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Medical Echoes Official Newsletter of the UERMMMCI July 2018 University of the East RAMON MAGSAYSAY MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC. CONTENTS . UERM Hospital bags Top Awards for Quality in Healthcare . Blood Bank President’s Desk FEATURED ARTICLES Remembering P.O. Domingo . UERM Vice Chairman Wilson T. Young . UE Vice Chairman Jaime J. Bautista . UE President Ester Albano Garcia . UE EVP Carmelita G. Mateo . Dr. Maribel Emma C. Hidalgo (UERM Hosp. Director, Ancillary & Support Services) Research Institute for Health Sciences ACADEMIC AFFAIRS . Research in the Graduate School . Student Research in the College of Allied Rehabilitation Sciences . Linkages in the College of Nursing . Building our new course, BS Medical Technology . Our Curriculum Develop- ment, College of Medicine . COM Topnotchers . Featured Story . UERM & AFP MOU Signing HOSPITAL SERVICES . Aging . Nurses at Front in Improv- ing Client Experience ALUMNI AFFAIRS Hospital Anniversary UERM Hospital bags Top Awards for Quality in Healthcare e Nursing Service received the 1 st and 3 rd prizes for the Poster Competition Awards and two (2) Silver Awards for the Oral Competition during the Annual Search for the Most Outstand- ing Quality Improve- ment Studies in the Hospital during the Philippine Society for Quality in Healthcare (PSQuA) Convention “Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share Life.” is is the slogan for 2018 World Blood Donor Day that is celebrated every year on June 14. e event serves to raise awareness and encourage regular blood donations by voluntary, unpaid, blood donors to safeguard the quality, safety and avail- ability of blood and blood products for patients in need. (Full story on page 9) held at Lorma Med- ical Center, on May 24-25, 2018, in San Fernando, La Union. Sixteen hospitals, both government and private, participat- ed in the competi- tion, with 15 entries for Poster Presenta- tion and 16 entries for Oral Presentation. (Full story on page 9) 1 1 2 3 5 10 11 13 6 7 8 Issue 11 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24

RAMON MAGSAYSAY MEMORIAL MEDICAL …...of encouraging and inspiring people to strive for excel-lence and believe in one’s capacity to live one’s dream. I remember our golf games

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Page 1: RAMON MAGSAYSAY MEMORIAL MEDICAL …...of encouraging and inspiring people to strive for excel-lence and believe in one’s capacity to live one’s dream. I remember our golf games

Medical EchoesOfficial Newsletter of the UERMMMCI July 2018

University of the EastRAMON MAGSAYSAY MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC.

CONTENTS. UERM Hospital bags Top Awards for Quality in Healthcare. Blood BankPresident’s Desk

FEATURED ARTICLESRemembering P.O. Domingo. UERM Vice Chairman Wilson T. Young. UE Vice Chairman Jaime J. Bautista. UE President Ester Albano Garcia. UE EVP Carmelita G. Mateo. Dr. Maribel Emma C. Hidalgo (UERM Hosp. Director, Ancillary & Support Services)Research Institute for Health Sciences

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS. Research in the Graduate School. Student Research in the College of Allied Rehabilitation Sciences. Linkages in the College of Nursing. Building our new course, BS Medical Technology. Our Curriculum Develop- ment, College of Medicine. COM Topnotchers. Featured Story. UERM & AFP MOU Signing

HOSPITAL SERVICES. Aging. Nurses at Front in Improv- ing Client Experience

ALUMNI AFFAIRSHospital Anniversary

UERM Hospital bags Top Awards for Quality in Healthcare

The Nursing Service received the 1st and 3rd prizes for the Poster Competition Awards and two (2) Silver Awards for the Oral Competition during the Annual Search for the Most Outstand-ing Quality Improve-ment Studies in the Hospital during the Philippine Society for Quality in Healthcare (PSQuA) Convention

“Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share Life.”This is the slogan for 2018 World Blood Donor Day that is celebrated every year on June 14.

The event serves to raise awareness and encourage regular blood donations by voluntary, unpaid, blood donors to safeguard the quality, safety and avail-ability of blood and blood products for patients in need. (Full story on page 9)

held at Lorma Med-ical Center, on May 24-25, 2018, in San Fernando, La Union.

Sixteen hospitals, both government and private, participat-ed in the competi-tion, with 15 entries for Poster Presenta-tion and 16 entries for Oral Presentation.

(Full story on page 9)

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Medical Echoes

THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

Beloved Patrons & UERMMMCI Family,

Welcome to the June 2018 issue of Medical Echoes!

We are half-way through 2018 and I am pleased to lead in walking you through the significant highlights of the UER-MMMCI for the first semester. The UERM Hospital turned 58 last January 10, 2018 with the theme, “Building Bet-ter Healthcare Together”. The week-long celebration cov-ered various activities including lay forum, physical well-ness, free consultation with specialists for out-patients, song & dance contests, awarding of most commended staff, bingo socials and graduation ceremonies of residents and fellows.

As part of our unfailing commitment to exceptional care and high quality diagnostic procedures, we also launched some important hospital machines such as the MRI, CT Scan, Microruptor Laser Machine at our Ophthalmology Department and Vitek 2 Com-pact at our Central Laboratory.

The 48th Annual Medical Alumni Homecoming was held last February 12-16, 2018 and honored the celebrating classes of 1963, 1968 and 1993.

As usual, we are continuously receiving series of invitations from various schools to par-ticipate in the campus career orientation for its senior high school students. Through the initiative of our Business Development, Corporate & Alumni Affairs Office, we hosted several visits of senior high school students from various colleges and universities. These students had the opportunity to tour the UERM Academic facilities and we are over-whelmed to receive positive feedbacks from them through our documented surveys. This is definitely an indication of the strong and sturdy image we have established over the years.

Our 56th Commencement Exercises was held on June 19, 2018 for the Baccalaureate and Doctor of Medicine programs. This signified our excitement once again to welcome a large volume of freshmen and transferee at our opening of classes in June and August 2018.

As usual, it is going to be a very busy year ahead as we develop new projects and activ-ities including infrastructure developments in the Medical Center. Our thoughts have always been to add the best value to our beloved patrons.

Cheers!

DR. ROMEO A. DIVINAGRACIAPresident and Chief Academic Officer

The UERM Hospitalturned 58

“Building BetterHealthcare Together”

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I first met P.O. in 1975. I was then a senior student of the University of the East, and a fraternity brod requested me to accompany him to PNB-Escol-ta to meet a relative of his, who works at the PNB. I did not know that his uncle worked directly under the Office of the President, under P.O. himself.

We were so impressed with the PNB office. Young as we were, we dreamed of working for PNB. It happened that we were introduced to P.O. by his rela-tive. P.O. immediately offered us a job, when he found out that we were from UE. He engaged us for a while and asked very inquisitive questions about our studies and was asking about UE, his Alma Mater. Even back then, he had high regard for UE as an educational institution and for its graduates.

I was so impressed with P.O. because he spent much time with us, as stu-dents, that it left an indelible mark in my mind, and I looked forward to his offer to work with PNB under his leadership. Unfortunately, this did not materialize because most of us, UE graduates went to SGV to get further experience and training -- my fraternity brod, Raul Lee and his relative is now settled in USA and Art Quebral who is here present with us today.

Years later, I found myself working with P.O. at UE and UERM as well as the Tan Yan Kee Foundation where he was Chair of the former and Executive Director of the latter.

I related this first encounter with him and told him that I regret-fully missed the opportunity to work in PNB under his leadership.

Tribute to Dr. P.O. Domingo’s10th Year Death Anniversary on June 26, 2018

By UERM Vice Chairman Wilson T. Young

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(continued on page 4)

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He told me, “Alam mo, you made the right move to get experience in SGV. Sana af-ter SGV, you applied at PNB and we would have worked together much earlier, and it would have been easier for me to appoint you as Manager immediately.”While it was said in jest, I realized that it was his way of encouraging and inspiring people to strive for excel-lence and believe in one’s capacity to live one’s dream.

I remember our golf games with P.O. when he would invite me and Jimmy for an early round of golf. He would partner with the late Dr. Conrado Banzon, also a former UERM Director and a re-nowned ophthalmologist and invite us for a match play with me and Jimmy as partners. He would dub it, Seniors vs. Juniors.

Everytime we lost a game, and that is almost always, he will start every Board meeting with the story of how they, the “Seniors” beat us, the “Juniors”. But in the few times we won, never was it mentioned in the meet-ings. I reminded him and teased him about this. And he would always reply, “That is the Chairman’s prerog-ative.”

Finally, in one of our meetings, when we lost again, he asked us whether we want to play with them again. And of course, we said YES.

P.O. was truly a gifted leader. His wit, charm and decisive character inspired most of us, here present, who was blessed with his acquaintance, to pursue our dreams and advocacies in life. He was at the same time, a mentor, a coach, a business guru and most of all a friend and a father figure.

Today, both UE and UERM are reaping the rewards of P.O.’s management foresight, shared vision and inspir-ing leadership.

Truly, P.O. is UE and UERM’s savior.

On a personal note, my association with him was a worthwhile and a beneficial adventure and experience. Much of what I have achieved, is because of what I learned from him and the guidance I received from him.Thank you, P.O. You will always be fondly remembered by your Alma Mater and sadly missed by all of us.

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I am deeply honored to be part of this tribute to a great man. Some call him P.O. Domingo; oth-ers Chairman Domingo or Dr. P.O. Domingo. I prefer to call him my mentor, boss, my friend.

I first met Panfilo Domingo 34 years ago. I was still with Fortune Tobacco working in Finance and we had to borrow money from PNB which was then a gov-ernment bank. We were one of PNB’s biggest clients.

Although I had limited direct contact with him, I heard from PNB employees back then a lot about the man. They spoke highly of him as a banker who forged PNB’s growth and made it one of the country’s biggest commercial banks.It was in 1990 that I got to regularly interact with him. Mr. Domingo had just been invited by Chair-man Dr. Lucio Tan to join the LT Group. Dr. Tan gave him a task to study the possibility of the LT Group investing in UE and save the universi-ty from its financial and operational problems.

Together, we worked hard to purchase the shares of UE’s major stakeholders and consolidate these as LT Group investments. We succeeded at acquiring more than two-thirds of all UE shares. Eventually, Mr. Do-mingo was elected UE Chairman and Chief Exec-utive Officer. Soon after, I was elected as a member of the board of trustees. This marked the start of my long professional relationship with P.O. Domingo.

We were able to improve the school’s facilities, con-struct new buildings - that resulted to an increase in the number of students. After just a year, UE achieved a turn around. The school was able to pay its creditors. We made a small but significant profit after years of losses. This is the first major milestone I shared with Mr. Domingo. For the next 18 years, from 1990 till his passing in 2008, we shared many more.

For those who may be too young to have known him or those whose memories may have blurred

Tribute to Dr. P.O. Domingo’s10th Year Death Anniversary on June 26, 2018

Excerpts from a speech by UE Vice Chairman Jaime J. Bautista

over the last decade, let me tell you Mr. Domingo’s close association with UE.

He was a graduate of UE. He was an achiever during his college days. He was a delegate of the UE Supreme Student Council. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, magna cum laude, from the UE College of Busi-ness Administration in 1950. This was the year he also took and passed the CPA board exam and the year that the Philippine College of Commerce and Business Administration changed its name to University of the East.

His passion for knowledge he cascaded to the whole UE community. He devoted much time and energy ensuring that UE will be a worthy second home to knowledge seekers. Tangible proof of this is one of the buildings at the Ma-nila campus that was refurbished and renamed P.O. Domingo Center for Information Technolo-gy which houses UE’s IT data center and library. There is no doubt, he loved UE … he lived for UE.

As a dedicated professional, he was good at con-trolling costs. He also encouraged discussion. He was known for his punctuality. I saw him as a highly capable but approachable mentor. He was a good judge of character, quick to recognize and reward exemplary performance. When he saw staff with potential, he sent them to training.

As a person, he was a good father, husband and grandfather. Whenever I meet his son, Rene, I only have the fondest memories of his father coming back to me. Like father like son, I also cannot beat Rene in a round of golf.

So, tonight, we lift up our hearts and minds to pay tribute to a man worthy of our accolades. His lega-cy, particularly in UE, is for us to enhance and ad-vance for the benefit of future knowledge seekers.

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Welcome Remarks of UE President Ester Albano Garcia for the special program to commemorate Dr. P. O. Domingo’s

10th Death Anniversary, June 26, 2018

For most of us here, we all see each other from time to time on various formal occasions involving the respective institutions that we work for. Tonight’s formal occasion, however, is very unique for two reasons. One, we are gathered not necessarily due to the companies to which we are respectively connected but because of one person. And two, this very per-son is not with us tonight, as he had not been with us for the last 10 years. That person is Dr. Panfilo Obcena Domingo, former Chairman of the Board and CEO of UE and UERMMMCI, former Executive Director of TYKFI, and former President of PNB.

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Having led or co-led those institutions, among others, within decades, it is but natural that Dr. Domingo has had an impact on so many people, whether they had worked directly or indirectly for him or with him. Yet Dr. Domingo was impactful and influential not just for having been a leader of those companies and others, but even more so because of how he was as an officer, as a boss, as a colleague, as a co-worker and as a mentor.

Perhaps to varying but nevertheless similar degrees, each of us knows that Dr. Domingo was a passionate individual in myriad ways. For one thing, he was a passionate worker, his straightforward, no-frills, get-to-the-point work ethic resulting in significant productivity for him or whose work environment revolved around his.

Dr. Domingo was likewise passionate about learning, having had the constant, proverbial thirst for knowl-edge about so many things, keeping up with the times and bringing himself up to speed about a diversity of concerns for both business and leisure.

Our beloved former boss or peer was also passionate about food, a connoisseur who indulged in a rainbow of feasts and flavors but never overindulged. He was a sports enthusiast too and was an avid golfer even in his twilight years. He had an ear for good music as well. And perhaps best of all, he had a knack for good humor, knowing full well that laughter truly is the best medicine no matter one’s condition or situation.

In a manner of speaking, he was an unstoppable force. He had a zest for life. He had a keen awareness that the world and its people were full of wonder. This rubbed off on the rest of us one way or another. There can never be another P. O. Domingo, yet I would like to believe that there is some trace or semblance of Dr. Domingo in each and every one of us.

Clearly, Dr. Domingo touched the lives of so many. A room thrice as big as this would not at all be enough to hold all of the men and women from all walks of life who have benefited from and have been blessed with his extended reach. And consequently, we do not just respect him. We admire him. We are in awe of him. And even if ten years have passed since he left this mortal coil, he remains admirable and awesome.

So it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome all of you to this gathering in memory, in hon-or and in celebration of Dr. P. O. Domingo, a man who is an exceptional common denomina-tor of all of us. We hope you would enjoy tonight’s commemorative program and would continue to have Dr. Domingo as a positive influence and a source of motivation and inspiration in your lives.

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Remembrances of UE Executive Vice President Carmelita G. Mateo To commemorate Dr. P. O. Domingo’s

10th Death Anniversary on June 26, 2018

Chairman P.O. Domingo was my boss twice over, at the Philippine National Bank for 17 years and at the University of the East for 18 years.

When he was our boss at PNB, he was known to be a “terror.” Truly a disciplinarian. He was such a stickler for workplace cleanliness and neatness that, if we knew that he was making the rounds of offic-es, as was his wont, we would hastily tidy up our desks and put any clutter away before he showed up. In hindsight, though, Chairman Domingo’s strictness and work ethic simply could have been par for the course for the banking industry with its many rules and regulations to be strictly followed.In 1990, that was 3 years after I retired from PNB, Chairman Domingo called and asked me to work for him anew at the University of the East, our mutual Alma Mater. He said that he had just been elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UE and that he would like to nominate me as Corporate Treasurer of UE. I hesitated. After all, his terrifying reputation at PNB was still fresh in my mind. But he told me that UE was in dire financial straits and, in fact, a few years earlier, had nearly been taken over by the Maharishi Group. He said, “We have to save our Alma Mater. Do you want to lose your Alma Mater?” Put that way, I could no longer say no. As months and years passed, I noted that Dr. Domingo as UE Chairman had changed. He was a mellower boss. He still com-manded respect and obedience, but this time there was far less of the fearsome personality that we, his banking underlings, had been used to. He was now more approachable and I could even joke with him.

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I wondered what it was about the academe that mel-lowed him. Was it because, being in a school envi-ronment, Chairman Domingo was perhaps reju-venated by the sight of young students, seemingly carefree and full of enthusiasm for life? Or perhaps he was remembering his own student days at the school, which was then known as the Philippine College of Commerce and Business Administra-tion, or PCCBA, the old name of UE, from where he graduated in 1950 with the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude.

Anyhow, his legacy as a UE alumnus remains unpar-alled. There was this one time with him when we were going around the campus inspecting the class-rooms, laboratories and libraries. He turned to me and said, “We have done well for our Alma Mater, don’t you think so?” I nodded in agreement, yet the truth is, Mr. P.O. Domingo himself, UE graduate and UE Chairman of the Board and CEO until his demise, did much more than well. The fact that UE remains standing today, financially healthy and growing still, is a testament to his enduring towering legacy. It has been a full decade since Chairman Domin-go left us. He was an exceptionally valuable person, superior, leader, mentor and father figure. So, while it is saddening that Chairman Domingo is no lon-ger with us, we are gladdened by the richness of memories and achievements to his name, and are eternally grateful to have known him, served him, learned from him, laughed with him, and loved him. Thank you for everything, Chairman P.O. Domingo.

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I believe all of us here tonight are fortunate, be-cause no matter our backgrounds or circumstanc-es, we have known Chairman P.O. Domingo.

I have never expected to meet such an extraordinary gentleman under the most ordinary of circumstanc-es, and yet that was exactly what happened when I first met Mr. Panfilo Domingo. It was one after-noon in 1997 when I saw this gentleman in a Bar-ong standing in front of my clinic, looking through the nameplates of doctors posted outside the door. I approached him and introduced myself as one of those doctors, and he remembered me by my name in one of the many papers on his desk when I was requesting for transfer from the Department of Biochemistry to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Since then, in any event that I bumped into him, he would always greet me or start a con-versation. This proves that one striking quality Mr. Domingo has, was that he has a very good memory: once you meet him, he would always remember you.

It never occurred to me to occupy an administra-tive position until one day, it was out of the blue; this great man, whom I had met accidentally and now I could say serendipitously, approached me and made this happen. He offered me the role to be his Executive Assistant, even as I had been a prac-ticing obstetrician-gynecologist and faculty mem-ber at the UERM, College of Medicine. I worked as his Executive Assistant for 4 years: from 2004 until the day he left us. Despite my doubts in han-dling an administrative position, he constantly en-couraged, supported and motivated me, while also implementing his penchant for professionalism in terms of appearance, aptitude and attitude. Under his mentorship, I have grown personally and pro-fessionally. He guided me through the position, showed me how to deal with people with profes-sionalism and respect, and at the same time was

supportive of my practice as an Obstetrician Gyne-cologist that he would allow me to leave the office, anytime I have deliveries or emergency surgeries.

For many of us, we have even had the further good fortune of working closely with him, resulting in pro-found relationships that went beyond the usual dy-namic between superior and subordinate. I was lucky enough to have been with him, especially during his last years, as we were always together in the hospi-tal. One of my fondest memories of Mr. Domingo was that despite the fact that he had enjoyed fanci-er cuisine from around the world, he loved my own recipe of Ilocano Pakbet. Furthermore, his favorite meryenda (which I don’t know how to make) was the famous palitaw that I used to order from the cafeteria. This just goes to show that this brilliant man who reversed fortunes of institutions was also a man of simplicity. However, what struck me the most about Mr. P.O. Domingo was his intelligence, love of family, desire to make everything right and productive, and patience to see things through.

Chairman Domingo may no longer be with us, yet he remains to be present in the UERM Com-munity in more ways than one realizes. In fact, his name and likeness appear on what we now call the P. O. Domingo Out-Patient Services section of the UERM Memorial Hospital, symbolizing the fact that his work for the Medical Center spreads not only to us doctors and staff, but also to the people whom the Hospital is mandated to serve. His in-fluence lingers on, as we in the UERM community continue to steer the Medical Center towards con-tinued success and growth in the academe and the various facets of the medical profession. With that, I feel honored and grateful to have known and served Chairman Domingo, and I would like to thank him for the wonderful memories as we remember him today. For your trust in me, thank you so much Sir.

Tribute to Dr. P.O. Domingo’s10th Death Anniversary on June 26, 2018

By Dr. Maribel Emma C. Hidalgo

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UERM Hospital bags Top Awards for Quality in HealthcareMay 24-25, San Fernando, La Union

UERM Hospital Blood Bank

Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share life.

Transfusion of blood and its products helps save millions of lives every year. It can help patients suf-fering from life-threatening conditions to live longer and with a higher quality of life, and sup-

port complex medical and surgical procedures. It also has an important, life-saving role in ma-ternal and child care and during the emergen-cy response to man-made and natural disasters.

But in many developing countries, such as the Philippines, there is still inadequate supply of safe blood and blood products.

In line with this global event, UERM Blood Bank will be having mobile blood drives in different insti-tutions starting this June and all throughout the year.

You can also drop by anytime at the Blood Bank and volunteer to donate blood. Do your share in saving someone’s life.

We are located at the 3rd floor, near the NICU. Hope to see you there.

Dr. Janelyn Alexis Dy-Ledesma

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The UERM Hospital’s entry for Poster Competition which won 1st

Place was entitled “Safety Guard Innovation in the Prevention of Fall at UERM Hospital.” This Safe-ty Guard is a device made of wood, covered with foam, which is placed in between the side rails of the bed where the gap is located and which is a common site where a patient may slide and fall from the bed. For the Oral Competition, UERM Hos-pital received two Silver Awards for the study “Increased Compliance of Outpatients in Paying Service Fee at P.O. Domingo Outpatient

Services.” Improvement in the pro-cess flow in Outpatient Registration and payment of Service Fees led to a 100% increase in compliance of patients paying the service fee at the Outpatient Services after one month of implementation. During the Oral Competition, concise and clear delivery of presentation as well as intelligent and precise responses during the Question and Answer portion, made the UERM Hospital Team won the two Silver Awards.

Kudos to the Nursing Service of UERM Hospital!

By: Dr. Maribeth T. De Los Santos, Vice President for Hospital Services

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HOPE Asia Network

I am fortunate to represent President Romeo A. Divinagracia during the HOPE (Hypertension, Brain, Cardiovascular and Renal Outcome Pre-vention and Evidence) Asia Network meeting in Kyoto, Japan on May 20, 2018. The mission state-ment of this group is to achieve zero cardio-vas-cular events in Asia. The Hope Asia Network is composed of 20 experts from 12 Asian countries and Dr. Divinagracia is one of the two experts from the Philippines. I currently participated in their study “Asia BP@home” as co-investigator of Dr. Divinagracia together with Dr. Bridget Fernandez.

This is a cross-sectional study that aims to deter-mine the prevalence of hypertension subtypes (masked, white-coat, uncontrolled/sustained and well controlled) across 12 Asian countries and re-gions, including the Philippines, using the same validated home blood pressure monitoring device. We recruited 100 UERM employees to participate in this study. They monitored their blood pressure (BP) for seven days, morning and evening. Patients with masked hypertension are those who have nor-mal BP readings at the doctor’s office but experi-ence high BP at other times of day or in different settings. Patients with white-coat hypertension, are those who experience a spike in their BP specifi-cally when it is measured at the doctor’s office but

RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH SCIENCES (RIHS)

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By: Dr. Jennifer M. Nailes, VP for RIHS

not elsewhere; for example when BP is measured at home. While there are some people who have con-sistently high BP at all settings (sustained/uncon-trolled) and a group which is well controlled – with normal BP readings at all times. In this study, total of 1,442 patients across Asia were recruited and the types of hypertension were calculated using both the standard (140/90) and the new cut-off proposed by the American Heart Association which is 130/80.

Nearly half of the patients were well controlled based on the conventional cut-off, while less than one quarter had sustained or uncontrolled hyper-tension. But, when the AHA hypertension cut-off was applied, less than 25% of patients were well controlled while nearly 40% had sustained/uncon-trolled hypertension. The Asia BP@Home study proves that very good BP control can be achieved in hypertensive patients, and that BP monitoring at home can play an important role in the process. Because it is difficult to remain below the cut-off, everyone is encouraged to strictly monitor his or her BPs. Consultation with your UERM doctor is necessary when your BP exceeds the cut-off to en-sure that your BP is monitored and the existence of an adverse medical condition is properly addressed.

Professor Kazuomi Kario, Chair of the HOPE Asia Network, introduced the

session

Professor Yook Chin Chia highlighted the growing burden of hypertension

in Asia

Professor Sungha Park emphasized the Network’s recommendation on the method of home blood pressure (BP) measurement

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GRADUATE SCHOOL (GS)

“Research, A Critical Component of Faculty Activities”

Excerpts from a write-up submitted by Dr. Milagros B. Rabe, Dean, GS

It was a year ago when Dean Rabe established a monthly lecture named: “Research Colloquium Series.” This was designed to develop ideas for research not only for the students but the fac-ulty as well. Speakers were selected, based on their expertise, to talk on issues related to med-icine that impact on, but not limited to, medical care. The line-up of speakers was quite strong: (1) Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado, former Director of the Division of Non-Communicable Diseases and Health of the Department of Health (DOH) through the life course in the World Health Orga-nization – Western Pacific Region Office (WHO-WPRO), talked about current status of maternal, child and adolescent health in the Philippines; (2) Dr. Mario C. Villaverde, DOH Undersec-retary, discussed the National Objectives for Health and the Philippine Health Agenda; (3) Prof. Oscar F. Picazo, an independent consul-tant to various local and international agencies, talked about Medical Tourism; (4) Dr. Lynette B. Dominguez, UERM alumna (based in Medecins

Sans Frontieres, Brussels, Belgium) discussed health promotion and action in emergency set-ting; (5) Dr. Lydia R. Leonardo, retired Universi-ty of the Philippines professor and scientist, talk-ed about neglected tropical diseases; and (6) Dr. Celso P. Pagatpatan, Jr., UERM Graduate School faculty, discussed the qualitative research on the assessment of the access to pre-natal, delivery, and post-partum care in the Eastern Visayas.

To prime the setting of producing research outputs, we are proud to say the following:

1. A Master of Science in Nursing graduating stu-dent, Ms. Razel G. Custodio participated in the 17th Global Diabetes Conference and Medicare Expo held in Paris, France on March 8-9, 2018. She presented a paper on The Effects of Diabetes Self-Management Support and Education Through Text Messaging in the Health Beliefs, Diabetes Care Profile, and HbA1C of Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Dr. Mario C. Villaverde discussed the Philippine National Objectives for Health and the Philippine

Health Agenda on October 21, 2017

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Dr. Susan P. Mercado discussed the current status of maternal, child and adolescent health in the

Philippines on August 26, 2017

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2. Dean Dr. Milagros B. Rabe and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Gemiliano D. Aligui completed a project: “Pilot Testing Teaching Module on Neglected Tropical Diseases Amongst Medical, Nursing, and Physical Therapy Students in a Private and Public University in Metro Ma-nila: A Mixed Methods Research”. The paper was presented by Dean Rabe in the 15th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference held in Singapore.

From these strides, we can glean that corner stones in graduate research are forming and faculty col-laborations are establishing to bring to fore the studies which can be considered, placing the UER-MMMCI into global status. Notice that we now have a profile of faculty of instruction and their re-search interests in our website (https://www.uerm.edu.ph/graduateschool/organizationalstructure).

We will soon put up a collaboration profile with each of the faculty. This will not only bring new venues for research but also will emerge new graduate programs and short courses for SY 2019-20. What will happen is that we will doc-ument research projects that will bring new strategies for graduate studies – this is a logic of graduate program development. This is how we make it happen… but wait, there’s more.

GRADUATE SCHOOL (GS)

Dr. Lynette B. Dominguez discussed the Health Promotion and Action in Emergency Setting

last January 13, 2018

Prof. Oscar F. Picazo discussed the Medical Tourism in the Philippines on November 18,

2017

Dean Milagros Rabe during the 15th Asia Pacific Medical Education Con-ference in Singapore on January 13, 2018

for her poster presentation

Dr. Ronald Law during the International Symposium on Cli-mate Change and Health in the Asia-Pacific Region on

December 11, 2017 in Yihe Hotel, Guangzhou, China for an oral presentation

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COLLEGE OF ALLIED REHABILITATION SCIENCES (CAReS)

Excerpts from a write-up submitted by Dianne Isabel Limos, Fourth Year Student, CAReS

“Student Research is a Platform of Ideas for Development”

With the recent CAReS Research Symposium, Ms. Limos revisited the vision of UERM and how it tunnels in the CAReS academic environment. The symposium was participated by fourth year students last March 20, 2018. Together with 14 poster pre-sentations, there were nine oral presentations which dealt with a range of topics from the effect of Yoga on students’ performance to physical therapy skills of Ba-rangay Health Workers (BHW) (Primary Health Care level) to topics on the use of natural fibers for prosthetics as well as recycled plastics. It was with great pride that the event was attended by scientists from the Department of Science and Technology Phil-ippine Textile Research Institute. Leading the symposium was Dean Raquel S. Cabazor who in-spired the students to work hard for the activity. What is import-ant was that the engagement of the students with experts during the execution of their research

projects brought a mindset of in-novation that can lead to product development. Of the oral presen-tations, two winners emerged in the line of material science: (1) Recycled Plastics: An Alternative Material for Prosthetic Check Socket Fabrication and (2) Use of Natural Fibers with Leaf Ex-tracts as Alternative Material for Prosthetic Socks in the Philippine School of Prosthetics and Orthot-ics (PSPO). The third placer was on the performance of BHW in terms of their physical therapy skills.

Out of the many opportunities for innovation, the PSPO and the Physical Therapy (PT) Program can forge an emergence of anoth-er science program on medical devices – assistive devices to be precise. Biomedical engineering is a course that is far off from now but worth pursuing. This also calls for the collaboration between UE Manila Engineering and UERM, and both institutions should ex-plore in the future, capitalizing

on their strengths. Students do-ing robotics research can also po-tentially collaborate with CAReS to bring about a rich experience for PSPO and PT students. Bold as it may, material science is at the heart of this future program.

As Ms. Limos implied, the said Research Symposium upholds the legacy of innovation through research. There is a perception that scientific thinking is already embedded among the CAReS students. So, it would be inter-esting to see how inter-college thinking mix. It would probably be ripe to hold a University Re-search Contest for students, which can be a venue of a healthy intel-lectual competition between the colleges in UERM. This could potentially emerge a portal of wide range of opportunities or issues for critical thinking ex-pression of the UERM students.

Groups of research presenters during the Research Symposium held on March 20, 2018 at the

UERMMMCI College of Nursing Auditorium

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“How Linkages Brings Us Over the Competitive Edge”

Excerpts from a write-up submitted by Prof. Belinda M. Capistrano, Dean, CON

Faculty of Soka University, Japan with the Vice Chairman Mr. Wilson T. Young,

VP for Academic Affairs Dr. Gemiliano D. Aligui, Dean Belinda M. Capistrano and

College Secretary of College of Nursing Prof. Norma G. Nastor

to the website http://www.thetoptens.com/nurs-ing-schools-philippines/ (accessed 30 May 2018).

Last April 20-21, the UERMMMCI in collab-oration with the Association of Deans of Phil-ippine Colleges of Nursing (ADPCN) held the First International Nursing Research Summit. This was held in UERM and was well attend-ed by both local and international participants. During the event, students and faculty had a face-to-face interaction with one of the nurs-ing theorists in the world, Sr. Callista Roy of the Boston College Connell School of Nursing. She is the proponent of the Roy’s Adaptation Model which seeks to explain the response of a person to environmental changes in health and disease.

For us in UERM which is an academic medical center, this is a basis of how we can help achieve an improvement of client care experience. So if not for our wide reach and linkages, our students (and faculty) probably would not have a rich learning experience fit for global competitiveness.

Historically, the linkages of the College of Nurs-ing were built upon foreign collaborations. These international agreements made by the College facilitated the exchange of academic experience – teaching, research, student exchange, facul-ty exchange, technology transfer, curriculum development, joint projects, and training. To-gether with very good management and faculty commitment, these have made the College of Nursing strong – enabling a formidable accred-itation merit for a Center of Development. We have wide reach of influence - from Finland to Japan. Ms. Alira Blanca Mae Gade, from the Novia University of Applied Sciences College of Nursing in Vasa, Finland trained on a one-on-one arrangement. Recently, the Soka Universi-ty of Japan inked a memorandum of agreement with UERMMMCI supporting for an inter-cul-tural activity. This involved both the faculty and students in both countries. A total of 27 Japa-nese nursing students came over with their fac-ulty: Prof. Satoshi Sasaki and Asst. Prof. Noriko Komatso. This was also the first time that the University of the East Caloocan extend-ed their reach to UERMMMCI regarding our historical linkages with Soka University.

The engagement through international collabo-rations was put forth in an article published in the Nurse Education in Practice by Garner et al (2008). This is a focused concept model directed towards the development of international nursing leaders between US and UK schools to create lead-ership development courses to influence global health outcomes. If we examine the top ten uni-versities with a college of nursing via the website Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com, accessed 30 May 2018), we note that UERM is at the top (followed by UST) indicating a significant global presence. This implies a very good positioning of our graduates for global competitiveness. UERM is also among the top ten universities according

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COLLEGE OF NURSING (CON)

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COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS (CAHP)

About four years ago, Dean Fontanilla accepted a great task to materialize a dream of establishing a college dealing with medical laboratory science. This evolved to be inclusive of other programs of similar nature. For now, we have established the BS Medical Technology program. Conceptually, the de-velopment of BSMT was based on common physi-cal structure for a health sciences campus where the laboratory shall be at the core of resources for all who need it. It required to move borders out of the way within the College of Medicine to em-brace the “newbie on the block.” Soon after its ini-tial offering, the interest for the BSMT program of the UERM community grew slowly until a point where a number of students actually yearn to be accepted. Just like nursing, there is a strong poten-tial for this program to actually supply the need of the hospital; however limited number the need was.

Planning the program was “out-of-the-box” be-cause the laboratory facilities must emerge from existing microbiology/parasitology and biochem-istry laboratories. Nevertheless, with sheer will and resolve the physical plant yielded to the need and so the saying: “Build and they will come” was val-idated. Over the years, there have been productive

The roster of faculty members of the College of Allied Health Professions

Excerpts from a write-up submitted by Dr. Benida A. Fontanilla, Dean, CAHP

“Building the Experiences of the BS Medical Technology (BSMT) Program”

outcomes in terms of building the faculty and a very “bottom-up” approach in academic and co-curricu-lar activities. The year 2018 is special for this is the year where the pioneer batch will graduate and make their mark in the board examination. What is evi-dent was that the College of Allied Health Professions was able to implement the best practices of the other older colleges of UERM. Within the past four years, the BSMT faculty had been able to participate in the national meetings, symposia, and professional en-hancements available from the professional society.

It is time to move to a process documentation phase that would record the successes and emerging chal-lenges of establishing the BSMT program. There is also the need to find the pedagogical structure by which the program articulates to the Master of Science in Trop-ical Medicine program of the Graduate School. When the time comes, the program would evolve to be the center of laboratory research in health sciences, which can be used by the Philippine government’s Research Institute for Health Sciences. Our future holds for ge-nomics and proteomics research in the BSMT Program.

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COLLEGE OF MEDICINE (COM)“Our Curriculum Development is a Journey Towards Excellence”

One of the most competitive quali-ties of the College of Medicine is the curriculum. From the 1990s, there has been a developmental structure change in the medical curriculum in most of the medical schools in the Philippines. UERM pioneered the implementation of the Prob-lem-Based Learning (PBL) and this influenced how medicine was taught in other schools. This was patterned after a wave of PBL approaches in many medical school in the US. No-table among these US institutions is Harvard University which has ex-clusively adopted the pedagogical approach of PBL. In contrast to the usual Case-Based Learning (CBL), PBL dissects the issues or problems as small groups supervised by one or more experts or tutors. One im-portant aspect of this approach is the assumption that students are independently learning concepts outside class hours. These concepts are then taken up in the PBL ses-sions which are done during formal classes and only very few lectures given. Thus, the students become independent learners and direc-tional dynamics are handled by the faculty in an interactive manner. In Harvard, almost all lectures are done away with, but students are equipped with all the navigation tools of learn-ing – guides, preparatory materials, and plenty of literature resources.

However, in the case of UERM, and maybe other institutions in the Phil-ippines, the experience was disap-pointing; many teachers (and stu-dents) were not prepared for the PBL approach which resulted to a decline in the passing rates of Physician Li-censure Examination (PLE). Thus,

Former Dean Alfaretta Luisa Tan Reyes delivering a plenary lecture

during the APMEC

UERM came up with a hybrid cur-riculum which is partly based on PBL and the traditional teaching delivery of giving lectures. Over time, this was fine-tuned with teaching techniques and advances which maintained the high quality of teaching and good PLE results.

The faculty participants of APMEC (From left to right)

Dr. Ramon Jason M. Javier, Dr. Chiara Marie M. Dimla,

Dr. Vinna Marie Tenorio-Quiñones, Dr. Milagros Rabe,

Dean Norbert Lingling D. Uy, Dr. Carolynn Pia J. Bagain,

Dr. Glenn V. Guevara

Annually, the College of Medicine participates and send delegations to the Asia Pacific Medical Edu-cation Conference (APMEC). The last one was the 15th APMEC held in the National University of Singa-pore last January 2018. During the leadership forum of that confer-ence, Professor Emeritus Alfaret-ta Luisa Tan-Reyes gave a talk on Medical Education in an Informa-tion Technology Empowered Age: The Philippine Experience. Sev-eral faculty also presented papers

or participated in the poster sessions. In many ways, annual attendance by UERM to such conference gave us ideas which went into the curriculum design done every year. Enhancing these experiences are the Memorial Lectures which run throughout the school year. Such activities are criti-cal in the development and evolution of the UERM medicine curriculum. Further strengthening of teaching capacity is achieved by the Medical Education Unit (MEU), which only exist in the College of Medicine. In-deed, the journey towards excellence is a continuous struggle for curric-ulum improvement. To top this all up is the significant contribution of our updated electronic subscrip-tions that keep us abreast with the latest basic and clinical information.

With the visit of the Philippine Ac-crediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) last January 18-19, the UERM under-went intense sessions with the pan-el of accreditors. The frame of mind and practice towards excellence was again manifested with the results of the last March 2018 PLE when three of our graduates were among the top ten examinees. Dr. Jerald L. Pelayo, Dr. Lori Belle M. Lofranco and Dr. Bryan Jeffrey P. Manzana were first, third, and tenth placers, respectively.

Excerpts from a write-up submitted by Dr. Vinna Marie T. Quiñones, College Secretary, COM

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“Today is the celebration of the dream for which we were meant to live-a dream that was once but a figment of our imaginations. Today, we will final-ly #LiveTheDream #UERM2016. We are no longer medical students, clerks or interns but we are already conquerors of the Physician Licensure Examination. I would like to request my dear colleagues to please stand to accept my warmest and most heartfelt con-gratulations! Ladies and gentlemen, these were my co-warriors who shaded boxes, cried streams of tears, ate tons of food, gained and lost weight, gained and lost boyfriends and girlfriends, but fought the battle with me during the recent board exam.

To our school administrators, mentors, teachers, consultants, residents and friends here in UERM who prayed for and with us, thank you! You have taught us to become five-star physicians and rest assured that you have taught us well. This victory is also yours!

Ladies and gentlemen, the dreamer stands before you tonight in this podium ever grateful for the les-sons that he was taught from the life experiences he gained. It must have been obvious to you from the

The Case of the Dreamer’s DreamExcerpts from a speech by Dr. Jerald L. Pelayo

1st Placer, March 2018 Physician Licensure Examinationvery beginning that I was the dreamer. And com-ing to UERM to finish med school and becoming a licensed physician was the dream. More than class-room knowledge, UERM has taught me valuable life lessons that I will carry with me in my practice. And my sentiments of gratitude echo that of the rest of the newly licensed physicians present here tonight.

To the UERM community, thank you for training us to be the kind of doctors we are today – with much empathy, skill, attitude, knowledge, competence and compassion.

To my colleagues, you may all have your own experi-ences and I may not know all of your struggles, but we share one thing in common, we now #LiveTheDream.

More importantly, before we are able to heal, we must seek healing from HIM whose streams of mercy and life floweth freely and ever so abun-dantly. We cannot heal others until we seek to heal ourselves. Hence, I leave you with this question: Beyond the dream of wearing a white coat, what else do we #LiveTheDream for?”

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What Dreams May Come – A Real StoryBy: Dr. Gemiliano D. Aligui, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Over 20 years ago, I embarked on a journey to seek a new height of my career – that was when I stepped into the campus of Brown University (BU) in Rhode Island, USA, for a PhD program in Epidemiology and Gerontology. Having been exposed to tropical disease research, I pushed my limits to study analyt-ical methods. This was all for the sake of my desire on building my expertise in research methodology and epidemiology. That was a difficult journey but a rewarding experience. How did it ever happen?

Materialization is the answer and a conscious building of thoughts – conscious dreaming: vi-sualizing speaking before a group of intellectuals in a gallery, just like a magnificent scenario of a classic dissertation defense, and complete with all the bells and whistles of a “vintage” university. And it did happen, and it was just like the movie “What Dreams May Come” but it is about seeking a level of thinking in a material world. But then again, it seems like seeking your wife in the af-terlife – marrying a career in science and finding that moment of epiphany. In a monthly research forum, 26 years ago, I was speaking before my col-leagues at the Research Institute for Tropical Med-icine (RITM) about my obsession to construct a disease model of Schistosomiasis japonica. This model does not exist, and we are merely borrow-ing the form from studies of S. mansoni and S. haematobium which have different ecosystems. I was then already a member of the Schistosomia-sis Research Study Group collaborating with BU, mentored by Professors Steve McGarvey and G.R. Olds of the Department of Geographic Medicine. This proposal was based on empirical evidence from literature and then validating the process by building a small-scale model of each step of the infection cycle on the ground. I was possessed by the minds of Professors Allan Saul (mathemati-cal modeling) and Ian Riley (field epidemiology), our collaborators from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research for a US-NIH project, and by Professor Anthony Butterworth of Cambridge University, who taught me the method of doing

water-contact studies based on his schistosomi-asis research experience in Africa. At that stage, I have no idea where my obsession will take me.

Then by the grace of God, I was asked by Dr. Hashmi of World Health Organization Tropical Disease Re-search (WHO-TDR) Research Capacity Strength-ening (RCS) if I wanted to apply for a competitive grant in WHO-TDR. He was, at that time, visiting RITM on a mission to seek potential graduate stu-dents for TDR. And so I did, and my proposal was one among 50 selected out of 300 global applica-tions for full funding towards a PhD degree. Two (2) institutions were candidates for me to choose from: University of Queensland or BU. Although there were more difficult challenges at BU, I com-pleted my dissertation, graduated, presented the paper at the American Society of Tropical Med-icine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Meeting on travel grant to Florida, and went back to the Philippines. The rest is a long career story. To my management mentor Dr. Alfredo R.A. Bengzon, it was a luck, and that is when preparation meets opportunity._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The reason why I wrote this article is to reach out to each student of UERM, who might want to change their life challenges. Dreams can come true through positive thinking and if you put your feet back on the ground and vigorously pursue them. Hard work can be bearable, if not pleasant, if we focus and set our goal through the path of “de-layed gratification” towards a tangible outcome.

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A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed be-tween the UERMMMCI and the AFPHSC which was held last June 19, 2018 at the UERMMMCI grounds. The MOA states that the UERMMMCI will provide prosthesis assessment, fabrication, and rehabilitation services for 17 amputee AFP soldiers needing 22 de-vices, while the AFPHSC shall provide the compo-nents and materials for the said prosthetic devices.

General Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., AFP Chief of Staff and his key contingents were welcomed by the UERMMMCI Administration Officials head-ed by the Vice Chairman, Mr. Wilson T. Young.

The excerpts from the remarks of General Galvez:“In moments of both adversity and ease, the AFP is always grateful for organizations and institu-tions that allow themselves to be partners in the achievement of our shared goals for development. Among our enthusiastic and ready-to-help stake-holders is the University of the East Ramon Magsay-say Memorial Medical Center Inc. (UERMMMCI), which has already aided us several times in the past.

Among previous efforts was the provision of prosthe-ses to ten (10) of our ailing soldiers. In addition, they have now benevolently extended pro bono services for Marawi-embattled soldiers at the AFP Health Service Command, specifically those who lost their limbs for the sake of fulfilling their duty and service to the country.

MOA signing between UERM Memorial Medical Center, Inc. and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Health Service

Let me emphasize on the significance of this event and on understanding the physical as well as the psychological concerns of a soldier amputee, which can be overwhelming to all the soldiers who expe-rienced it. In fact, this changes their lives entirely, giving them hope and reason to carry on. For this, the AFP is very much appreciative that the UERM-MMCI has consciously shown great effort in recog-nizing the impact of these injuries to our soldiers. Losing a limb is not only a mere physical inju-ry; it is also a traumatic experience that greatly af-fects the well-being and sense of purpose of its victims. Recovery can only take so much as the wound can heal, both physically and emotionally.

Thus, it is with deep gratitude that I thank the UER-MMMCI, for being a consistent partner to the AFP. Your gesture of help and concern is a great form of support that would serve as a beacon of hope to our Marawi-embattled soldiers as they continue their service and dedication to our country and people.

The struggle for peace and prosperity requires noth-ing less than rigorous work and countless sacrifices but we are blessed with people who make us feel that we are never alone in this battle. The trials we faced have shown us that the Filipino people are always ready to help through various means of support for our soldiers.

We believe that this MOA signing is another mile-stone in our journey towards building a stron-ger relationship between our institutions, for the growth and progress of the Filipino Nation.

Once again, thank you very much, UERMMMCI.

Mabuhay kayo at Mabuhay ang Hukbong Sandatahan ng Pilipinas!”

Group photo with the AFP officers headed by Chief of Staff General Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. (4th from left) with UERM-MMCI Vice Chairman Wilson T. Young (5th from left) and

UERMMMCI Head of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Clinic Dr. Josephine Bundoc (3rd from left)

Actual MOA Signing between the UERMMMCI represented by Vice Chairman Wilson T. Young and the AFP represented

by Chief of Staff General Carlito G. Galvez, Jr.

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UERM HOSPITAL

Aging: Geriatrics or Gerontology – A Promise of Medicine or a Programmatic Dilemma?

Many people think that aging is a disease, but it is re-ally a biological process that we all must go through over a period of existence. Elderly people are now surviving longer, and with good quality of life, de-spite their chronic illnesses. There are also people whose responses in health were determined and shaped during the biological and psychosocial peri-ods of their lifetimes. These two (2) statements im-ply two (2) dimensions of the care of the elderly: the first may be due to geriatrics having good med-ical care and therefore longer survival, the second is gerontology, a life-span concept of care over a peri-od of transition until death. How do they differ? The first is clinical care, individualized, and preventive in discipline but still very much curative at this time where life-style problems largely exist. Gerontology on the other hand is holistic: social, cultural, psy-chological, cognitive, biological and environmental aspects of preventive care of the aging population.

What is relevant for all of us to know is that there are aspects in our biological responses, in health and dis-ease, that are being influenced by the environment. These influences may be social or physical, and they generate a process called Oxidative Stress (OS). In fact, this so-called OS, probably, is the key concept why we have certain cancers and immune problems. By the same token, control of OS is believed to result in better health outcomes as we age. In the life-span framework, the younger we have put OS in control, the longer and higher the quality of life we attain over time. This results in longer life span with almost all disease problems pushed to the extreme period of ag-ing. Hoping that Gerontology will finally be embed-

ded in all walks of life and in every nook and corner of everyday life and health care, the outcome will be that of productivity until the time when we really need to stop working – at a very, very old age. The mechanism of OS is complex, since it involves the study on how cells in the body communicate, so called “cellular signaling.”

Let’s look at a study on OS. Researchers from Emory University recently published an article which exam-ined the association of cognitive decline and OS in a university setting.* Using biochemical markers of stress and executive performance, measured by cognitive test of executive function, an association of rising OS level and decline of neuropsychological function was prov-en. This was a longitudinal study design, which is quite a strong method of research relative to other designs. Not only was there a proven association but also a fast-er decline of cognitive function with the rate of rise of OS levels. From a disease causality framework, this im-plies a dose-dependent relation with time – the higher the OS, the faster the cognitive decline as we age. This is the domain of Gerontology because the interven-tion needed is not only medical but also psychosocial. Imagine the multidisciplinary nature of the required intervention to reach a positive effect on health and longevity! It is not too late to look at what we can do to make this happen early on, we can start with geriatrics in a hospital care setting or at the Point of Care (POC) at UERM Hospital but move towards gerontology when we bring back the elderly patient to the community._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _*Reference: Hajjar, I., Hayek, S. S., Goldstein, F. C., Martin, G., Jones, D. P., & Quyyumi, A. (2018). Oxidative stress pre-dicts cognitive decline with aging in healthy adults: an obser-vational study. Journal of neuroinflammation, 15(1), 17.

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By: Dr. Gemiliano D. Aligui, Vice President for Academic Affairs

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NURSING SERVICE OFFICE

By: Ms. Elda D. Rapanut, Acting Chief Nurse

The Nursing Service Department held its first General Assembly for the year 2018 last April 17, 2018 at the College of Nursing Amphitheatre. It is in this venue where members of the Nursing Ser-vice are updated with the current status and programs of the department and the hospital as well.

The Nursing Service comprises the biggest number of the hospital staff and are considered as frontliners who play an important role in Client Care. It was timely then that the I.C. E. (Improving Client Experience) project was introduced. The goal of the project was explained, their role and their importance in improving client care experience. We all reminded ourselves by renewing our oath to the profession through the “Nightingale Pledge.”

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR NURSES

The training program is conducted to en-hance staff competency, improve patient care and client experience. There are two (2) specialty trainings conducted this first quar-ter—the Oncology Training Program and the Acute Stroke Training Program for Nurses.

Dr. Edgar Christian Cuaresma discussingthe basic principles of Cancer Treatment

THE ONCOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR NURSES

The training program was conducted in partnership with the Department of In-ternal Medicine to prepare our nurses in the care of cancer patient undergoing che-motherapy. It was a three-day program conducted last March 2, 18 and 28, 2018. Dr. Jose Roberto G. Amparo discussing to the participants

the management in Oncologic Emergencies

THE ACUTE STROKE TRAINING PROGRAM

The Acute Stroke Training Program for Nurses is conducted yearly by the Nursing Service in partner-ship with the Department of Neu-rosciences. This training program aims to enhance staff competency in caring for patient with stroke.

Mr. Robert Royce Layco – Charge Nurse of the Acute Stroke Unit discussing the Nursing Care Manage-ment of patient with stroke. Mr. Layco is one of those who attended the Trainors Training for Acute Stroke

HOSPITAL MATTERS

“Nurses at Front in Improving Client Experience”

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UERM COLLEGE OF MEDICINE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, INC.

By: Dr. Bayani B. Elma, UERMMMCI Class’68

The start of the 6th Annual Convention and Scientif-ic Meeting: “Frontiers in Medicine and Beyond” was held on February 12, 2018. Two members of the Gold-en Jubilarians, Bayani B. Elma, M.D, an internal med-icine specialist ushered in the scientific meeting with the new hypertension guidelines followed by Brigido L. Carandang, Jr., a Neurologist who talked about ba-ngungot: 100 years after. Four lectures from the Silver Jubilarians concluded the morning scientific sessions.

Dr. Joven R. Cuanang, Former Dean, College of Medicine, UERMMMCI, delivered the

20th DR. POTENCIANO D. BACCAY, JR. MEMORIAL LECTURE on February 13, 2018

“LIFE BEYOND MEDICINE”

A baccalaureate mass which coincided with the celebra-tion of Ash Wednesday was solemnized by Rev. Fr. Jerry T. Bongcawil, M.D. ’70 on February 14, 2018. For the Golden Jubilarians, this morning was a very memora-ble and momentous occasion—receiving their golden medallions as true recognitions of their excellent career achievements and respective milestones as alumni of UERM College of Medicine. Dr. Raul M. Quillamor, as the convocation speaker, delved into the common diffi-culties and headwinds physicians encountered in their lives. Our classmate, Dr. Ida Tiongco-Sarmiento deliv-ered the Golden Jubilarian response by chronicling the contributions made by class ‘68 to UERM. For the rest of the afternoon, the Golden Jubilarians unveiled their class ‘68 markers at the 4th floor of the College of Medicine.

Golden Jubilarians Class ‘68

Convocation Ceremonies Speaker, Dr. Raul M. Quillamor ‘80

Emerald Jubilarians Class ‘63

Golden Jubilarians Class ‘68

Silver Jubilarians Class ‘93

Ang Ginintuang Pagkikita ng Klase “68

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UERM COLLEGE OF MEDICINE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, INC.

Fellowship Night presentation by Class ‘68, Fellowship Night presentation by Class ’93, Fellowship Night presentation by Class ’78

Fellowship Night presentation by Class ‘68

During the fellowship night at the Fairmont Ho-tel, with their resplendent barong tagalog and black pants and the women with their beautiful ternos and gold medallions adorning their necks, this night was the highlight of the Medical Alumni reunion celebration. All in all, the reunion activities in the UERM Medical Center as well as in the Fairmont Hotel were well-organized and well-coordinated.

During the Golden Jubilarians Outing last Febru-ary 18, 2018 at the Olive’s Garden, Alfonso, Batan-gas, the class was able to have a semblance of a meeting to discuss and agreed on to three (3) main items: (1) a voluntary donation per classmate to our Alma Mater of $1,000 or more for support of stu-dent scholarships; (2) to increase each classmate con-tribution to the Souvenir Program/Yearbook from $50 to $70; and (3) to render financial assistance to the Class Yearbook/ Souvenir Program, if necessary.

Dear Classmates, time is like a river. You cannot touch the water twice because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Until we meet again!

HOMECOMING ACTIVITIES

Alumni Recognition 2017

Class ‘93 Jubilarians Outing

Fellowship Night presentation by Silver Jubilarians Class ‘93

Fellowship Night presentation by Ruby Jubilarians Class ‘78

Class ‘93 Night

48th ANNUAL MEDICAL ALUMNI HOMECOMINGFebruary 12 - 16, 2018

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“Building Better Healthcare Together”January 10, 2018

The week-long celebration covered various activities including lay forum, song and dance contests, and awarding of most commended staff. It started on January 8, 2018 which kicked-off with a eucharistic mass and concluded on January 12, 2018 with a dinner program.

UERM HOSPITAL turned 58

FOR SUGGESTIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS:UERM Memorial Medical Center, Inc.Business Development, Corporate & Alumni Affairs#64 Aurora Blvd., Brgy. Doña Imelda, Quezon CityPhone: (+63 2) 715-0861 to 77 local 365Email: marketing@uerm.edu.phwww.uermhospital.com.phwww.uerm.edu.phwww.facebook.com/UERMofficial