Training

Type of Training – Residency

Length of Training – 3 years

Year Family Medicine established – 1972

Number of family medicine residents graduating each year – unknown

Number of institutions that offer family medicine – unknown

Practice

Number of family doctors – unknown

Physician to population ratio – unknown

DALY: 19,525/100,000 individuals (due to all causes).

Life Expectancy:

• Females 2017: 75.0 years

• Males 2017: 67.0 years

Mortality rate 2017:

• Males: 259 per 1,000 male adults.

• Females: 134 per 1,000 female adults.

Infant Immunization-HepB3: % of 1-year-old children received: 72%

College of Family Physicians (Y or N):

• Yes: Philippines Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP).

training

The first three-year residency program was established at the University of Philippines in 1972 (Leopando, Zorayda E., and Reynaldo A. Olazo). In 1976, the undergraduate family medicine program was integrated at the UP College of Medicine (Philippine Academy of Family Physicians).

The Philippine Academy of General Practice started in 1960 when a group of 15 practitioners led by Dr. Ramon Angeles got together (Philippine Academy of Family Physicians). On April 30, the Philippine Academy of General Practice was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-profit, non-stock organization (Philippine Academy of Family Physicians). In 1972, the name changed to Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) after joining WONCA (Philippine Academy of Family Physicians).

The training, and examinations for family medicine is the similar to the model followed in the United States (Guenter, 2018). The training received by a family doctor does not have a significant value (Guenter, 2018).

practice

The family doctors don’t have a gatekeeping role; hence people are more likely to visit a specialist for primary healthcare needs (Guenter, 2018). For instance, a person with a sore throat would go to the ENT specialist for treatment, when a family physician would have been capable of treating the same condition (Guenter, 2018).

There are more family doctors that work in rural settings, however they do not have a postgraduate training in family medicine, instead they complete a 1 year general internship training before starting their practice (Guenter, 2018).

Family doctors and many other professionals offer primary care, hence this leaves family doctors feeling disempowered and disfranchised (Guenter, 2018).