Enrique T. Ona
Executive Director, National Kidney & Transplant Institute
Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila
http://doi.org/10.57043/transnastphl.2001.5133
Abstract
Philippine surgery has developed in parallel with the advances of surgery in the United States and Europe. It is safe to claim that the last 25 years can be called the “golden years” of Philippine surgery.
The US Exchange Visitor’s programs provided the opening for the training of most Filipino surgeons in the US starting in the 1950s, and those who came back became the backbone of Philippine surgery during the last 3-4 decades. With other American-trained medical specialists, they became the nucleus of our modern teachers in all medical schools, the researchers, and the organizers of the privately owned hospitals that we have today. Among these prominent surgeons are Drs. Constantino Manahan, Romeo Gustilo, Ambrosio Tangco, Augusto Sarmiento, Victor Reyes, Enrique Garcia, and many others.
The PES was organized in 1936 with its main objective to uplift surgical care and surgical training in our country. Its membership increased from 1,000 fellows in 1975 to 2,060 fellows in the year 2000 and is now composed of 11 chapters and 16 subspecialty societies.
The Philippine Board of Surgery was established in 1969 by returning American Board-certified surgeons and has become the official examining and certifying body for general surgeons. It has now certified 1,200 general surgeons practicing all over the country.
Open heart surgery for congenital defects and rheumatic heart diseases was first performed in 1959 at PGH and became routine surgery in the 1970s, together with coronary artery surgery, with the establishment of the Philippine Heart Center in 1974. Dr. Avenillo Aventura was its first Director. In 2000, 1,000 coronary bypass operations were performed at 5 Philippine hospitals. The establishment of specialty hospitals (PHC-1974, LCP-1981, NKTI-1983) and the upgrading of several privately owned hospitals saw the burgeoning of various surgical procedures performed that are even today practiced in other developed countries.
Surgery for arterial diseases such as aneurysm and arteriosclerotic obstruction, laparoscopic surgery for biliary tract disease, intraocular lens for cataract, gamma knife for brain tumors, endovascular and endoscopic procedures, transplantation of kidneys, liver, pancreas, and heart, various extirpative surgeries for cancer, and various reparative and rehabilitative operations are performed regularly in the various hospitals in Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other Philippine cities.
Modern surgery, as seen in many developed countries, together with modern diagnostics and imaging modalities (CT Scan, MRI, Gamma Camera, Lithotripsy) are now available to our patients. This has made surgery more precise, safer, less traumatic, and more successful than heretofore possible.
A short discussion on the fast-developing field of virtual reality in surgery will be presented, and the necessary development in healthcare financing that has to be addressed if these surgical advances are to be made available to all Filipinos and not just to a selected few.