DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
The Department of Family and Community Medicine was created in 2017 to establish a Family Medicine specialty training program that is focused on developing highly competent primary care physicians who possess a strong foundation in the knowledge and application of Family Medicine concepts and evidence-based interventions, as well as proficiency in the identification and differentiation of clinically non-urgent, urgent, and emergent cases. Ultimately, training is focused on the provision of anticipatory guidance and holistic biopsychosocial care for the management of cases seen in both urban and geographically disadvantaged and isolated areas.
In March 2017, the department officially commenced its duties at the hospital’s Outpatient Department with four first-year residents. At present, the training program has grown in its number of consultants and residents, as well as in its achievements. In just a few years, the department has achieved Level III accreditation by the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians and produced graduates who have garnered accolades in the Family Physician Diplomate Examination and various research and clinical and family case competitions both in the country and abroad.
The department is currently chaired by Dr. Sergio M. Tanhueco Jr., with Dr. Ethelyn Joy R. Pichay as the Residency Training Officer. Other consultants for the Department are Dr. Joseph G. Macalla, Dr. Ruth Anne M. Kong, Dr. Marie Ruth A. Echavez, Dr. June Michael V. Razon and Dr. Mylene L. Escritor.
The department’s trainees are able to hone their knowledge and skills in family practice, which include family medicine concepts, primary and secondary care, acute care, communication and counselling skills, research and evidence-based medicine, occupational health, community medicine, and palliative care. Trainees also complete clinical rotations in the various departments of the hospital, such as Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and more, to be able to provide comprehensive primary care for a wide range of patients. The Family Medicine Ambulatory Care Services opened in 2023 to provide services for non-urgent patients seeking consultation at the Emergency Department and Trauma Center. A fellowship training program in Supportive, Hospice and Palliative Medicine was established in 2023 to produce subspecialists dedicated to improving the quality of life for patients with advanced life-threatening diseases and their families.
In line with its mission of providing the highest quality of patient-centered, family-focused, and community-oriented care, the Department of Family and Community Medicine is committed to the continuous cultivation of a training program which upholds excellence and integrity in the practice of primary care, producing family physicians who are who are clinically competent healthcare providers, inspiring leaders, empathic educators, skilled researchers, and effective coordinators and navigators of care, highly adept in integrating the biomedical and psychosocial models of care in the management of Filipino patients and their families.