On behalf of the UPCM community I would like to welcome you all to our College of Medicine where you will be encouraged to walk the path to excellence, honor and service not only to our country but to the world at large. Our shared vision is to be “a community of scholars highly competent in the field of medicine with heightened social consciousness”
We hope that as you go through your medical education you will emerge as caring, compassionate and competent healthcare leaders whose approach is grounded in primary health care and community oriented while undertaking research for generating needed evidence to inform policy. We are optimistic that you will be adequately prepared to contribute to national conversations on how health care can be better accessed by the Filipino people and how technologies can be harnessed to make delivery of health services more efficient and effective.
Infrastructure- Completion of the New Medical Education Center
Science and discovery: Collaboration and Creativity
Partnership for Progress in Health Care
Innovation and Leadership
Resource Generation for UPCM to GROW more
Empower and Embrace Diversity, Inclusiveness and Sense of Community
Let me share with you the flagship projects for the next three years and beyond represented by “INSPIRE”
Without having to go into the details of each of them, allow me to share with you some additional insights which may be specifically relevant to your growth in the College of Medicine.
In relation to infrastructure, we hope to see the completion of UPCM Medical Sciences Building within two years to provide conducive spaces for the topnotch transformative medical education that UPCM has always been known for. It will be expected to house a new auditorium, simulation centers, academic halls and student co-labs to provide for a congenial atmosphere for interactive learning. There will be special emphasis in making this new center technology-ready and compliant, secure, safe as well as ecofriendly. “Collaboratory” areas will be available for medical students. Following innovative programs such as the PhD by Research and hopefully the PhD by publication tracks there will be more PhD students enrolled in Medical/Health Sciences. And this new center will provide more facilities for a conducive and comfortable learning environment with better facilities available for lectures, more rooms and halls for courses and video conferences that can be beamed to other UP Manila campuses such as the School for Health Sciences Campuses.
We will encourage medical student research leading to better diagnosis, treatment and relevant to the health needs of the country and consistent with the National Unified Health Research Agenda and harmonized with the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals and the World Health Organization’s “Health for All in All Aspects” framework.
Scholarships in the different fields of medicine and international cooperation will be pursued to allow for exchanges among faculty and students with other renowned institutions of higher learning. Students and faculty alike will be encouraged to consider mentoring in all aspects of the medical sciences, clinical practice and even health policy and health economics. With respect to health human resource development, the UP College of Medicine in cooperation with the Philippine General Hospital will provide better opportunities for international exchange students to rotate in the different clinical departments. This will allow students to have a wider perspective and provide opportunities for cultural enrichment with greater sensitivity to other cultures that may well prepare them for being good global citizens. International organizations and foundations will be encouraged to be institutional partners to effect innovative programs for improving and extending health benefits especially to the marginalized sectors of society.
In a nutshell, as the University of the Philippines is committed to “shape the minds that shape the nation” we uphold the need to protect and promote the health and mental well-being of our medical students. Hence, we have made it a goal to look after your over-all welfare throughout your stay in the college. We hope that by working together we will be able create a nurturing environment and an atmosphere of community, tolerance and acceptance. We will develop programs that will cultivate psychological resiliency and provide venues for continued consultation and support. We are proud of our mentoring programs. We will further strengthen the capabilities of our faculty to respond to your needs. Because of the mandated K12 system, relevant revisions in the general education curriculum of the Integrated Liberal Arts and Medicine or the INTARMED program has been made and is building on the success of the MD PhD program with 10 scholars for this batch. We will embark on an enhanced mentoring program and erect the new UPCM medical sciences building for a most conducive learning environment with plans for research intensification to produce a six-star physician. Charles Boelen, world renowned for social accountability, described the five-star physician as being a compassionate care provider, a decision maker, communicator, community leader, manager of multidisciplinary teams. UPCM under the leadership of the Office of the Dean will help mold you to be the six-star physician, with the addition of the “SCIENTIST with Nationalist FERVOR.
Dear students, welcome to UP College of Medicine where your journey to becoming six-star physician begins.
CHARLOTTE M. CHIONG, MD, PhD
Professor & Dean