During one of the visits, Apollo patient simulator was presented to the SUCs. This wireless and tetherless talking manikin, worth eight million pesos, has high-fidelity realistic functions, can be customized for training to recreate difficult conditions, and responds to medical interventions. The mannequin can generate an answer after being asked English questions.
March 31, 2023 — The University of the Philippines Manila’s College of Medicine (UPCM) hosted benchmarking visits from different state universities and colleges offering medical degree programs during the past several months.
The visiting institutions included Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) and Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) on February 16, 2023; Bulacan State University (BulSU), Tarlac State University (TSU), and Cavite State University (CvSU) on January 26, 2023; and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NUEST) and Southern Luzon State University (SLSU) on October 3, 2022. In May 2022, UP Manila hosted the benchmarking visit of Western Visayas State University.
Benchmarking is a strategy adopted by higher education institutions (HEIs) to learn the standards, best practices, and experiences of other institutions in order to (1) raise the bar of the university’s academic, managerial standards, and performance; (2) identify the gaps and areas for improvement; (3) determine innovative approaches; (4) create new programs; and (5) decide on priorities and allocation of resources.
Since UPCM’s mission is to lead and demonstrate excellence in giving community-oriented medical education using the Primary Healthcare approach, the overall goal of their medical offerings is to promote health equity. During the visits, the UPCM shared plans to move from offering undergraduate programs to graduate
programs, increase its medical admission batch from 210 to 220 students this 2023, prepare them to become 5- or 6-star physicians, and mold them as clinician scientists.
Ideally, a UPCM graduate should be a multi-skilled physician who is able to give primary care, be a researcher in lead organizations, and function as community leader who serves as a change agent in our country. UPCM Dean Charlotte Chiong asserted that the condition wherein 60% of the population are unable to access a medical doctor within their lifetime needs to be changed. Having the new Henry Sy Sr Hall as a new medical sciences building will equip UPCM students and this is seen as a necessary move to complement the Doktor sa Bayan Act (RA 11509), a law enacted in response to the maldistribution of doctors.
Delegates engage in a deep discussion with Dr. Antony Cordero on the Return Service Agreement and how it works in established schools
“It behooves us to include and make sure that our programs are really good so that we’re able to attract the brightest and best students who will imbibe the vocation of being healers or physicians for our communities,” said Dr. Chiong who also shared with the visiting delegates that UP Manila has a community-based ladderized health education program for doctors, nurses, and midwives being offered at its School of Health Sciences campuses in Leyte, Aurora, South Cotabato, and Tarlac.
The exploratory visits revealed various aspects and dimensions of the UPCM’s medical program from an overview of the curriculum, faculty and student development, facilities, research, external and internal linkages, community engagements, and its other resource requirements. After the video presentations, delegates were engaged in a Q&A segment and were taken on a tour of selected areas in the College of Medicine.
Haziel May C. Natorilla
