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Vision
The Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital shall be an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
Mission
The health needs of the Filipino people shall be its prime consideration. It shall provide excellence and leadership in the field of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery by teaching, providing exemplary clinical practice and dynamically pursuing relevant researches beneficial to the community in an environment guided by moral, ethical and spiritual values.
Department History
The specialty of Otorhinolaryngology has its beginning in the specialty formerly known as EENT – Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat. The department was organized in May 1911 and was headed by Dr. Reinhert Rembe, a naturalized American of German ancestry. Within two years of its inception, the department began admitting resident physicians. When Dr. Rembe left the Philippines in 1914, Dr. Aristeo Rizal Ubaldo, assistant head, took over management of the department. Around the time of his chairmanship, Dr. Ubaldo toured famous eye, ear, nose and throat clinics of Europe and returned with an instrument called the Barraquer’s Erisophake. With this, Dr. Ubaldo introduced intracapsular cataract lens extraction in the country — a milestone in Philippine Ophthalmology. This was followed by other great achievement such as the first laryngectomy by Dr. Ubaldo and Dr. Antonio S. Fernando, Sr. in 1923 and the introduction of the first bronchoesophagology clinic by Dr. Vivencio C. Alcantara in 1932.
With rapid developments within the specialty of EENT, there was a call for its separation into two distinct specialties. In 1961, the University of the Philippines Board of Regents granted autonomy to the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, effectively separating it from the Department of Ophthalmology. Thereafter, the Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) began its exodus into the specialty that it is today. Dr. Carlos Yambao was the department’s first chairman. He and his colleagues paved the way for further development of the field. He was followed by several great men who led and inspired the department to strive for great achievement.
At present, the department has been continuously soaring to improve facilities as it has continuously acquired new equipment such as the Zeiss microscope, CO2 and KTP A.R.C laser machine, the new Spies Rhinology tower, and complete and new microlaryngeal surgery and bronchoscopy sets. The residency training program has also been
continuously adapting to the newly-recommended Outcome-Based Education (OBE) requirements of the Philippine Board of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery which has further increased the number of alternative teaching strategies, improved the quality of consultant supervision in operative procedures and outpatient clinics, and provided more objective and constructive assessment of residents’ performance.
Programs Offered
The residency training program of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology is a 4-year accredited training program with subspecialties comprised by the different sections—the head of each is identified in the table that follows:
Subspecialty/Section | Section Head |
Rhinology and Paranasal Sinus and Anterior Skull Base Surgery ("Rhino") | Hernandez, Josefino G., MD |
Craniomaxillofacial, Plastic, and Restorative Surgery ("Facial Plastic") | Pangan, Roberto M., DMD, MD, PhD |
Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Salivary Gland ("Oral Cavity") | Remulla, Agnes T., MD |
Laryngobronchoesophagology and Head and Neck Surgery ("LBEN") | Tuazon, Rene S, MD |
Otology, Neuro-otology, Audiology and Lateral Skull Base Surgery ("Otology"/ "Ear") | Yang, Nathaniel W, MD |
Residents are evaluated in four areas: 1) knowledge, 2) clinical and surgical skills, 3) attitude, and in 4) research output. Knowledge is measured by monthly in-house exams by the training officer and chief resident, as well as with Oral Examinations for the first to third year residents are conducted during the last quarter of the year. Clinical and surgical skills are evaluated by consultant’s assessment through appropriate grading materials, recommended by the PBO-HNS. Residents’ researches are likewise evaluated during various research activities (Interesting Case Contest, Descriptive Research Presentation, Analytical Research Presentation, regular research updates).
Head and Neck Oncology Surgery Fellowship ProgramThis is a 12-month clinical fellowship wherein the fellow manages and assists in complicated ORL cases and sees charity patients in the various subspecialty clinics. The fellow occupies an intermediate position between the consultant attending staff and the resident staff, which combines a training program with significant service responsibility. As such, the fellow sees public patients in the various subspecialty clinics and participates in the diagnosis and disclosure process. The fellow assists at surgery and may operate independently depending on the level of expertise and is involved in post-operative care, including issues of palliation and rehabilitation. The fellow also acts as the liaison to the other specialties (radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, internists, dentist, prosthetists, etc.) in the pre-operative and post-operative care of patients. The fellow also facilitates the discussion in the weekly Multi-Disciplinary Tumor Conference, under the supervision of the Head and Neck Division consultants, and with the active participation of consultants, fellows and residents of the departments of Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Family Medicine (Hospice/Palliative Care), to discuss pre-operative and post-operative care for tumor patients admitted in the wards or seen at the OPD, providing a holistic approach to the treatment of each case. The fellowship program has had a great impact on the department particularly in terms of decreased morbidity and mortality rates of tumor cases.
Craniomaxillofacial Prosthesis Fellowship ProgramThis is a clinical fellowship beginning at the second year of residency until the fourth year. Prosthesis fellows have dedicated days, during Thursday and Friday from 3-5 pm, and sometimes work even outside regular office hours. They are exposed to the basics and intricacies of maxillofacial prosthesis fabrication. The patients seen by fellows include admitted cases and out-patient cases, including referrals from other departments and institutions.
Philippine Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PAFPARS), Rotating FellowThe department, in partnership with the Philippine Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, allows its fellows to rotate in the department for several months to perform selected surgeries, observe in facial and reconstructive surgeries, and participate in the weekly ORL Facial Plastic rounds, tumor rounds and grand rounds. The fellow, in turn, presents a quarterly audit consisting of census of cases seen and surgeries performed.
Master’s Program in Clinical AudiologyThis program was started in 1998 and is offered every two years. Students spend their time in the Ear Unit for eight (8) hours a week to perform the different diagnostic tests on different patients, in addition to their classes. Faculty members come from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology University of the Philippines College of Medicine and the Department of Speech Pathology University of the Philippines College of Allied Medical Professions. Students are trained with full hands-on laboratory work, and the program allows integration of audiologic diagnosis and hearing aid analysis into the existing training program. The program also benefits from the upgraded Temporal Bone Dissection Laboratory and Vestibular Laboratory. Graduates of the Master of Clinical Audiology and ORL residency programs acquire skills for audiologic diagnosis and rehabilitation when they leave the hospital.
Post-Graduate CoursesPost-graduate courses, lectures and seminars strengthen the residents’ understanding of the concepts essential to the specialty and provide much needed avenues to discuss management and treatment protocols with experts in the field. The basic thrust of the department has always been excellence in the field of Otorhinolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery through teaching and training of both residents and medical students. Residents are involved in the teaching process and play a role in producing teaching aids such as the Self-Instructional Learning Modules for UP College of Medicine students.
Enumerated in the list that follows are the annual post-graduate courses conducted by the department and open to other trainees from other institutions:
- Annual Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Course
- Annual Functional Rhinoplasty Course
- Images (Clinicoradiologic ENT Correlation)- held every 2 years
- Basic Head and Neck Course- held every 2 years
- Annual In-house Temporal Bone Dissection Course
- Temporal Bone Dissection Course (open)- held every 2 years
Faculty Members
The acting chair, Dr. Josefino G. Hernandez, the present training officer, Dr. Arsenio Claro C. Cabungcal, along with all teaching consultants are diplomates of the Philippine Board of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery and Fellows of the Philippine Society of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery.
JOSEFINO G. HERNANDEZ., MDVice-Chairman; Current Acting Chair
RAMON ANTONIO B. LOPA, MD
Head, Division of Otorhinolaryngology
JEANNETTE MARIE S. MATSUO, MD
Head, Division of Head and Neck Surgery
JOSEFINO G. HERNANDEZ, MD
Asst. Chair for Administration
4 AGNES N. TIRONA-REMULLA, MD
Asst. Chair for Teaching
ABNER L. CHAN, MD
Asst. Chair for Training
RYNER JOSE C. CARRILLO, MD
Asst. Chair for Research
RAMON ANTONIO B. LOPA, MD
Asst. Chair for Services
CHRISTINE JOY S. ARQUIZA, MD
Asst. Chair for Medical Informatics
ARSENIO CLARO A. CABUNGCAL, MD
Training Officer
Faculty Name | Degree | Rank | Tenure | Status |
Arquiza, Christine Joy S. | MD, MS Health Informatics (ongoing) |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Cabungcal, Arsenio Claro A. | MD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Calaquian, Christopher Malorre E | MD | Clinical Associate Professor, UPCollege of Medicine andAttending Otorhinolaryngologist,PGHMedical Specialist III, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Carrillo, Ryner Jose C. | MD, MSc (ClinEpi) |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Associate Professor 7, Dept. of Anatomy, College of Medicine |
Temporary
Permanent |
Part-time
Full-time |
Chan, Abner L. | MD | Associate Professor 4, UPCollege of Medicine andAttending Otorhinolaryngologist,PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Chiong, Armando Jr., M | MD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist,PGH
Medical Specialist III, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Part-time
Part-time |
Chiong, Charlotte M. | MD, Masteral Units in Medical Audiology, PhD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Research Professor 7, National Institutes of Health, UPM |
Temporary
Permanent |
Part-time
Full-time |
Cruz, Teresa Luisa G. | MD, MHPEd | Associate Professor 4, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Permanent | Part-time |
Fellizar-Lopez, Kathleen Makrina R. | MD, Master of Public Health | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Fullante, Philip B. | MD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part Time |
Hernandez, Josefino G. | MD | Associate Professor 7, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Permanent | Part-time |
Hernandez, Melfred L. | MD, MHA |
Associate Professor 5, UPM Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine
Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Full-time
Part time |
Lapeña, Jose Florencio Jr., F. | MA, MD | Professor 9, UP College ofMedicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Permanent | Full-time |
Llanes, Erasmo Gonzalo D.V. | MD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Lopa, Ramon Antonio B. | MD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Medical Specialist III, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Part-time
Part-time |
Matsuo, Jeannette Marie S. | MD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Medical Specialist III, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Part-time
PartTime |
Pangan, Roberto M. | DMD, MD, PhD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Tirona-Remulla, Agnes N. | MD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Medical Specialist III, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Part-time
Part-time |
Quintos, Maria Rina R.. | MD, MClinAud |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Research Associate Professor 3, National Institutes of Health, UPM |
Temporary
Permanent |
Part-time
Full-time |
Reyes, Ronaldo A. | MD, DMD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Ricalde, Rosario R. | MD | Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part Time |
Tuazon, Rene S. | MD | Associate Professor 7, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Permanent | Part-time |
Villafuerte, Cesar Jr., V. | MD, MHA | Associate Professor 4, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH | Temporary | Part-time |
Yang, Nathaniel W. | MD |
Clinical Associate Professor, UP College of Medicine and Attending Otorhinolaryngologist, PGH
Medical Specialist III, PGH |
Temporary
Temporary |
Part-time
Part-time |
Facilities & Services
The department has its own laboratory that fabricates cranio-maxillo-facial prosthetics. Residents-in training who choose to undergo fellowship training in the unit, have dedicated days (Thursday and Friday from 3-5 pm) to work in the prosthesis unit and even outside their regular office hours to learn the basics of maxillofacial prosthesis. Prosthetic devices fabricated in the unit consists of feeding plates for cleft palate patients; surgical, interim and permanent obturators for post-maxillectomy patients; occlusal splints, and lingual splints to name a few.
Ear UnitThe Ear Unit is officially under the Philippine National Ear Institute. It functions as a service provider for the hospital in the administration of hearing examinations such as otoacoustic emission, auditory brainstem response, pure tone audiometry, speech testing, tympanometry and hearing aid fitting. It also offers tests which are only available in our institution like the video head impulse test and cortical evoked potential. The Ear Unit likewise functions as a venue for training of the department’s residents and students of the Masters in Clinical Audiology in conducting the above mentioned tests.
Videostroboscopy UnitThis unit is equipped with a laryngeal videostroboscopy machine and serves as a venue where patients can undergo videostroboscopic laryngeal examinations administered by subspecialty consultants and senior residents
Library FacilitiesThe department has a library of reading materials available for use in the callroom and in the department office. The department has a subscription to PJOHNS and foreign journals are accessible through the University of the Philippines Manila server (i.e. through search engine bodies like PubMed and ScienceDirect).
Clinical Care
The Department’s Ward (Ward 10, second floor of the Philippine General Hospital) has a 42-bed capacity (39 adult beds and 3 pedia beds), divided into 5 major services.
Service | Bed Allotment |
LBEN | 9 beds |
Oral Cavity | 9 beds |
Rhinology | 7 beds |
Ear | 7 beds |
Plastic | 4 beds |
Special beds/ ER beds/ Chief Resident | 3 beds |
Crib beds (any service) | 3 beds |
The 39 adult beds are divided into male and female beds per service. The crib beds may accommodate any age-appropriate patient from any service. Each service has a team of residents-in-charge comprised of 1 resident per year level.
General ClinicThe Department’s Out-Patient Clinic (OPD) is open 5 days a week from Monday to Friday. The OPD is manned by the Service of the day and by all other available residents without specific posts (e.g. residents finishing early from the OR). Second year residents are in-charge of checking new patients seeking first consult, after being seen by medical students and resident rotators. First and third year residents check on the old and follow-up patients and those referred by other services. Fourth year residents oversee the entire OPD Clinic and receive referrals from junior residents.
Specialty ClinicsSpecialty Clinics are presided over by consultants of each service, as scheduled. Cases seen at these clinics are referred from the General Clinic for specialized disposition or opinion by the consultant, fellow or service senior.
Major Operating RoomsThere are three (3) dedicated charity operating rooms (OR) for the department at the RCB OR complex during Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Additional rooms are being provided for pay cases—total of 5 ORs on Mondays (2 pay rooms, 3 charity rooms) and 4 ORs on Wednesdays (1 pay room, 3 charity rooms). Each charity service is assigned three (3) OR days a week. Consultant and/or fellow supervision is mandatory for the more complicated cases and for teaching procedures.
Emergency RoomThere is a dedicated area at the emergency room equipped with suction machine and examination light and chair. There is a first-year resident manning the emergency room at all times, rotated among the different services in a 12-hour duty scheme.
Research
Consultants of the department hold key positions in the official journal of the PSO HNS. Dr. Jose Florencio F. Lapeña is the editor-in-chief of the Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (PJOHNS). Dr. Christopher Malorre E. Calaquian, Dr. Ryner Jose C. Carrillo and Dr. Erasmo Gonzalo dV. Llanes are also associate editors of the said journal.
Research requirements for the residents have been closely monitored with regular research updates being conducted quarterly. Since 2015, a research consultant per year level has been assigned. One case report each for the 1st year residents (to be presented during their second year), one descriptive study each for the 2nd year residents, and one analytical/experimental study each for the 3rd year and 4th year residents have been required as the minimum research output. Each study group has been encouraged to produce researches relevant to their subspecialty. The research committee is strict with EHRO approval prior to initiation of each research study.
Last year (2017), several research papers were presented in international conferences, including the 5th Asian Society of Head and Neck Oncology (ASHNO) Congress in Bali, Indonesia last March; and the 2nd Congress of Asia Pacific Society of Thyroid Surgery (APTS) in Okinawa, Japan in November. Studies and case reports of the residents have also performed well in research forums within and outside our institution. Also, the residents’ research entries won in all of the three research forums hosted by the Philippine Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (PSO HNS)—2nd place in the Case Report category held last April, 2nd place in the Descriptive Research Category held last September, and 3rd place in the Analytical Research Category held in November. In the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) Annual Research Forum, Case Report Category held in PMA Building, North Avenue, Quezon City in May, the department’s entry won first place. Moreover, it was in this year that the ACTA Special Otorhinolaryngology Issue 2 Vol 51, Number 1, Jan-Mar 2017 was published which includes 7 original articles, 3 case series/ case reports, and 1 special article. One hundred and fifty (150) hard copies were made available for distribution from April to May 2017.
Contact Us
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
University of the Philippines College of Medicine –
2nd Floor, Main Building, Philippine General Hospital
Taft Avenue, Manila 1000
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
TELEPHONE: 554-8400 loc. 2152
EMAIL: orl.up.pgh@gmail.com
Faculty Directory
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