Message from the Chairman

The new year 2007 promises new beginnings, renewed vigor, more opportunities for growth, a multitude of expectations.  The Department of Family and Community Medicine, much like its counterparts, is caught in this whirlwind of change and progress.  We cannot be unperturbed when there are so many concerns needing to be addressed.  The impact of health and medical care in the everyday lives of people has become so pervasive.  More than ever, the context of health care delivery has to be taken in its proper light.  We, in the department, persevere in our commitment of providing competent, comprehensive and compassionate care to patients in need.  It is hoped that we would be able to reach out more extensively to various sectors, provide more avenues for dialogue and expression, promote better collaboration, and make everyone aware of what is going on in the discipline and our fields of interest.

This effort at information dissemination is exactly that – one big step towards connectivity, not just within the hospital, but more importantly, involving others.  Thus, we are extending the invitation to anybody from all over, to anybody who might be interested, to participate, to partake of the ideas that we offer, and to impart his own reflections on any of the issues that might surface.
Let’s hear what’s on your mind!

                                                                                      Alex J. B. Alip, Jr., M.D.

In keeping with its primary mission to train competent physicians who will provide total health care delivery to their patients and families and serve as first contact coordinators in the community, the department of family medicine was created by merging the outpatient department, domiciliary service and emergency room complex of the hospital.

While the department assumes primary responsibility for the training of medical interns and residents, it also continues to strengthen its faculty development program. As part of its service component, the department also renders outpatient services at the ER complex, triage clinic and poison control center, follow-up clinic, infirmary and other family medicine services.

The growing complexities in the health care environment serve as a challenge for family medicine as it pursues the acquisition of additional knowledge that will help improve the practice for the benefit of society.