About MEU
The Medical Education Unit was established in 1992 under the term of Dean Alfredo T. Ramirez, with a core group of faculty members with post-graduate training in medical education, primarily to develop a faculty development program to improve the pedagogical skills of faculty.
To this end, a 5-module program was developed and implemented under the leadership of the first two Unit heads, Dr. Clarita C. Maaño and Dr. Josefina Almonte. The modules were covered instructional design, objectives setting, teaching strategies and microteaching, evaluation and innovations in medical education.
Under the leadership of Dr. Armando Crisostomo (2004 – 2012), the 5 MEU modules were integrated with other mandatory modules for COME and research, among others, and were re-framed into the Integrated Faculty Development Program (IFDP).
IFPD 1: Ethics, Values and Gender Sensitivity
IFDP 2: Leadership and Management
IFDP 3: Needs Based Instructional Design/Situational Analysis
IFDP 4: Microteaching, Facilitating, Active Listening, Counselling
IFDP 5: Evaluation and Community Diagnosis
IFDP 6: Innovative Approaches in Medical Education
IFDP 7: Research
The medical education modules were consolidated into a 3.5 day course in 2014, and refocused so that the faculty to appreciate the breadth of the UPCM curriculum. Topics on innovation addressed the needs of the College, such as outcome-based education, technology-assisted learning, blended-learning and wellness. More than 600 faculty members of the College have completed these modules.
The MEU also serves as the educational consultant for various committees of the College, including the LU Academic Committees, the Curriculum Committee and various accreditation activities with PAASCU and AUN-QA. The faculty also handles the Pedagogy 2 module in the course Art of Medicine, for LU4 students, to introduce them to the role of the physician as a teacher and provide basic skills in actualizing this role.
The MEU also extends expertise in training clinical teachers in various disciplines through workshops it has conducted for various medical professional societies. Various MEU courses have also been opened to faculty members of other medical schools as part of its extension service, culminating in a seminar offered in October 2018 as part of its silver anniversary celebration entitled “Educating the 21st Century Doctor”.
With the shift to remote learning in the pandemic, Pedagogy and IFDP Consolidated modules were delivered online through UPM VLE. The design for IFDP was especially significant to give the faculty the experience of being students in the same platform they use for instruction.
The pandemic also highlighted technology as a useful tool in teaching, hence an EdTech Hub was formed through the MEU and MIU, to serve as a clearing house for various educational technology software of potential use for the College. One of the recent joint activities of the Hub was the webinar series “Conversations in Remote Teaching and Learning”, held from September to December 2021.
Since its beginnings, the MEU has been headed by the following faculty members:
Dr. Clarita C. Maaño (1992-2001)
Dr. Josefina Almonte (2001-2004)
Dr. Armando Crisostomo (2004 – 2012)
Dr. Bernadette Heizel Manapat-Reyes (2012-present)
