UPCM: Defining a New Era of Medical Education

The year 2022 will go down the annals of the history of the UP College of Medicine as a turning point in its more than a century-old history of remaining true to the vision of its founders in the Second Philippine Commission that enacted Act 1415 for its establishment. In my term as the 17th Dean of this venerable institution, I asked our community to join a shared vision in accomplishing the six pillars of the flagship program InSPIRE. (Infrastructure, Science and Discovery, Partnerships, Innovation in Medical Education, Resource Stewardship, Empowerment/embracing a sense of community, inclusivity, and diversity)

Infrastructure
On November 8, 2022, the new medical sciences building was turned over by the UP Medical Alumni Foundation, Inc. As we are now utilizing funds provided by the UP System under President Danilo Concepcion for 90M pesos of fit out for the 8th floor, 10th, and 11th floors there are still areas in need of donations like the “Aula”, the reading rooms, the faculty lounge, an advanced clinical skills lab. We all know that the biggest donor for the MSB was the Sy family and the SM Foundation. We were honored by the presence of three Sy brothers during the turnover and on Dec. 19 during the inauguration of the UPMASA auditorium and Initium Novum 0rganized thru the efforts of Dr. Billy Cabellon we were fortunate to have Mr. Henry Sy Jr. address our community with these words: “It is with utmost humility that I deliver this message from the SM Foundation and our family as a tribute also to my father’s life and legacy. When Dean Charlotte Chiong called her classmate, my wife who is among your ranks, it was obviously God’s arrangement that we would be given the opportunity to partner with you in building the future of our nation’s best health providers.“ (See video of Mr. Henry Sy Jr. here.)

SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY
A few weeks after the 9th floor was also opened as the Lim Ka Thong Makerspace. Home of one of UPCM’s research programs on biomedical device development, UP SIBOL now serves as the hub for many creative solutions to the healthcare needs of our patients. It was a great year for research, building on the gains of a record number of publications this year and for the first time, a harmonized agenda for research was forged by the college and PGH. Forthcoming will be more funding for research on top of the 360M we received in 2022 and over a billion in the past three years during the pandemic. We saw more than 50 percent increase in the number of PhDs among the faculty from 2018 and more than 15 are enrolled in PhD studies in 2022. The UPCM Class 1967 with the PUSH ONE UP gave grants of 10,000 USD annually for ten years and two were awarded this year with more to come in 2023!

PARTNERSHIPS
The number of scholarships has grown with more partnerships forged with the Philippine
Red Cross, DOH, DOST, PCHRD for MD-PHD, and soon MDMPH and MDMCE as
well as M (Clin Sciences) in Orthopedics, Obstetrics, Anesthesiology in the works.

INNOVATIONS
We led innovations in medical education with the arrival of 3 virtual dissecting tables in
2021, and plastinated models in 2022 thanks to our alumni and friends from UPMASA.
More mannikins are due to arrive because of a CHED grant while the digital slide
scanner project is already underway and will finish its first module this year.
(Click to view a short video on LEAPs 1 and 2)  Our faculty champions on Clinical Simulation went to Singapore and Australia for training and we will soon inaugurate the UPCM Clinical Simulation Center on the 6th floor this year.

EMPOWER and EMBRACE
Now more than ever because of the isolation and challenges in the pandemic we have found that fostering a sense of community has never been more important. Resiliency
programs and mentoring programs were enhanced even further and upcoming are Pinto Museum visits of all LU3 students and the Cura Nostra. The best way to predict the future is to create this and that is our clear strategy for the college’s new era of progress and development in our mission. Innovation and new products continue to be made. (Video of DISECT table)

UPMASA’s OPERATION SPARKLE
Thanks in large part to UPMASA with President Lou Publico’s stellar leadership we have
the UPCM Plus modules in Biochemistry and Pharmacology to be launched next
academic year as bridging courses. We have started to use the digital scanner and
document archival system. With a little more help perhaps we will be able to finish the
restoration of all the paintings and convert the UPCM Calderon Hall to a living museum
with the Legacy: Honoring our Heritage project and last but not least launch another ambitious project for funding –the UPCM Advanced Clinical Skills Lab for 2023.