Under Republic Act 9500, its Charter of 2008, the University of the Philippines is mandated to perform its unique and distinctive leadership in higher education and development.
As an enduring and evolving institution of learning in the health sciences and professions and as UP’s flagship campus for health, the University of the Philippines Manila is defined by the execution of this mandate in health education, research, and public service.
UP Manila has maintained its high quality of education as shown by the results of the licensure examinations and its contributions to UP’s high rankings nationally and globally. The university continues to develop innovative undergraduate and graduate programs and courses that respond to the changing needs of the country.
As a leader in the health disciplines, its contributions go beyond producing exemplary graduates but permeate every area and dimension of health. UP Manila graduates become leaders and game changers in the academe, the government and private sector, serving as instruments for change for the betterment of the Filipino people.
Its research programs provide new solutions to old health problems of the country, through policies, new discoveries leading to new innovative diagnostic and treatment modalities.
The early researches of the various colleges have contributed significant strides in addressing the Filipinos’ early health problems, such as beri beri (1930s), hepatitis and liver diseases (1990s), diarrhea (1990s), schistosomiasis (70s and 80s), eye diseases (1960s), and others.
Today, UP Manila National Institutes of Health is the country’s center of excellence in health research and development and an institutional home to a network of researchers and research institutions in the Philippines. Through the years, the NIH has made an indelible mark in health research through its 15 institutes and centers as sources of relevant and evidence-based information for health policy and development and socially responsive technologies for the betterment of health of the Filipinos and the region. The resulting innovations and technologies of NIH researches and their translation into programs, policies, products, and services are now becoming part of mainstream healthcare delivery not only in the highly urbanized places but also in geographically isolated developing areas.
As a public service university, UP Manila’s task is most critical in the development of the country and the larger society. The university consistently engages in programs both locally and internationally. Its wide spectrum of involvement ranges from patient care, community development initiatives, technical assistance to governments, private sector and civil society, and capability building and enhancement programs that cater to the country’s health professionals, laboratory personnel, local government executives and workers, and national and international organizations.
Among the constituent universities of the UP System, UP Manila has more significance and kinship to the mother unit, University of the Philippines, being its birthplace in 1908 and cradle for 40 years during the American occupation.
The early decades of UP figure prominently in the history and current state of UP Manila. UP was created in Ermita, one of the oldest, vibrant districts of Manila, on June 18, 1908 through Act 1870 to give "advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences and arts and give professional and technical training to every qualified student irrespective of age, sex, nationality, religious belief or political affiliation.”
UP first opened on Calle Isaac Peral (now UN Avenue) and Padre Faura in downtown Manila. The first academic units included College of Medicine and Surgery (Herran), College of Liberal Arts that included a pharmacy course in 1911 and School of Education in 1915, College of Law, College of Veterinary Medicine (Pandacan), College of Agriculture (Los Banos), College of Engineering, and School of Fine Arts (Quiapo).
It became the seat of excellence in education and advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, health sciences and the arts, as well as professional and technical training. UP spent four decades of formative years in Ermita before moving to its campus in Diliman, Quezon City in 1948.
Before its founding, UP was preceded by two units that were integrated into it later, hence their being more known as among its original components. The two units are the Philippine Medical School (PMS, now College of Medicine) and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
The Philippine Medical School was created in 1905 by the Philippine Commission through a special Act, Act No. 1415 on Dec. 1, 1905 giving due course to the resolution passed at the second annual meeting of the Philippine Islands Medical Association that expressed the need for more doctors, the ratio being 1 for every 21,000 that time. The PMS opened on Dec. 10, 1907 and moved to its current home along Pedro Gil Street on July 1, 1910. It was renamed in 1912 as College of Medicine and Surgery and further renamed to CM in 1923.
Philippine Medical School
PGH, exterior view
In 1907, the US government passed a law establishing the PGH. Through Phil. Commission Act 1688, the PGH was created for the clinical instruction of medical students and to provide patient care services. On Sept 1, 1909, PGH opened a 350-bed capacity hospital to provide health care to the public and offer clinical instruction and training to medical and other health students.
Before the creation of the Health Sciences Center, some health units that were part of the College of Medicine and Surgery were operating independently. These were the School of Pharmacy (1914) that became the College of Pharmacy in 1935; Dept of Dentistry (1915) that evolved into the College of Dentistry (1917); School of Sanitation and Public Health (1927) for the training of medical officers in the Philippine Health Service that turned into the School of Hygiene (1929), Institute of Hygiene (1938), Institute of Public Health in 1971, and eventually became the College of Public Health in 1986; School of Nursing created as a unit of PGH in 1907 to support PGH operations and that was eventually abolished in 1975 to give way to the creation of the College of Nursing in 1948; BS Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs under CM in 1962 leading to the School of Allied Medical Professions; and School of Health Sciences in 1976 as an extension campus of CM.
As their timeline shows, the early units from the College of Medicine eventually became full-fledged degree-granting units one after the other in response to the growing need for more diversified health programs that meet the needs of the country and the Filipinos.
World War II left the UP campus severely damaged, but the College of Medicine and PGH were still able to attend to the injured and the sick. The CM continued holding classes in makeshift, bullet-riddled rooms. The CPH continued providing undergraduate education to other university units that remained open but graduate education was halted. Although CP was closed, its faculty researchers extended health services to war personnel through the provision of food supplements from natural sources
UP opened its first Academic Year after the war in December 1945 that included Pharmacy, Medicine and Dentistry subsequently followed by other units that included the School of Nursing. The Institute of Hygiene resumed operations at the Serum and Vaccine Laboratories in Alabang south of Manila. Some staff worked in collaboration with US Army Personnel to reorganize the Manila Health Dept. Others joined the US Civil Affairs units.
With UP’s transfer to Diliman, Quezon City in 1949, Medicine, Dentistry and Public Health, were left behind. The Colleges of Pharmacy and Nursing went back to the Manila campus in 1982.
In 1972, UP was reorganized into a system of constituent universities through Presidential Decree No. 58, issued on November 20, 1972 with UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, and UP Visayas as flagship campuses for liberal arts, literature, science, and philosophy; agriculture, forestry and environmental management; and fisheries, respectively.
The years 1975 and 1976 saw the establishment of the National Teacher Training Center in the Health Professions as the first in the Philippines to enhance the instructional skills of health professions teachers. Also established was the School of Health Sciences (SHS) in Palo, Leyte as a community-based, ladderized approach to educating a range of health professionals to serve in remote and underserved provinces.
On Oct. 28, 1977, a BOR Resolution establishing the Health Sciences Center as an-autonomous member of the UP System was issued. The resolution states that the HSC shall be initially comprised of the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Dentistry, College of Nursing, Institute of Public Health, School of Allied Medical Professions, Philippine General Hospital, University Health Service. Philippine Eye Research Institute, Comprehensive Community Health Program, Anesthesiology Center Western Pacific, National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, the sub-units established therein, and such other units that may hereafter be created by the BOR and included therein or transferred thereto.
The HSC became the second autonomous university of the UP System through Executive Order No. 519 dated January 24, 1979 and was renamed UP Manila in 1982. The objectives of the HSC were:
a. To provide leadership in education, research, and services in the various health sciences geared to the development of the highest quality of health;
b. To provide collaboration, integration, and coordination of the units thereof to promote economy and productivity;
c. To seek to influence national policies and decision-making relative to health
d. To develop innovative programs, projects, and models that are responsive to the health needs and aspirations of the country; and
e. To make possible a responsive component of the health care system through the development of improved techniques, better facilities, and maximization of the capacities of the health science university.
Meanwhile, the Anesthesiology Center Western Pacific was abolished while the Comprehensive Community Health Program in Bay, Laguna was ended in 1988 to give way to another community-oriented multi-disciplinary health program.
Through EO No. 11 dated Dec. 21, 1983, the UP College Manila, which offered liberal arts courses and then an extension unit of UP Diliman, was integrated into the HSC and later transformed into the UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences. The CAS started to offer General Education courses for health sciences programs in 1983 and offered separate degree programs, such as the BA Organizational Communication, BA Development Studies, BS Computer Science, BS Biochemistry, BS Behavioral Science, and BS Applied Physics.
From these physical and structural evolutions grew what is now regarded as the Philippines’ leading health university that seeks to improve and enrich the health of Filipinos towards transforming their lives and wellbeing and being a major contributor to the country’s health goals.
UP Manila is recognized today as the country’s premier institution for the health sciences and the leader in health human resource, education, training and research.
It fulfills excellently and relevantly its tasks through its nine (9) degree granting units and two non-degree rating units. The degree granting unit are the College of Allied Medical Professions (CAMP), College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Dentistry (CD), College of Medicine (CM), College of Nursing (CN), College of Pharmacy (CP), College of Public Health (CPH), National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions (NTTC-HP), and the School of Health Sciences (SHS). These degree-granting units continuously provide the highest quality of advanced instruction, basic and applied research and community service.
UP Manila has been recognized as Top Performing School in nearly all the health professions based on its percentage of passing and number of graduates who occupy top 10/20 places. Its mandate includes the development of innovative and relevant education curricula to respond to the demands of the country.
Combining both excellence and relevance, UP Manila offers academic programs that are responsive to the needs and aspirations of the Filipinos. It has 19 undergraduate programs, 33 masters programs, and 8 __ doctoral programs, with several diploma and certificate programs, including courses in the arts and culture, social, and physical sciences that imbue the students with a liberal and humanistic education.
UP Manila graduates have consistently topped the licensure examinations in Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Chemistry, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy, with passing rates higher than the national average, earning for it the Top Performing School in almost all its health degrees.
All its colleges, PGH, and NIH lead in their disciplines in teaching and training, research, and public service in view of UP Manila’s role as standard bearer and leader in the health and allied sciences.
The NIH is the biggest research facility, composed of 15 research institutes and centers that are mission-oriented, problem-directed, multi-disciplinary as well as trans-disciplinary and 17 study groups that tackle a wide range of pressing and priority health issues and problems that affect the Filipinos. It is home to discoveries and innovations.
With more than two and a half decades in existence, the NIH has accumulated a significant number of other high impact researches, quality data and findings. The results feed into a formal evidence-based policy making process which resulted to the crafting of some important laws such as the Newborn Screening Act, Rare Disease Act, Newborn Hearing Screening Act, and the Vision Screening Act.
Several researches at the NIH have also led to significant discoveries. These include the development of new devices such as the RxBox diagnostics in a box telemedicine system; therapies from Philippine plants transformed into quality herbal medicines and new innovative technologies such as the Laboratory-in-a Mug dengue diagnostic kit that are now contributing significantly to health improvement in the country.
The NIH has also contributed significantly to the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, Universal Health Care Law, and Sin Tax Law among others, affirming its indispensable role of facilitating the provision of empirical evidences and serving as conduit of scientific data from the cold confines of computers and scientific publications to the desks of the country’s policy makers and program planners.
The PGH is the biggest government training institution for specialists and subspecialists. With 600+K patients being served annually and 17 clinical departments offering training for medical trainees and specialists who are fielded to different parts of the country. The hospital trains around 6,000 health workers and students on a wide range of disciplines from within and outside institutions.
Home to innovative medical and surgical procedures, the PGH is at the cutting edge of technologies being the first in the country to have a Robotics Surgery Program, and of research with the forthcoming Precision Medicine and Cancer Control projects.
Apart from PGH as a key unit for public service, UP Manila’s task of reaching out to the larger society is also exemplified by three other major programs: the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod, Community Health and Development Program (CHDP), Return Service, the capability building programs being conducted at the national and local government levels, and recently, the Disaster Risk Reduction Management in Health.
The Comprehensive Community Health Program (CCHP) established in in Bay, Laguna in 1975 , was the first generic community-based field laboratory of health students to improve health care delivery, through "learning by doing." Students of medicine, nursing, dentistry collect data, assist and participate in the assessment of community health problems and identification and recommendation of appropriate solutions., With the reduction of mortality rate due to illness from a high 168 per year to 60, the program was extended to other areas in Laguna. The CCHP ended in 1988.
In 2007, the Community Health and Development program (CHDP) was started in San Juan, Batangas to serve as the community laboratory for the application of the learnings and theories instilled in the health students of UP Manila. Under this program being undertaken in Cavite since 2013, students of medicine, public health, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry are deployed to identified barangays to conduct basic health services and help build the capacities of the areas and their residents in improving their health. This is being done through the infusion of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) approach and Primary Health Care while providing learning opportunities for the UP faculty and students in applying the principles and practice of community health and development.
Institutionalized as a volunteer program in 1996, the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Manila is going stronger after 27 years of fielding its faculty, staff, and student volunteers in marginalized and remote communities in the Philippines that are needing basic health and life-enriching services. The programs are grouped into Educational Assistance, Community Health, Community Social Welfare, Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Research and Advocacy.
The Return Service program helps ensure an adequate availability of health care providers and retaining them in the service of the country. The RSA is an absolute admission requirement for all Community Health Work (SHS), baccalaureate programs (CAMP, CN, CO, CPH, SHS, DDM, and MD programs of the College of Medicine and SHS.) The agreement states that the students shall serve in the Philippines within 5 years after graduation. The agreement is signed by the Chancellor of UP Manila for the University and the prospective students and their parents, witnessed by the Dean/ Director. It started in 2011 at the CM and was implemented in the health courses (CD, CPH, CP, CAMP, CN) after 2 years.
The Disaster Risk Reduction Management in Health (DRRM-H) is in response to the Philippines' vulnerability to disasters that affects greatly its environment, livelihood, health, agriculture, and
economy. There is an urgent need to conduct state-of the art training and seminars that will prepare responders, even ordinary employees in disaster preparedness through state-of-the art facilities and even through the holding of disaster preparedness training virtually that will help prevent mistakes in actual situations.
Since 2018, the Center has been providing trainings and offering consultancy and research services to various institutions. Currently, the Center collaborates with the UP Diliman Resilience Institute in researches involving COVID-19 topics and proposals with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The CM and CN are recognized as Centers of Excellence by the Commission on Higher Education. In addition, the CN is a WHO Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development in the Asia-Pacific region. The South East Asian Ministers Educational Organization (SEAMEO) named the CPH as the SEAMEO-TROPMED Regional Center for Public Health, Hospital Administration, and Environmental and Occupational Health. The NTTCHP is a WHO Regional Education Development Center for Health Professions Education.
UP Manila’s efforts to create a stimulating educational environment are reaping bountiful fruits. Its graduates occupy leadership positions in every sector of Philippine society-- from the corridors of government to the academe and cutting-edge research centers, in the communities and nongovernment organizations.
UP Manila is ISO 9001-2015 certified for its university-wide quality management system. This makes UP Manila the first campus in the UP System to obtain an international external accreditation.
