PEDIATRICS AT ITS BEST

The Philippine General Hospital is the home of the one of the best, if not the best, pediatrics department in the land.

Training, service and research are the three major thrusts of the department in consonance with the goals of the Philippine General Hospital and the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines. Being the referral center of practically the whole Philippines, trainees in the department are exposed to a myriad of cases including the rarest and the most complicated of its kind. This clinical experience is complemented by the regular consultant rounds, subspecialty services, lectures for the house staff, seminars, workshops and other learning opportunities. The faculty staff of the department is composed of 66 noted pediatricians, a number of which are holders of postgraduate degrees. Aside from the traditional residency program, trainees can avail of a combined residency and masteral program. Residents can obtain any masteral degree while pursuing residency. In fact, the department also offers its own masters in child health. Further training can be obtained through any of the department's sixteen subspecialty programs.

Patient service is not only measured in terms of quantity but in quality as well. While the most evident is that the department caters to thousands of patients every year, what is not known is that the department has a number of programs lined up for its patients. Among the support groups that have been formed for the past years are the Bantay Barangayan which considers the two general pediatric wards as small communities to which the patients belong, the Teen Mom Clinic which provides comprehensive care to adolescent mothers from pregnancy to post partum, and other support groups for patients with rheumatic heart disease, epilepsy, genetic diseases and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Read More »

HISTORY

All things have humble beginnings. The Department of Pediatrics, like a seed, started from a single vision that flourished, and the governing principles at the conception still stand firm today. On June 10, 1907, the Philippine Medical School, now known as the College of Medicine, was established by the Philippine Commission as the first College of the future University of the Philippines.

The Department of Pediatrics was one of the original eleven departments of instruction. Its first Chair was Dr. Jose Albert (1887-1946), who was an Obstetrician by training, but a pioneer Pediatrician by vocation. Read More »