OFFICIALS of some medical schools in Manila and other parts of the country come to Davao City to visit and study the facilities of the Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc., now recognized as one of the country’s top medical schools. DMSF is ranked sixth among 52 medical schools of the Philippines.
The benchmarking visits is just one of the facts revealed by officials and members of faculty during a press conference marking DMSFI’s 43rd founding anniversary last Friday. The presscon was spearheaded by Dr. Jonathan A. Alegre, DMSFI president, and Dr. Jose Rene L. Lacuesta, chairman of the board.
As it is, DMSFI, a non-profit institution established in 1976, operates three major units –the school, the DMSFI hospital and the Institute of Primary Health Care, whose numerous individual “points of pride” were enumerated by Drs. Alegre and Lacuesta and their respective department heads acting as resource persons in the press briefing last Friday.
DMSFI gives priority to providing state of the art learning facilities. DMSFI is the first medical school in the country to have a clinical simulation center in OB-Gyn, Surgery, Pedia, and Internal Medicine.
DMSFI ranked 6 as top performing Medical School and ranked 4 as top performing Dental School in the Philippines based on the latest board examination results. The College of Midwifery is the number one midwifery school in Region XI. The Foundation has also produced several top notchers in Physician, Dental, and Nursing Licensure Examinations.
The DMSFI IMD graduates topped the screening test as per records of Medical Council of INDIA (MCI) among 173 medical schools in China, Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and the Philippines.
Courses Offered
· Doctor of Medicine
· Doctor of Dental Medicine
· BS in Biology
· BS in Nursing
· BS in Midwifery
· Master in Community Health
· Maser in Health Professions Education
· Master in Participatory Development
College of Nursing
Points of Pride
· Top 4 Performing Nursing School in Davao Region
· Top notchers – latest NLE December 2018 – top 4
· Able to produce Nurses who are working here and abroad-Globally competitive
· Graduate that possess international license (registered nurses)
· Competent faculty members – Master degree holders
· Adapted Community – Sitio Balite Marilog District for students learning experience
· Collaborative Research study with Consortium Institutions – SPC and ADDU
· Recommended by CHED for Accreditation
College of Midwifery
Curriculum
· One of the midwifery schools in the country that offers ladderized BS Program in Midifery
· IP-culture sensitive curriculum and faculty
Faculty
· Qualified and dedicated midwifery professor and clinical instructors
· Composed of registered nurse-midwives, registered nurse with master’s degree and Obstetricians.
Scholarship
· Provides scholarship program for IP students in partnership with DOH, EBSU-STEP, CHED and MENZI
· Multi-faceted support program for scholars and non-scholars
Clinical Practicum Facilities
· With Level III based-hospital – The DMSF Hospital a 100-bed capacity 4-storey building located at DMSF compound
· The Midwifery Skills Laboratory with patient simulators and realistic medical equipment to provide students experience in a controlled clinical setting prior to actual hospital exposure
Licensure Exam Performance
· Rank 1st in Davao City in Midwifery Licensure Examination performance of schools by bozrd exam passing rates bywww.finduniversity.ph (2019)
· Rank 10th in the Philippines in Midwife Licensure Examination performance of schools by board exam passing rates bywww.finduniveristy.ph (2019)
· 100% passing rate in the November 2018 Midwife Licensure Examination
· 100% passing rate in the April 2018 Midwife Licensure Examination
· 85.7% passing rate in the November 2018 Midwife Licensure Examination
· 100% passing rate in the April 2017 Midwife Licensure Examination
Institute of Primary Health Care
IPHC’s Points of Pride
The Institute of Primary Health Care (IPHC) is the community extension service arm of the Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. IPHC has evolved from a small organization engaged only in the training of volunteer health workers called KATIWALA into a relatively big NGO involved in diverse development interests such as health care financing, gender and reproductive health, sustainable agriculture and reforestation, cooperative organizing, micro financing, capacity building for agrarian reform communities, local educational sponsorship, Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Nutrition, participatory governance, among others.
In the 41 years of community development experience, IPHC gives premium to PRIMARY HEALTH CARE as the approach in capacitating communities to become resilient and sustainable from the dangers and risks of health inequities, and from natural and manmade disasters.
IPHC works with various local and international partners to carry out its Vision, Mission and Goals. IPHC ensures that all programs are aligned to the Vision of DMSF of “Healthy Communities Enjoying Quality Life”. Some of its major projects and activities are:
Goal 1: To institutionalize Primary Health Care (PHC) together with the different units of the DMSFI.
· Conduct Training to children ages 7-15 years old on Disaster Preparedness, Adolescents Reproductive Health and Children’s Rights
· Capability building of Barangay Health Workers on Basic Health Skills, Health Promotion and Maternal and Neonatal Home Visits
· Capability enhancement of Women and Parents on various topics such as Reproductive Health and Positive Discipline, Breastfeeding and proper nutrition
· Support the education needs of the school schildren in Marilog and Barangay 19-B, Davao City and San Isidro and New Corella, Davao del Norte through:
– Giving of slippers, bags, school supplies
– Donating chairs to selected schools
– School building construction
Goal 2: To establish gender sensitive & environment friendly BLGU and POs capable of responding issues affecting their health & community welfare
· Capability Development of Barangay Local Government Units (BLGU), Purok Leaders and other stakeholders in the community on participatory planning, disaster preparedness and response and Primary Health Care
· Providing technical and financial assistance to People’s Organization in Marilog and San Isidro to manage income generating projects like sari-sari store, tablea production, table and chairs rental, money lending and hog an goat dispersal.
Goal 3: To provide venue for the students, facility and members of the DMSF community implement innovative, relevant and acceptable service-learning activities with partner communities.
· Facilitated the conduct of medical and dental mission in partnership with the government and civic organizations (DOH, DAPECOL, Rotary Club) to marginalized sectors (IPs, People Deprived of Liberty, GIDA)
· Facilitated the relocation of 63 families (Typhoon Vinta survivors) from Purok 8, Tigatto to Los Amigos, Davao City. The relocation will start August 1.
· Supported the educational needs of Idigenous school children in Sitio Guilon, Marilog through donations from kind-hearted individuals
Goal 4: To sustain the operations of IPHC
· Participation to various trainings like Universal Health Care (UHC) Law and Annual Operations Planning
· Engaged with National Level Agencies like the Department of Health (DOH) and Zuellig Family Foundation for the conduct of Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP) to the Municipal mayors and Municipal Health Officers. A total of 107 Municipal Mayors and 109 Municipal Health from Regions XI, XII and Caraga completed MLGP Course since 2014.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Points of Pride
The Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. currently implements three (3) graduate programs namely Master in Community Health (MCH), Master in Participatory Development (MPD) and Master in Health Professions Education (MHPEd). Being the first medical school in Mindanao to conduct these three (3) programs, the institution promotes strong theoretical foundations, community extension work and research skills that will enable the graduates to become relevant and appropriate agents of change in their respective communities.
These graduate programs are described below:
A. Master in Community Health
This is a two-way innovative program for doctors, nurses and other health professionals intended to fill the gap between what has been learned in the school and in the community. The students in this program are trained to identify the health needs of a community; plan, implement, monitor and evaluate community-based health care program; appreciate the nature and significance of various determinants of the health status of a community; and design training modules for the upgrading of the health workers.
B. Master in Participatory Development
This is a two-year graduate program which is aimed to provide professional competence and career development to field workers and development managers from the government, non-government and private sectors. This program enables the students to demonstrate integrative skills in participatory situational analysis, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; design innovative strategies for approaches in community organizing, local governance, community-based entrepreneurship and other development concerns.
C. Master in Health Professions Education
This is a two-year graduate program which provides the faculty members of the college of medicine, dentistry, medical technology, nursing and other health professions opportunity to understand the theoretical underpinnings of educational practice. The program will also enable the students to practice, under supervision, the teaching skills they have learned; to be exposed to effective means of evaluating student learning; and to enable them to understand the administrative functions in a Health Profession Education institution.
The DMSFI VISION
To help achieve the institutional vision of “Healthy Communities Enjoying Quality Life”, the DMSFI Graduate School ensures that the students’ research outputs are based on the country’s research agenda and are utilized by potential users for future research, planning and designing relevant programs or projects to improve the health status of our communities.
The DMSFI Graduate School also fosters continued collaboration with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), research funders, academic and health institutions for educational and research support. Recently, the Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRODF) provided financial support to three Muslim nurses from Mati, Davao Oriental, General Santos City and Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao for their Master in Community Health (MCH) degree. As regards research support, the DMSFI Graduate School currently conducts research on Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Nutrition in collaboration with the DMSFI College of Nursing, Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU and SPC).
