The Institution
In June of 1956, the University of the East Board of Trustees headed by Mr. Francisco Dalupan Jr., opened the University of the East, College of Medicine with Dr. Jose Cuyegkeng as Acting Dean. In May of the following year, the University of the East Board of Trustees approved the conversion of the University of the East, College of Medicine into a separate non-stock, non-profit foundation dedicated to medical instruction and research. This was a first in the history of private education in the Philippines. It began the concept of educational philanthropy in the country.
The following month, the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and became the first non-sectarian private educational institution established on a completely non-profit basis in the Philippines. In June 1957, President Carlos P. Garcia and Mrs. Luz Banzon-Magsaysay stood as sponsors in the Medical Center Inauguration. The Medical Center was named after the late President Ramon Magsaysay who died in a plane crash in 1957.
Almost three years later, on January 10, 1960, the UERM Hospital was founded. From the start, most of the specialties were available but Urology Service started in 1969. Urology was under the Department of Surgery as it is today. The first Chairman of the Department of Surgery was Dr. Ricardo Sebastian.
The first Urologist who joined the Faculty in UERMMMC was Dr. Jose Galvez Jr., who was also the first Section Chief and the first Secretary Treasurer of the Philippine Urological Association (PUA). Dr. Galvez practiced and taught in UERMMMC for a few years and after he left, Dr. Cesar G. Jacinto, Sr. and Dr. Achilles G. Bartolome who trained from abroad became faculty of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Jacinto as full time and Dr. Bartolome as part time. At that time, it was the General Surgery residents who benefited from their expertise since there was no urology training program present at that time.
The UERMMMCI Urology Residency Training Program
In 1978, the birth of the first subspecialty residency training in UERMMMC and one of the first in the country was conceived by Dr. Abelardo M. Prodigalidad when he returned from the United States after training in Urology at New York University-Bellevue Medical Center-Veterans Administration Hospital-Manhattan, New York, and having his Fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Manhattan, New York.
Dr. Prodigalidad was initially appointed as Instructor in Urology, Department of Surgery in February 1973. The Faculty of Urology at that time consisted of Dr. Cesar G. Jacinto and Dr. Achilles G. Bartolome and the Chairman of the Department of Surgery was Dr. Crisostomo A. Arcilla. With Dr. Prodigalidad at the forefront and with the help of Drs. Jacinto and Bartolome, the Residency Training Program was approved by the UERMMMC administration paving the way for the acceptance of Dr. Jose Albert C. Reyes III as the first Urology Resident in 1978. The Urology training program was granted full accreditation by the Philippine Board of Urology in 1981.
Since its birth in 1978, the program has produced 16 urologists, having their respective clinical practices in Metro Manila and the provinces. From the crop of graduates, the program was able to produce urologists who have become the present movers of urology in the country.
The Philippines’ thirteenth and the UERMMMC’s first renal transplant was done on January 1973 by a team composed of Drs. Enrique T. Ona, Cesar G. Jacinto, Leo Lazo, Potenciano D. Baccay Jr., Gregorio B. Patacsil, Cornelia L. Angeles, Ernesto A. Gutierrez, Napoleon Magpantay, Ramon Salumbides, Alfredo Marte and Lesley M. Tiongco. In 1996, the Renal Transplantation Service was re-established with Dr. Angel Joaquin M. Amante at the helm. This revived renal transplantation in the center after being shelved since the 1970’s.
The Minimally Invasive Surgery Service of the Department of Surgery was established in 2001 under Dr. Miguel C. Mendoza, this later became the Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery in 2004. The first Laparoscopic Varicocoelectomy (2003) and the first hand-assisted laparoscopic ablative nephrectomy (2004) were performed by Dr. Jose Vicente T. Prodigalidad. The first full laparoscopic nephrectomy was performed in 2005 by Dr. Jose Benito A. Abraham. Dr. Paul Anthony L. Sunga finished his training in Uro-oncology and Minimally Invasive Surgery in Singapore General Hospital in 2006. He performed the first Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy together with Dr. Miguel C. Mendoza on the same year. In 2013, the Section of Urology has done its first Ureteroscopic Intracorporeal Lithotripsy using the Sphinx Holmium LASER, serving both pay and charity patients. Moreover, the first Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy was performed by Dr. Paul Anthony L. Sunga and Dr. Jose Benito A. Abraham in September 2013. On the same year of 2013, Dr. Paul Anthony L. Sunga performed the first Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery. Another first in UERM is the Laparoscopic Microwave Needle Ablation of Renal Mass done by Dr. Jose Benito A. Abraham last October 2018. The first UERM Transurethral Thulium Laser Resection of the Prostate was performed by Dr. Cesar Alfred C. Alaban in December 2017. He was also the first surgeon to treat a renal calculus using mini-PCNL approach in June 2019.
The Section of Urology also has had excellent performance during the Philippine Board of Urology Examinations. Dr. Michael Y. Leh, Dr. Antonio L. Anastacio and Dr. Cesar D. Jacinto topped the Written Exams. Presently 88% of the graduates are Diplomates of the Philippine Board of Urology. Dr. Rommel Aquino migrated to the United States of America without taking the board exam.
Of the sixteen graduates of the UERMMMC training program, three have been PUA presidents, namely Dr. Jose Albert C. Reyes III, Antonio L. Anastacio and Dr. Michael Y. Leh. Two of the graduates have also become Chairmen of the Philippine Board of Urology: Dr. Jose Albert C. Reyes III and Dr. Antonio L. Anastacio.
Three of our graduates are also members of the Executive Council of the Urological Association of Asia (UAA) and the Federation of ASEAN Urological Association. They are Drs. Jose Albert C. Reyes III, Antonio L. Anastacio and Michael Y. Leh.
Presently, UERMMMCI has a 235-bed capacity, 139 beds for private patients and 96 beds for service patients. It has full accreditation in all medical specialty training such as Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology, Pathology and Radiology. The Department has full accreditation under the PCS Accreditation Committee. The Department of Surgery which has 20 charity beds, the General Surgery Ward has a divided urology ward within, which has 8 urology beds (4 female and 4 male). Two more beds at the pediatric ward are allotted for pediatric urology patients. Dr. Joan S. Tagorda, is presently the Chairperson of the Department of Surgery while Dr. Paul Anthony L. Sunga is the current Chief of the Section of Urology. In 2020, affiliations with other hospitals were initiated to augment the residents’ clinical exposure to several index cases: Quirino Memorial Medical Center, San Juan Medical Center, Seamen’s Hospital, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and Manila Lithotripters’ Incorporated.
This year highlights two virtual post-graduate courses that stemmed from the success of the Percutaneous and Endoscopic Renal scientific Course (PERC) back in 2019 and 2021. In collaboration with the Philippine Urological Association, Philippine Endourological Society and Philippine Alliance for Urolithiasis, “Mini-PERC: PCNL in Obese” and “Mini-PERC: Pediatric PCNL” were held in August and October of this year respectively, which attracted local as well as international participants through the virtual (Zoom) platform.
An Inter-Hospital conference was initiated and organized by the Section of Urology of UERM involving several Urology Training Programs nationwide, namely Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Batangas Medical Center, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Ilocos Training Regional Medical Center and Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center (CUBS-VIP). The main objective of this multi-center conference is to share expertise in the discussion of interesting urologic conditions. In addition, inter-Departmental Conferences were held to enhance the learning experience of our residents through the interaction of the different specialties, such as Internal Medicine (e.g. Nephrology, Medical Oncology, Infectious Disease), Radiology, Pediatrics, and Pathology, in the diagnosis and management of urological diseases.
The Vision:
To be a premier Institute of Urology dedicated to excellence in training, education, research, and patient care by 2027
The Mission:
- Provide quality education to medical students and urology residents
- Produce highly competent, professional, and ethical urologists
- Produce graduates who will be leaders in both medical and social communities
- Generate high quality research for the improvement of urologic care
- Render optimum patient care that meets international standards
Officers:
Paul Anthony L. Sunga, MD Chairman
Jose Benito A. Abraham, MD Residency Training Officer
Z Raymond Anthony T. Cablitas, MD Assistant Residency Training Officer
Patrick H. Tuliao, MD Finance Committee Officer
Godofredo Victor B. Gasa, MD Scientific Committee Officer
Alvin Anthony P. Anastacio, MD Research Committee Officer
Angelo Russell D. Chua, MD Secretariat Committee
Cesar Alfred C. Alaban, MD Consultant Staff
Antonio L. Anastacio, MD Consultant Staff
Terence Clyde H. Depaynos, MD Consultant Staff
Ramon R. Marin, MD Consultant Staff
Paulo Carlo Roman D. Omaña, MD Consultant Staff
Maria Pamela E. Pahati, MD Consultant Staff
Patrick Vincent P. Tanseco, MD Consultant Staff
Samuel Vincent G. Yrastorza, MD Consultant Staff
Past Events:
Percutaneous and Endoscopic scientific Research Course (PERC) Virtual 2019
Percutaneous and Endoscopic scientific Research Course (PERC) Virtual 2021
Mini-Percutaneous and Endoscopic scientific Research Course (PERC) Virtual August 2022:
Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in the Obese
Mini-Percutaneous and Endoscopic scientific Research Course (PERC) Virtual October 2022:
Pediatric PCNL
List of Graduates: Year Graduated
Jose Albert C. Reyes III, MD 1983
Michael Y. Leh, MD 1984
Antonio L. Anastacio, MD 1985
Cesar D. Jacinto, MD 1987
Ramon R. Marin, MD 1989
Julius C. Cajucom, MD 1991
Rommel M. Aquino, MD 1993
Romeo B. Reyes, MD 1995
Paul Anthony L. Sunga, MD 1997
Normal V. Valera, MD 1999
Marc Juvic Baviera, MD 2002
Cesar Alfred C. Alaban, MD 2004
Julian Salvador A. Vinco, MD 2006
Marjohn M. Morano, MD 2008
Z Raymond Anthony T. Cablitas, MD 2014
Godofredo Victor B. Gasa, MD 2016
Angelo Russell D. Chua, MD 2021
