UPCM grand symposium in January
Emergencies and Disasters: Pearls for the 21st Century Primary Health Care Provider will be the focus of the grand scientific symposium 2006 slated January 22 to 25 as part of the centennial celebrations of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM).
The grand scientific symposium was first organized 12 years ago by then UPCM dean Alfredo Ramirez. According to dean Cecilia Tomas, this year's symposium will be markedly different from those held in the past in line with the UPCM's goal--as it celebrates the centennial of its founding--to provide service not only in health care but in much needed social transformation as well.
The conference hopes to serve as a venue for organizing action groups and meetings with different sectors of society to discuss issues regarding disasters and emergencies and set the stage for the setting up of a disaster-management training center.
Head organizers Drs. Charlotte Chiong and Jose Lapeña Jr. said participants will include not just health professionals but also youth leaders, community organizers, barangay health workers, civil servants, and health-care industry representatives. Topics for discussion include community management in floods and disasters, psychological impact of disasters, forensic pathology, health epidemics, pollution, weapons of mass destruction, creating safe environments, and sanitation. There will be speakers from different international organizations, including the World Health Organization.
An added feature is the offering of certificate courses. Participants may choose to take courses on the following topics: basic life support, disaster counseling, first aid, pediatrics home emergencies, geriatric home emergencies, eye emergencies, ENT emergencies, community organizing during disasters, and communications technology in disasters and emergencies. Participants may enroll in one or more courses.
W. Sevilla, MD
J & J, Ateneo renew partnership
Recognizing the need of doctors and nondoctors in top management positions in Philippine hospitals for continuing and advanced education in the field of hospital management, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) and the Ateneo Graduate School of Business (AGSB) recently conducted the second Hospital Management Program (HMP), a short course designed to produce hospital managers and leaders who can move their health-care organizations toward efficiency, competence, and growth.
The program aims to enhance the leadership skills of the participants, develop competencies in managing and integrating the various functions of the hospital organizations, upgrade their abilities in formulating organizational vision, strategies and policies, and engage them in a synergistic understanding of the world of doctors and the world of managers.
The participants went through intensive six-day training where they took part in group discussions, lectures, workshops, home-reading assignments, case studies, and hospital tours. The course included topics on the Philippine health situation, managerial ethics and leadership, and resource and strategic management.
Through the seminar, the participants were able to capture and understand the core knowledge and application of the management processes and techniques in hospital settings; acquire additional functional competence and techniques in problem-solving and decision-making in health-care organizations; and gain a better appreciation of the hospital's role as a component of the health system in the country's socioeconomic development.
"Today, a great responsibility is placed upon ... leaders of health-care organizations to create a stronger health-care company, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, president of Ateneo de Manila University, said.
The HMP is part of the Leadership and Managerial Excellence in Health Systems Program of Johnson & Johnson and AGSB, which also includes the Nursing Leadership Program and the Midwives Leadership and Entrepreneurship Program.
Wyeth builds homes, gives hope
In celebration of their 40th anniversary, Wyeth Philippines Inc. and several alumni batches of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) are building 40 Gawad Kalinga homes in Bagong Silang. At the recent groundbreaking ceremony,
Wyeth president Perpetuo "Boy" de Claro announced the construction of two more houses, bringing Wyeth and ADMU's joint commitment to 42 units.
"We are helping you because you are giving us inspiration," Claro told the beneficiaries in the vernacular.
De Claro has been involved in Gawad Kalinga since its conception. He is an active member of Couples for Christ, which spearheaded the project until it became an independent foundation in 2002. Gawad Kalinga is a multisectoral partnership that aims to eradicate slums by building low-cost homes.
The new Gawag Kalinga site at Phase 9, Package 9, Bagong Silang was born when Atty. Rico Agcaoili, who chairs the reunion celebration of ADMU alumni batches '61, '65, and '69, called up batch mate de Claro to discuss plans for their jubilee anniversary. De Claro suggested funding another Gawad Kalinga development project in Bagong Silang since Wyeth is already deeply involved in the project.
"De Claro wanted a centerpiece activity that is not just fun and celebration," said Agcaoili. "It was a wonderful idea, given that it only takes less than US$1,000 to provide someone a home."
Aside from its involvement in Gawad Kalinga, Wyeth is also committed to the antituberculosis campaign in Bagong Silang and has already helped hundreds of TB patients get treatment. "It is Wyeth's way of connecting with brother and sister Filipinos," added Agcoili.
Spanning 808 hectares, Bagong Silang is the biggest barangay in the country, and the largest relocation area in Metro Manila. It has 11 Gawad Kalinga sites.
First disc-replacement operation
St. Luke's Medical Center recently performed the first artificial-disc-replacement operation in the Philippines. The four-hour surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr. Mario Ver, director of the St. Luke's institute of orthopedics and sports medicine.
The patient, a 44-year-old woman from La Union, had suffered chronic lower-back pain since 1993. Her back pain was so severe that she could hardly walk and was bed-ridden for some time. "There were days when I couldn't sleep well
because I was unable to find a position that would help relieve me of my pain," she said. "Sometimes, the pain was so great that I was forced to stay home and this really affected my job at the provincial government."
Ver said the patient had exhausted all the treatments available for her condition. Last year, she was diagnosed to have degenerative-disc disease (DDD). Degenerative changes in the spine accompanied by pain are some of the most common diseases of modern civilization. This degeneration can be the result of the natural ageing process, an injury to the spinal disc, or other related factors.
Back in 1987, the artificial-disc-replacement surgery was introduced in East Germany. This procedure, however, was only given approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration last year. Spine arthroplasty or total disc replacement is a promising alternative treatment for DDD. By replacing the degenerated intervertebral disc with an artificial disc prosthesis, stability can be restored and the mobility of the motion segment is also maintained.
The disc Ver used has proved to be particularly successful in operations performed in Germany when there is intervertebral disc damage in the lumbar vertebral region. Developed at the Orthopedic University Clinic of Berlin Charite in Germany, the disc consists of two metal endplates made a high quality cobalt chromium alloy--an implant material which has been proven to be extremely well-tolerated by the body.
The metal endplates are attached to the vertebral bodies by means of small anchoring teeth along the border as well as a bioactive porous coating. A polyethylene siding core or spacer is placed between these endplates that allows near-normal physiological motion.
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