The history of health professions education in the Philippines commenced with the founding of the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, University of the Philippines Manila in 1975. Before this period, the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) conducted a series of “teaching institutes” on various topics related to medical education.1 Faculty members in the other health sciences discipline like dentistry and public health were also occasionally invited in these teaching institutes. Nursing, on the other hand, had its own series of activities to improve the instructional competence of its teachers since the discipline includes nursing education. After UPCM faculty Dr. Corazon Paulino Gonzalez trained in the Regional Teacher Training Center (RTTC) in Sydney, Australia in 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified a potential leader in the Philippines who could pioneer health professions education. Bandaranayake and F. Rundle in December7-14, 1974 to conduct a feasibility study on the creation of a national teacher training center in the Philippines. Within the next seven days, the two WHO consultants held a series of meetings with UPCM Dean Florentino B. Herrera, Secretary of the Department of Education and Culture Dr. J. Manuel, Secretary of the Department of Health Dr. C. Gatmaitan, Executive Director of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges, Dr. Fernando S. Sanchez, other deans of the country’s big medical schools such as the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical
Center, University of Santo Tomas, Manila Central University and the Far Eastern University. Representatives from the China Medical Board and the deans of the UP College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and the Institute of Public Health were likewise consulted. These individuals and the institutions they represented, together with the Board of Medical Education strongly recommended to UP President Salvador P. Lopez “the creation of a national teacher training center for the health sciences under the auspices of the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines.”
NTTCHP
Vision
- The NTTCHP as the recognized Center of Excellence in health professions education in the Asia-Pacific Region. Mission
- 1. Develop educational program designers, evaluators, researchers and leaders
- 2. Advocate best practice in all educational settings
- 3. Generate new knowledge for the advancement of health professions education
