SLMCCM-WHQM’s hosts the APMC 54th Annual Convention
| September 12, 2022
Written by: Rafael Torres (YL4 medical student)
Edited by: Dr. Dane Calica
St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine – William H. Quasha Memorial (SLMCCM-WHQM) hosted the APMC 54th Annual Convention online last June 7-10, 2022. The four-day-long convention, with the theme Reimagining the Future of Philippine Medical Education, featured distinguished faculty from leading medical schools and other centers of higher education both within the Philippines and abroad.
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of education worldwide, not just medical education is being called into question. Lockdowns and school closures have forced students and educators to adopt new modes of learning, from online classes to take-home paperwork. Although not without their successes, these developments have brought new challenges to the fore and highlighted long-standing disparities in education, particularly regarding social class and accessibility. These issues must be tackled to ensure more equitable education not only during the pandemic but afterward as well.
To prime and give the participants a taste of what they will expect from the convention, five (5) workshops were held every fridays three weeks prior to the convention. The workshops revolved around the following topics: global health, climate change, values translation, innovations in teaching and learning, and psychological safety.
The convention officially kicks off with the opening ceremony, with a welcome address by Dr. Deborah I. A. Ona, an address by APMC President Dr. Madeleine G. M. Sosa, and a prayer and a rendition of the Philippine national anthem by the SLMCCM Chorale. At 4 p.m., the 5th Dr. Elene Iyes Cuyengkeng Memorial Lecture occurred, featuring a talk entitled Imagining the New Possible for Medical Education: Some Conversation Pieces for the Post-Pandemic Educator, hosted by Rev. Fr. Johnny S. Go. Simultaneously, the commercial exhibits (featuring the sponsors) and the scientific exhibits (featuring the ePosters of submitted abstracts and ePucha Kucha) were also launched on the convention’s official website. The first day of the event concluded with a plenary session consisting of four lectures on the topic Futures Thinking as a Tool for Medical Education Transformation.
The second day of the event featured a plenary dealing with the topic UHC and Primary Health Care: Bridging Teaching and Practice for 21st Century Learners, a topic that is of great relevance for upcoming healthcare workers looking to learn about how universal healthcare will affect their practice. Afterward, three parallel symposia on the topics Collaboration, Interprofessionalism, and Systems Approach to Health; Redesigning Curricula for Blended Learning; and Engaging Learners in the 21st Century were held. The day ended with a series of lectures on the topic Global and Planetary Health.
The third day of the event started off with a series of lectures on the topic Humanizing Medicine for Better Care of Patients in the 21st Century. Afterward, three symposia on the topics Teaching Empathy by Augmenting Clinical Experiences; Reimagining Teaching and Assessment; and Perspectives on Faculty Development were held. The day finished with a continuation of the last topic, in the form of a series of lectures on the topic The Future of Faculty Development.
The convention concluded with the closing ceremony, featuring parallel sessions on themed networking and short communication. There was a synthesis plenary, then a speech by the Dean of the College, Dr. Susan P. Nagtalon. Certificates were awarded for excellent publications on the topics, rounding off a fruitful seminar on topics that will undoubtedly be relevant to both medical students and educators in the future.
Congratulations Lukans, through the leadership of Dean Nagtalon, for successfully organizing and conducting this year’s APMC Annual Convention!
To learn more and/or to relive the event, you may visit the official Facebook page and website of the APMC 54th Annual Convention:
https://www.facebook.com/APMC2022/
https://convention.apmc-ph.net/
Day 1 highlights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135204985782419&type=3
Day 2 highlights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135261052443479&type=3
Day 3 highlights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135261119110139&type=3
Day 4 highlights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135261279110123&type=3
Speaker highlights: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135293275773590&type=3