Text by Cherry Madrideo

Photos by Dr. Cesar Perez, Katherine Munda, and Dudin Albani

Officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila converged for an Implementation Workshop Nov. 7-8, 2024 in Lipa, Batangas. The workshop aimed to produce a joint action plan that will present how UP Manila can accomplish its mission and contribute to the achievement of the flagship programs of the current UP System administration, through its AGILE IDEA. Academe-Government-Industry Leadership Engagement (AGILE) is UP Manila’s strategy in fulfilling its mandate as the Health Sciences Center and in achieving its goals for 2023-2026 as summarized in IDEA: Innovations for life-long learning dedicated to service; Discovery and research; Environment that nurtures our mind and body; and Accessible UP leadership.

In his introduction, Chancellor Michael Tee explained the activities for the workshop are tailored to assist the participants to formulate action items for the AGILE IDEA matrix. The workshop sessions focused on providing a broader leadership perspective through futures thinking and strategic foresight; ensuring quality through implementation science; the importance of and opportunities for collaboration between academe, government, and industry for effective operation and resource management. He emphasized that UP Manila, as the academe, cannot operate in a vacuum and that it is part of a system involving the government, which regulates and creates demand, and the industry, which represents the demand side.  The University, while distinguished in its scholarly contributions and education, recognizes that its institutional mandate extends beyond academic excellence. Chancellor Tee adds that through strategic AGILE, the University ensures that its intellectual capital and human resources are effectively mobilized to advance public health initiatives, contribute to national health systems and policies, and fulfill its fundamental commitment to national development.

Dr. Emerito Jose Faraon, Dr. Leizel Lagrada, and Dr. Maria Llaine Callanta led the session on futures thinking. The speakers underscored the value of envisioning and creating adaptive, future-shaping leaders through educational reforms and long-term institutional goals and visioning and backcasting to address current challenges and build a prosperous country in the future. The speakers provided systematic methods that can be useful to accomplish the creation of the action plan.

Modeled after Washington University’s framework, Dr. Ana Patricia Alcasabas shared how UP Manila can strengthen its national leadership through implementation science. This shall enable evidence-based health interventions to reach broader populations by developing interdisciplinary collaboration, providing targeted training, and establishing organizational support. She emphasized that implementation science can bridge the gap between research and practical healthcare improvements in the Philippines and urged that implementation science capabilities in the University be built.

The workshop continued on with the AGILE-targeted sessions. Discussing on the Academe Leadership Engagement is Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Commissioner Ethel Agnes Valenzuela, who highlighted the role of micro-credentials in lifelong learning, where smaller units of learning are combined to offer flexible, accessible knowledge and skills, often via online platforms. She likewise discussed the efforts of higher education institutions, including collaborations with industry partners, to integrate micro-credentials into curricula and emphasized the potential for micro-credentials to bridge the gap between education and employment. Commissioner Valenzuela assured the workshop participants that CHED will be ready to assist the University for any training needed in developing guidelines  for micro-credentialing. She added that CHED is actively working on developing and updating guidelines for accrediting and recognizing micro-credentials in higher education, to ensure that they align with job market needs and be recognized as part of formal education.

For the Industry Leadership Engagement, Mr. Noel Cortez, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the UNILAB Education Inc., provided insights on industry collaboration opportunities with UP Manila. He emphasized how such industry-academe collaborations can drive innovation, workforce development, and sustainable solutions for climate change and pandemic. He specified the unique strengths of UP Manila in collaboration with industries: top-tier programs in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health; one of the oldest institutions with a legacy of academic excellence; the Philippine General Hospital’s provision of hands-on training; and leader in health research and innovation, especially in tropical medicine and epidemiology.

Director Johanna Banzon of the Health Human Resource Development Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH-HHRDB) discussed how UP Manila and DOH-HHRDB can partner to strengthen the Philippine Health Workforce, as part of the Government Leadership Engagement session. She shared insights on the human resources needs for health, focusing on the collaboration between the education sector (supply side) and the labor market (demand side). She emphasized the need for training and producing health workers who are “practice-ready” and capable of addressing the country’s health challenges and  highlighted UP Manila’s vital role in training and producing these health workers. She encouraged UP Manila to actively engage in collaborative efforts with the DOH and other stakeholders to ensure that health workers are prepared for roles in primary care, hospital care, and public health, aligning with the goals of Universal Health Care (UHC).
 
In between these sessions, the participants were divided into groups to work on their inputs for the AGILE IDEA matrix. The teams proposed action items to achieve the University’s goals in the next two (2) years.

Summarizing the discussions and activities, Prof. Erlyn A. Sana of the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, who served as the workshop facilitator, shared that the workshop mirrors the vision for a new era of professional education framework. Specifically, she explained how UP Manila is currently strengthening its internal processes to be able to have meaningful and impactful intersectoral partnerships. This enables UP Manila to collaborate with academic institutions, government agencies, and industries to influence, refine, and improve the delivery of healthcare systems, thereby contributing to the achievement of health equity in the country.