Dean Chiong intends to enhance collaboration with UP National Institute of Health (NIH), the Philippine Genome Center, the Institute of Biology, and the College of Arts and Sciences across various educational, research, teaching, and training programs. Efforts will include encouraging more joint programs between faculty and students and increasing scholarly outputs such as publications and citations.
Expanding partnerships within and beyond the university, with support from UP Manila, will foster greater achievements. Both PGH and UPCM are expected to advance in the coming years as new opportunities will be explored, including forensics training in collaboration with the Department of Justice, Australia’s Monash University, and various departments within the college.
Collaborations with the National Center for Mental Health will support the provision of silent mentors for the UP-PGH mortuary modernization project. Additionally, working with PGH on the faculty practice program will promote academic group practice.
The college will leverage its partnership with Harvard Medical School to advance research, clinical, and simulation-based education, including sending faculty for further training at Harvard’s Center for Medical Simulation.
The museum for plastinated human specimens will continue to develop with additional dissection tables, supported by UPCM Class of 1978 and other donors, to enhance the surgical skills laboratory. The college has already hosted 111 delegates from 12 universities for benchmarking.
International partnerships will expand including collaborations with Universidad de Alcala for artificial intelligence in medical education, the University of Colorado, Duke Kunshan University, and Taiwanese universities. These connections will support student exchange scholarships and faculty exchanges, reinforcing innovation and leadership at the UP College of Medicine.
“We aim to align our goals with those of the university: to serve as a graduate university, a research university, and to lead as a public service university. We strive to protect and promote the professional and economic rights and welfare of our personnel, provide opportunities for leadership training, responsible citizenship, and the development of democratic values through academic and non-academic programs, including sports and the enhancement of nationalism and national identity. Our goal is to serve as a regional and global university in cooperation with our international partners,” declares Dean Chiong as she enthusiastically looks forward to UPCM’s future.
