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UPDATE ON THE FOUNDATION LEGACY PROJECTS
Immediately following is a copy of the letter addressed to Foundation President Cora Gemil, M.D. from the current UST College of Medicine Dean Grace G. Gonzaga.
April 18, 2007
Dear Dr. Gemil,
Thank you very much for your patience. We are sending you the floor plan of the clinical skills facility for comment. Once we get a go signal from you we shall inform the architect to start the project. Rest assured that we are doing everything to accommodate your project.
We look forward to seeing you in July.
MA. Graciela G. Gonzaga, M.D., Msc.
This is how far beyond the planning stage the Legacy projects have gone since the Legacy Committee of UST Med Class 67 Foundation USA, Inc. made the decision to finance these for the UST College of Medicine and Surgery two years ago. The Legacy committee had hoped that by the time the Las Vegas Reunion takes place in July, 2007 the fund-raising it started last year would have reached the targeted 100% Class 67 participation. Unfortunately, the response to efforts by the Legacy Committee to involve all of Class 67 has been anything but slow with only 40% responding with a pledge, cash donation or both to date.
It is impossible to make definite plans for execution of these projects and in the conceived time frame if the targeted amount of donations is anything but hard cash. Dean Gonzaga is now talking about floor plans, hiring of architects and building contractors. That means they are ready to go through with building if the Foundation is not only commited by heart but also financially. It is not sure why the fund raising for this project did not take off as predicted.
Could it be indifference on the part of Class 67?
We are aware that some have already retired from active practice and that several are planning their own retirement in the next year or so. But there is no specified or minimum amount set for the contributions. Any amount is welcome and will be fully appreciated.
The goal is 100% involvement of Class 67 for this ambitious but truly great class legacy and the beneficiary is our beloved alma mater. If planned well these projects will not only enhance the prestige of our alma mater but will also benefit the future generations of medical graduates in our homeland. Class 67 can not help but be proud.
Can the lackadaisical attitude we are getting stem from a lack of full understanding of what our legacy is trying to accomplish?
THE LEGACY PROJECTS
Project I Renovation and Upgrading of the CME Auditorium
The current CME Auditorium of the College of Medicine and Surgery was completed in 1992 and has since become a showcase of the University. The fully air-conditioned, 329-seat conference hall is equipped with computer-based presentation tools, video projection, 5-language translation terminals, audio and video recording and editing and is backed up with emergency electrical generators. Two-way audio/video connections to the operating rooms of the UST Hospital provide visual access to the ongoing procedures being demonstrated during wet clinics.
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CME Auditorium entrance |
Inside the CME Auditorium |
In 1996 further improvements were made. An inner courtyard fronting the auditorium with gazebos, greeneries and water fountain was added. This not only provided a place to circulate and socialize during conference breaks but the ample space around the gazebos made it possible to provide food service stations to conference participants.
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CME Gazabo |
The Gazebos in the CME courtyard |
The Class 67 Legacy plans to sponsor the following needed improvements: 1) Total renovation of the stage area, 2) New carpeting for the entire auditorium, 3) Upgrade of video equipment- two high resolution data grade video projectors, (4) Video equipment upgrade- new high power audio controller (sorround receivers), amplifiers, speakers, source equipment (DVD recorder-Player, VHS recorder, cassette recorder, hard disk drive camcorders), 5) Two laptop computers with video-editing software and 6) Renovation of the audio-video control room and the CME office.
The new auditorium will be a SELF-SUSTAINING, ONE OF A KIND, HIGH TECH FACILITY, the first in the University of Santo Tomas, or any other Philippine University for that matter. AND CLASS 67 CAN NOT BE MORE PROUD WHEN THIS IS ALL DONE!
It was primarily envisioned as a venue for medical post-graduate offerings of the faculty and has hosted hundreds of such courses, conferences, seminars, symposia, prestigious national and international conventions and meetings, including those of various colleges and units of the University. Except for official functions of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, rental fees are collected for the use of the auditorium and its facilities.
II Second Legacy Project - The Objective Structures Clinical Examination (OSCE)
This will be the first of its kind in the country. This is a type of assessment format where the examinee is made to rotate around a circuit of stations wherein a specific task has to be performed. The task usually is a clinical skill such as history-taking, physical examination, surgical procedure and other skills that may be considered important for a graduating medical student.
The one planned for the UST-FMS is envisioned to be a facility of 170 square meters consisting of six stations. Each station will be a small room with two entrances-one for the examinee and one for the standardized patient to be used. The room will contain 1. An interview (clinician ) desk, 2. Patient and interviewer chairs, 3. Examination table, 4. Diagnostic equipment (BP machine, diagnostic set, disposables such as gloves and tongue depressors), 5. Negatoscope, 6. Kitchen sink with running water and a small work area, 7. Petri dishes, slides, solutions, microscope, etc., 8. A one-way mirror or a single way window tint, 9. Video camcorder hooked to a master terminal room, 10. Evaluation sheets and forms and 11. Computer terminal ( outside the room ) with chair
Properly set up the facility can do the following: 1. Serve as a showcase for other schools to emulate and earn for UST-FMS the recognition as the leader in medical education innovation in the Philippines, 2. Eventually serve as a preferred replacement for the Oral Revalida Exercises, 3. Can be made available to other institutions which may also contemplate using the OSCE but are unable to provide facilities of their own (other medical schools, medical societies and other organizations), 4. Other purposes that may eventually be discovered with the process of utilizing standard patients and testing for clinical skills.
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Marina's CME Grotto |
The OSCE will be housed on top of the experimental surgical building behind the UST Medicine building. |
This facility is also intended to be self-sustaining like the CME auditorium and can collect fees for its use in specific instances such as: 1. Examination fee from each graduating medical student, 2. Fee for use from any department which may wish to utilize the facility for their residents - in training and fellows and maybe even as a review facility for its consultants, 3. Offer the facility to the different departments for use in post-graduate courses where role- play may be necessary to augment principles given in their lecture presentations, 4. Offer the facility for use in medical societies as part of their oral examination process for diplomates and fellows, such use involving a service fee, 5.Use the facility tp produce videotapes or other instructional materials on physical examination procedures or any other such procedures and offer these materials for sale to interested parties or institutions.
A facility administrator with the rank of Director may be required to keep the facility in working order and to formulate other strategies where the facility may be offered to institutions to be able to regularly obtain its maintenance costs.
COST ASSESSMENTS FOR EACH PROJECT
OSCE projected total initial cost : P 5,300,000.00
CME projected total estimated cost P 1,310,000.00
The U.S.T. Medicine CLASS ‘67 IS COMMITTED TO ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE IN ALL THEIR PURSUITS. IT’S MEMBERS ARE GUIDED BY LOVE AND LOYALTY TO THEIR ALMA MATER, THEIR FAITH AND TO EACH OTHER. |
