Addressing the health care gap

We give the world our best, so says the controversial ad on that sleek red London bus which featured the Filipina-British nurse who administered the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine.

The critics were right – the ad appears to send the message that we are commodifying our people, our workers. Unfortunately, this indeed, is the sad reality in the Philippines, especially in the area of health care. Some of our very best – from caregivers to nurses to doctors – are leaving the country to work abroad, leaving a huge, yawning gap in the local health care industry.

We felt this gap during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reality hit us when our health care system was unable to cope with the surge in cases, especially at the height of the health crisis.

This is a major problem and we don’t want it to cripple us again if and when another pandemic erupts. How can we build a nation without a strong health care system? How do we solve the problem then?

For two of the country’s biggest business groups, the Yuchengcos and the Ayalas, one solution is to improve health care education in the country.

As such, their listed partnership iPeople is elevating health care education in the country. iPeople’s Mapúa University has launched its School of Health Sciences in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU), a top-ranked US university.

“The bigger purpose is really to participate and be active in nation building; to address a huge gap in the growing need for health care professionals in the country,” says Dodjie Maestrecampo, president of Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna and Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao.

With this landmark partnership, Mapúa students now have access to global classrooms. They can participate in classes involving professors from ASU and ASU-Cintana Alliance’s universities.

It’s hitting two birds with one stone – one is enrolled in a Philippine school but has access to a global educational network.

Working with professors and classmates from around the world also provides them with the soft skills for a global workplace: communication, collaboration, cultural sensitivity and the ability to lead and manage teams worldwide.

“These will all be success factors in the 21st century,” said Dr. Malaya Santos, Mapúa’s dean of the School of Health Sciences.

In all, it’s also about preparing the next generation to do better and bigger things and create impact, said Dr. Reynaldo Vea, president of Mapúa University during the launch of the event early this month.

Dean Malaya said that by venturing into health sciences, the institution hopes to significantly contribute to the development of the Philippine health sector, both in clinical practice and research.

Immersive and advanced facilities

for practice-ready graduates

The proponents tout the new school as one with state-of-the-art simulation tools and integrated training to develop practice-ready health care graduates.

They invited me recently to see the facilities. Thus, I participated in a walk-through of the school and indeed, I felt like I was inside a full-service hospital -- with laboratories, operating rooms, nurses’ station, etc.

Dr. Francisco Gutierrez, head of Medicine & Health of Cintana Education, explains that the integrated teaching simulation models will recreate authentic hospital, out-patient and community scenarios to enable students to gain confidence before they meet their first patients. Cintana Education is a US-based education consultant which provides world-class expertise and access to its own proprietary resources, as well as those of ASU.

“It trains the graduates to be ready-to-practice and the first choice for employment while providing a delightful learning environment,” Gutierrez says.

Mapúa will also have clinical simulation laboratories with hi-fidelity mannequins, robotics, virtual dissection tables, body projections, etc.

As for clinical rotations and internships, Mapúa has partnered with Mandaluyong City Medical Center, Makati Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Ospital ng Makati and St. Clare Medical Center.

Mapúa University also partnered with AC Health through its hospitals and clinics group, the Healthway Medical Network (HMN), which will allow Mapúa’s students to train in Healthway Medical Network-AC Health’s clinics and hospitals group consisting of 12 outpatient centers, four general hospitals and the soon-to-open Healthway Cancer Care Hospital, the first of its kind in the country.

Paolo Borromeo, AC Health president and CEO, said the pandemic indeed exposed several gaps in our health care system, including the need to build a more resilient and sufficient health workforce.

“Addressing this requires strengthening the skills of future health care professionals through education,” he said.

The new Health Sciences programs aim to help narrow this gap.

“We at AC Health, through our Healthway Medical Network group, are proud partners and look forward to offering training initiatives and scholarship programs that can further equip the next generation of health care professionals. Together, we can rebuild our health care system and make our vision of improved health care for all a reality,” Paolo also added.

Improving health care education is important, indeed, to help address the gaps in our local health care system. But education is just one factor.

It is also important to make them stay in the Philippines. How do we do this? The government and private hospital operators must give our health care workers the pay and the incentives they deserve.

Our health care workers are among our best people indeed and they deserve to be treated well in their very own home.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.