Dr. Elizabeth V. Carreon
Before I start, let me congratulate the people behind making this newsletter possible. It is not easy a job to take part of medical journalism whilst coping with one’s practice and academic activities; so, to them my deepest admiration.
As I stepped down as chairman of the department, I am now being asked to write down my achievements for the last 3 ½ years that I have chaired. That I find difficult. . . I have not been used to being praised; more so, “to praise myself” seemed to be too egotistical for me. But a task is a task, so here I go narrating to you not my accomplishments but that of my department.
Late of September 2003, I received a letter from former Dean Theresita R. Lariosa MD appointing me to be chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. Hesitantly, I said yes (there was really no choice). I was constantly asking myself if I was right for the position; I had no experience and had very little concept of what a “chairman” does or must do. All I prayed for was to make sure that the department does not collapse during my term; lest, I be banish from the department (forever).
So, what do you do with a department that was literally “in disarray” and whose accreditation was in probation then later, suspended? Plenty, I knew. The first 2 things that I instinctively knew that I had to do at the start were to find a way on how to “unite” us and think as a department and second to assign the right kind of people to do particular jobs that they feel responsible for and at the same time be proud of. To be able to accomplish these would be the end of “my achievement” and the start of “ours” (achievement). .
The first sign that we “long” for unity was when we started attending our regular Friday conferences. In time, we all wanted to create changes in our department’s policies , creating rules for us to follow, penalizing ourselves if we do not. Professionals starting to take responsibilities (that made me happy - we are as a department maturing). The rest was history. We were successful creating funds through our bingo socials. We learned and shared our expertise by providing lectures like in our yearly Diabetes Lay Education, ECG workshop last 2006 and Advanced Cardiac Life Support this 2007. The increasing number of our residents (especially coming from our own graduates) from two to eight is a source of pride; also an accomplishment. How come? Deep inside, I know that the changes that we have made; our sacrifices had bore fruit. We have inspired our students to be one of us.
Dr. Amelita C. Brillantes
Incoming Chairman
These are exciting times to be a Perpetualite Internist. We are in the thick of preparations for the First Annual Perpetualites’ Night – a night to honor all those who have molded and shaped our department into what it is at present, a night to welcome back all those who have walked these hollowed hallways with the hopes of becoming an internist.
Our department E-group is up and running, and we are coming out with the pilot issue of IM Pulse, our very own department newsletter. Indeed, these are exciting times to be a Perpetualite Internist.
It is hard to believe that it has only been a dozen years ago when I was warmly welcomed to the department like an adopted daughter. And I have witnessed – first as a curious observer, next as a passive member and later as an active participant how the department has crawled, toddled and jumpstarted into the active, progressive, ever-changing entity that it is today.
We look back with nostalgia to the “good old days” – how it was when the hospital was new, the earliest residents (who now make up the core consultants), the pioneer mentors, our 1st PCP accreditation, our yearly Xmas celebrations, the major projects (ECG course, BLS, ACLS) our fundraising Bingo activities, those dark days when our accreditation was suspended, and the dwindling number of residents.
As we fondly reminisce about the past, so we also take pride of the great many changes that have been firmly put in place – our successful re-accreditation, an almost full roster of residents, regular and well-attended Friday conferences; streamlined and fully implemented residency training program.
With these we excitedly look forward to tomorrow to greet the challenges yet to be faced.
Let’s aim for a bigger and better department! More specifically – we can-
- Build camaraderie among consultants and residents by team-building activities.
- Upgrade our material resources : sound system, laptop
- Build an “e” library – a collection of lecture modules that can be used to teach and which will be readily accessible to our students and trainees
- Increase participation in PCP related events like quiz contests, research activities.
- Start contributing to the society where we belong by initiating lay fora on common preventable diseases.
We have already walked the distance; there is no doubt that TOGETHER we can do it!
