University of the Philippines Manila

The University of the Philippines Manila (UP Manila or UPM; Filipino: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Maynila) is a public research university located in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is the oldest of nine constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System and serves as the primary institution for health sciences within the system.

While the University of the Philippines was formally established by the University Act of 1908, the Manila campus traces its institutional origins to the establishment of UP’s Manila-based colleges and school between 1909 and 1911, as the capital city was the intended site for the university's main operations. In 1979, the campus was reorganized as the Health Sciences Center, becoming the second autonomous constituent unit of the UP System. It was officially renamed the University of the Philippines Manila in 1983. Its academic programs are primarily concentrated in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, and the allied health sciences, offering a range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees.

UP Manila administers and operates the Philippine General Hospital, the largest public hospital in the Philippines and the country’s national referral center for tertiary health care. The university is also home to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Its 14-hectare campus occupies two large city blocks. The campus contains pre-war heritage buildings and structures built during the American Period and designed by American architect William E. Parsons. These were declared to be historical landmarks by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

History

Philippine Medical School

On December 1, 1905, the Philippine Medical School was established under Commonwealth Act No. 1415. It opened on June 10, 1907, and was housed at the School for the Deaf and Blind located on Malecon Drive (now Bonifacio Drive). On June 18, 1908, the Philippine Assembly passed the Act No. 1870, also known as the University Charter, marking the birth of the University of the Philippines. The Act renamed the Philippine Medical School as the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and Surgery. The control and management of the medical school was entrusted to the University of the Philippines Board of Regents on December 8, 1910. Its name was shortened to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine on March 1, 1923.

UP opened its doors in 1909 with the School of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts, College of Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Engineering and the College of Law. It also operates the UP College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna. These schools and colleges, established on different locations, were transferred to the UP Campus along Pedro Gil Street, Ermita, Manila on July 1, 1910, except for the College of Agriculture.

In 1907, the US government passed a law establishing the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). It was founded by Dean C. Worcester, an American who was a member of the United States Philippine Commission. On September 1, 1910, the 350-bed capacity hospital was opened to the public for health care delivery and clinical instruction and training of medical students. Dr. Paul Freer served as its first Medical School Dean until 1912. On February 5, 1915, the Philippine Legislative Act No. 2467 reorganized the Training School for Nurses into the PGH School of Nursing and established it as a department of PGH. A few years later, in 1914, 1915 and 1927, the School of Pharmacy, Department of Dentistry and the School of Public Health were created, respectively, under the UP College of Medicine. These units eventually became full-fledged degree-granting units in 1935, 1948, and 1932, respectively.

World War II

The university was destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945. However, the College of Medicine under then Dean, Dr. Antonio G. Sison, and PGH were still able to fulfill their mandate of attending to the injured and the sick. On December 15, 1948, much the university transferred to its sprawling 493 hectare campus in Diliman, Quezon City. Three units, Medicine, Dentistry and Public Health, were left behind in the war-torn UP Campus in Manila. On the 40th anniversary of the University of the Philippines in 1949, the original Oblation was transferred to UP's Diliman Campus in Quezon City from its original site along Padre Faura Street in Manila as a symbol of transfer of administrative seat. In April 1948, the UP College of Nursing, which established in the Diliman Campus, instituted the first baccalaureate program in Nursing in the Philippines. More academic units were established in the 1960s. These included the School of Allied Medical Professions (1962), housed then at the National Orthopedic Hospital (now called the Philippine Orthopedic Center), and the Philippine Eye Research Institute in 1965.

Campus

The University of the Philippines Manila is situated in the bustling area of Ermita, Manila. Its 14 ha (35 acres) campus of which 10 ha is reserved for the Philippine General Hospital and the National Institutes of Health. It is the second largest university campus in the City of Manila after the 22 ha (54 acres) University of Santo Tomas. The campus is bounded by United Nations Avenue to the north, Taft Avenue to the east, María Orosa Avenue and Robinsons Place Manila to the west and by Pedro Gil Street to the south. The university is served by the United Nations and Pedro Gil Station of the LRT Line 1.

UP Manila buildings vary in age from the American era buildings built in early 1900s to high rise facilities in 2020s. Most of UPM's buildings are designed in Neoclassical style, a theme which has been preserved in recent architectural additions. Many buildings in the campus were designed by American Architect William E. Parsons, in accordance with the Burnham Plan of Manila. The Calderon Hall of the College of Medicine and the Administration Building of the Philippine General Hospital were the first buildings constructed on the campus site. PGH became the template for many tropical hospitals in Asia and tropical America. This was followed by the construction of the University Hall (now Department of Justice) and Rizal Hall in the Padre Faura Street, both used by most UP colleges and executive offices before the World War II. In 2013, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) declared several sites within the campus as heritage zones and were listed in the National Registry of Historic Sites and Structures in the Philippines.

The maintenance and planning for campus buildings are provided by the UP Manila Campus Planning, Development and Maintenance Office (CPDMO) It manages the creation of spaces that support and enhance teaching, research, and public service activities of UP Manila. It is also tasked to recover the lots and heritage buildings that belongs to the university which are now occupied by the National Bureau of Investigation, Court of Appeals, Department of Justice, and the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The Supreme Court has announced its plans to vacate its UP Campus site in Manila and move to the Bonifacio Capital District in Taguig with the Court of Appeals upon the completion of their new state-of-the-art building. The Department of Justice is also slated to move to New Clark City. CPDMO is located on the former UP College of Dentistry Annex Building, which was constructed in the 1960s.

Academics

UP Manila offers 79 health-related undergraduate and graduate programs in nine degree-granting units. The university's academic units are broadly organized into seven colleges, the National Teacher Training Center for Health Professions, and the School of Health Sciences. The Philippine General Hospital and National Institutes of Health also form part of the university as training and research centers. As the leading institution for medical education and research, UP Manila is regarded as the National Health Sciences Center of the Philippines and designated as one of the four pillars of the Metro Manila Health Research and Development Consortium.

UP Manila develops programs that serve as models and benchmarks of health education and health care in the Philippines. Many of the pioneering curricular programs are offered only in the university even until now, such as the seven-year Integrated Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program, MS in Medical Informatics, MS in bioethics, Master of Rehabilitation Science, MS in Clinical Audiology, and MA in Health Policy Studies. The university also offered the first baccalaureate programs in nursing, organizational communication, and public health in the Philippines. Moreover, the UPM School of Health Sciences offers the first stepladder health sciences curriculum in Asia that allows students to take integrated courses on community health work, midwifery, nursing, and community medicine towards a Doctor of Medicine degree. Its community-oriented programs have been lauded worldwide for directly admitting scholars from targeted poor communities in need of health professionals.

UP Manila units are also nationally and internationally recognized. The College of Medicine and the College of Nursing has been recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as National Centers of Excellence since 2001. In addition, the World Health Organization has designated the College of Nursing as WHO Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development and the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions as WHO Regional Development Center in Health Professions Education in the Western Pacific Region. The College of Public Health also hosts the SEAMEO-Tropmed Regional Centre for Public Health, Hospital Administration, Environmental and Occupational Health.

Admissions

Admission to the university is very selective. Prospective undergraduate students must pass the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT), which is part of the admission requirements for all the component units of the University of the Philippines System.

Student life

UP Manila is a part on the University Belt, a de facto sub-district of the City of Manila where there is a high concentration or a cluster of colleges and universities.

Activism

Students of UP Manila are known for their activism, since the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the Court of Appeals, and the Department of Justice are located within its grounds. The university has plenty of student groups focused on political change. It also has a variety of partisan groups ranging from liberal to conservative, and several third party organizations.

People

The university has produced remarkable alumni in their respective fields. The 10th and current chancellor of the university is Dr. Michael L. Tee, who succeeded Dr. Carmencita M. Padilla, a National Scientist, in 2023.

20th century

Notable people from UP Manila include Elpidio Quirino, the sixth President of the Philippines, who graduated from the university with a law degree in 1915. Fe del Mundo, a pediatrician, was known as the first woman to be admitted as a student in Harvard Medical School, and was the founder of the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. She graduated from the university in 1933 as valedictorian of her class. In 1924, Alejandro Melchor, who served as a Secretary of National Defense, obtained his civil engineering degree with the highest honors at that time when the UP College of Engineering was still based in Manila. Other notable UP Manila alumni includes Martino Abellana, a renowned Cebuano painter, and Trinidad Tarrosa-Subido, a linguist and poet.

21st century

Political figures who were graduates of UP Manila include Jinggoy Estrada, a Philippine Senator, and Enrique Manalo, who served as the Undersecretary for Policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Revolutionary leader Nur Misuari was also a graduate of UP Manila, who obtained his political science degree in 1962.

UP Manila alumni who served in the field of medical and health profession include three Secretaries of the Department of Health: Juan Flavier (1992-1995), who also served as a Senator from 1995 to 2007, Esperanza Cabral (2009-2010), and Enrique Ona (2010 to 2014).

Americans who graduated from UP Manila include two Brigadier General of the United States Air Force: Van N. Backman who obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955, and Patricia C. Lewis, who earned her master's degree from the university in 1977. Ernesto Domingo, a National Scientist of the Philippines, also graduated from the university. Alfredo Bengzon, the president and CEO of The Medical City obtained his doctor of medicine degree from the university. UPM alumni in academia include Paulo Campos, who was known for his work on nuclear medicine, Luciano P.R. Santiago, and Gregorio F. Zaide. The latter two are multi-awarded historians. In film, entertainment, and television, UPM is represented by comedian actress Maricel Laxa, and Vinci Montaner, a founding member of the band Parokya ni Edgar. Other prominent graduates include Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an international activist for Igorot ethnicity and Norman King, the first Aeta graduate of the entire university system.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)