Pathology

VISION

A team of physicians highly competent in the field of pathology; imbued with moral, ethical and spiritual vigor; dedicated to a life of learning and teaching; committed to the improvement of patient care through provision of outstanding pathology services; inspired by love, compassion and respect for the dignity of human life and the nobility of death; and anchored on the principles of truth, freedom, justice, love of country and the democratic way of life.

MISSION

Guided by moral, ethical and spiritual values, we commit ourselves to excellence and leadership in the practice and teaching of pathology, and research in the discipline, with special attention to provision of service for the underserved.

Pathology traces its origins in 1907 as one of the very first departments of the erstwhile Philippine Medical School, initially called the Department of Pathology and Bacteriology, servicing nearby hospitals of Old Manila. It found its physical home when the medical school building was built in 1910, the same year the Philippine General Hospital opened. Its first faculty of American physicians were gradually replaced in the late 1920s by Filipinos, the latter representing the first formally trained pathologists of the country. The second half of the 20th century saw the department’s faculty broadening its expertise as subspecialists were added to its roster after training abroad in fields like Gynecologic Pathology, Neuropathology, Bone Pathology, Renal Pathology, Hematopathology, Pediatric Pathology, Microbiology, Clinical Chemistry, Head and Neck Pathology, Cytopathology, and Forensic Pathology. To this day, the department continues the tradition of academic excellence as its faculty teaches medical students and pathology residents in training.

PROGRAMS OFFERED

Medical School Subjects

Pathology learning sessions in the form of didactics, gross and microscopic laboratory classes are built into the Learning Unit 4 of the UP College of Medicine curriculum, beginning as one of the core subjects in the Biopsychosocial Dimension of Illness (BDI), followed by integration into the different Organ System (OS) modules throughout the two semesters. The department also offers two elective courses to select medical students who have completed Learning Unit 4, i.e. Introduction to Laboratory Medicine, and Forensic Pathology.

Residency Training

The residency training program in Combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology is completed in four years. Each resident rotates in the following sections for acquisition of knowledge and skills under the supervision of the consultant staff:

Anatomic Pathology

• Autopsy
• Surgical Pathology
• Cytopathology
• Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy

Clinical Pathology

• Blood Bank
• Clinical Chemistry
• Clinical Microscopy
• Immunopathology
• Microbiology

Raquel B. Del Rosario-Fortun, M.D.

Chair

Maria Cecilia F. Lim, M.D.

Vice-Chair

Agustina D. Abelardo, M.D.

Jose M. Carnate, Jr., M.D.

Ariel M. Vergel De Dios, M.D.

Andrew D. Dimacali, M.D.

Edna May Lasap-Go, M.D.

Michele H. Diwa, M.D.

Karen Bulseco-Damian, M.D.

Dahlia Teresa R. Argamosa, M.D.

Michelle Anne M. Encinas-Latoy, M.D

Sonia L. Chicano, M.D.

Edwin L. Muñoz, M.D.

Mark Angelo C. Ang, M.D.

Elia P. Cabrera, M.D.

Ma. Carmen L. Cagampan, M.D.

Arvin C. Faundo, M.D.

Nelson T. Geraldino, M.D., MSPH

Frederick G. Lim, M.D.

Marie Michelle Y. So, M.D

Januario D. Veloso, M.D.

Jenny Maureen L. Atun, M.D.

Paolo S. Macasaet, M.D.

Eugene G. Odoño I, M.D.

Karen Cybelle J. Sotalbo, M.D.

Professor Emeritus:

Adelaida Dalmacio-Cruz, M.D.

FACILITIES AND SERVICES

Morgue and Autopsy

The fully equipped morgue offers both medical and forensic autopsy services. Bodies accepted 24 hours but autopsies are done 8am to 5pm only. The clinical mortalities at the Philippine General Hospital and other centers, along with medicolegal cases from far and wide that seek the expertise of the only two forensic pathologists in the country, have made the Department of Pathology Morgue the busiest and most capable of its kind in the delivery of these services in the Philippines.

Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy Clinic

Patients with thyroid nodules, palpable lymph nodes, breast lumps, and other non-visceral masses may avail of the fine needle aspiration biopsy procedure on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 8am to 12nn, at the Pathology Research Laboratory.

RESEARCH

The wealth of clinical material provided by the Philippine General Hospital Department of Laboratories, Pathology Research Laboratory, and autopsy service drives resident trainees and consultant staff to engage in all manner of clinical and anatomic pathology research, the findings of which are presented at an annual Research Forum hosted by the department. Many of these have been formally written as papers and published in scientific journals both local and international.

Department of Pathology
UP College of Medicine
Tel. No.: (+632) 526-4550
Mobile No.: (+639) 0918-985-1972