The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

It is that time of the year when my First year med students in my Family and Community Medicine class submit entries for bragging rights in my traditional Cinemedicine Project. The aim of the project is for the med students to highlight specific illnesses and portray its impact on the individual and the family and if possible to the community as well. This year majority of the entries dealt with mental health and social illnesses. As a viewer you can choose which one of them is the best by answering the poll below. Each team has corresponding points depending on the results of the poll. WARNING: some of the entries deal with very sensitive topics for matured audiences only.

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is the inflammation of the brain due to a the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). This virus is related to Dengue Virus and just like the Dengue virus it is also spread through mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organization  the case-fatality rate among those with encephalitis can be as high as 30%. Permanent neurologic damage or    psychiatric sequelae can occur in 30%–50% of those with encephalitis. As of this moment, there is still no cure for this disease. So, it is better to avoid getting this disease.  Since it is vector-borne, which means, it requires an insect or another animal (vector) to transmit the disease, the best way to avoid or even eliminate the disease is to do vector control or eradication. If communities can be helped to improve sanitation to destroy breeding places of these mosquitoes that can carry the virus or establish protective barriers against mosquitoes such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets in eve...

Since its discovery when Edward Jenner made the first inoculation of cowpox in 1796, vaccines have come a long way. It has been regarded as still the cheapest most effective way of health prevention especially against "immunizable" infectious diseases. Many lives have been saved because of vaccines. However, as our understanding of medicine and health continue to evolve, production of vaccines and access to them continue to be confronted with a lot of challenges. There are still some parts of the world where we have failed to eradicate some "immunizable" diseases. And the erroneous claims that vaccines lead to development of autism did not help either. In developing countries, access to vaccines continue to be a challenge and a priority. Under the Expanded Program of Immunization of the World Health Organization, every child before he/she reaches the age of 1 year old must receive a prescribe set of vaccines that can help prevent the acquiring of common infectious d...

I was told that the graduation of my alma mater College of Medicine will be this Saturday. Let me share my insights to the graduating medical students after 10 years of being a medical doctor myself, a neophyte compared to the giants of this vocation. The adventure does not stop in your graduation. This is only a step closer to the realization of a dream, a bigger dream. A dream within a dream. The diploma only marks a milestone in your life. It only certifies the end of a phase. The demand for sacrifices will still continue and the pressure and stress will still linger. Remember that the way to doctor-hood is the footprints of humility and sacrifice. Ego would have only distracted you from your journey towards becoming a doctor. You have to literally crawl on your knees to get your way to this reality: a graduate of Med School. And if you think you will now stand erect like an evolving primate to homo erectus, think again. Being a doctor, a physician, will continue to be difficult. It...

Every year, I ask my first year med students under my Family and Community Medicine class to come up with a mini-film that would depict a family's journey and experience when one of the family member is ill. It is part of our discussion on Family Illness trajectory. Since I've been doing it, it has been called Cinemedicine. The following are now the entries for Cinemedicine 2017: Feel free to watch and share with friends. Talk about your favorite entry on twitter using their hashtags #cinemedicine2017 #hiraya #kontak #cinco #alma #marionette Hiraya Kontak Cinco Alma Marionette Now, viewers can choose the best film here. A percentage of the over-all score is for the Viewer's Choice. Poll is now open. It will close on January 9, 2016 6pm Manila Time. Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

I am currently waiting for the second Presidential debate, I am thinking of how the next Administration should address the health challenges of the country. The facts are clear, our country still has to really achieve high performance in Immunization coverage, improve services in maternal and child health and address access to safe drinking water and sanitation. So, if given the choice, based on my experience as a former Doctor to the Barrios and working with more than 72 local government units and their municipal health offices, I want the next President to focus on the following items, from the most immediate to long-term: 1. Genuine Universal Health Care - the keyword here is genuine. The Aquino administration pushed for Kalusugang Pangkahalatan and although there have been gains it is not really Universal as what the current administration would like to believe. Universal Healthcare implies basic and essential health services are made available for everyone . And I mean everyon...

As a professor in medical school teaching Family and Community Medicine, one of my topics is to teach Primary Health Care. I would usually discuss the Alma Ata Declaration Document with the class and discuss historical and current events related to Primary Health Care in the Philippine experience. But I have always felt that the best way to teach Primary Health Care is to let the students experience it for themselves so for the past two years, I have been challenging my third year med students to come up with a community project with a partner "community" of choice where they would come up with a project for the community, particularly one that addresses a health issue. The objective is for them to practice the principles on PHC that they have learned in school. They would write a monthly progress report about what they have done. As a final output they would come up with a video documentary that would describe their project and experience. For this year, I had these amazi...