by Rene Estremera | 23 January 2026
A UP Mindanao delegation led by Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao conducted a benchmarking visit to the University of the Philippines Manila School of Health Sciences (UPM SHS) in Palo, Leyte, from 19 to 21 January 2026. The activity forms part of UP Mindanao’s preparations for the opening of its medical education program.
Chancellor Murao was joined by Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Maria Stella Salazar; Architect Julius Brillante of the Campus Planning and Development Office; and Department of Biological Sciences faculty members Dr. Maria Fatima Manuel and Dr. Lyn Redoble.
Also accompanying the delegation was Prof. Philip Ian Padilla of UP Visayas, a physician and alumnus of the UP College of Medicine. Prof. Padilla has been invited to serve as a member of the Technical Working Group for the establishment of the UP Mindanao Doctor of Medicine program and has made significant contributions to the program proposal.
UPM SHS Palo offers midwifery, nursing, and medicine programs through a step-ladder curriculum, which the UP Mindanao team identified as a potential model for its own medical education program.
The benchmarking activities included engagements with local government officials, a visit to the Eastern Visayas Medical Center—the program’s training hospital—and a barangay community where students conduct hospital- and community-based clerkship activities.
During the visit, the UP Mindanao delegation also met representatives from Capiz State University, whose own benchmarking activity commenced on the second day of UP Mindanao’s visit.
The team likewise paid a courtesy call on UP Tacloban College Dean Patricia Arinto, Assistant Dean John Paul Yusiong, and Assistant Professor Antonino De Veyra, a former UP Mindanao faculty member.
#UPMindanao #UPMin #DoctorofMedicine #Benchmarking #UPxSDG 4 #UPxSDG10 #UPxSDG17 #FP6Partnership