LLU Collaborates on New Medical School

Loma Linda University (LLU) is continuing to foster higher education around the world, now in the Philippines. A team from LLU has been comprised to assist Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP) with the development of its new medical school. AUP was recently granted permission by the Philippines Commission of Higher Education to open a medical school, which will make it the sixth accredited medical school operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church—LLU was the first. LLU President Richard Hart, MD, DrPH, and other professionals are looking forward to this international partnership. “Since its founding, Loma Linda University has sent thousands of physicians, dentists and nurses to provide health care internationally. As the Adventist Church develops international universities, we can expand capacity by assisting with health sciences education for health professionals around the world,” said Dr. Hart. The team from LLU will be working with the inaugural dean of the new medical school, Doris A. Mendoza, MD, who has garnered the experience necessary to take on her new position while serving as a faculty member of West Visayas State University College of Medicine, which is also in the Philippines. She has outlined a very modern medical education curriculum that will meet more stringent Filipino accreditation criteria. The newly organized Department of Medical Education within the LLU School of Medicine has formed a working group to collaborate with Dr. Mendoza and her team: Tammi Thomas, MD; Lawrence Loo, MD; and Daniel Giang, MD. They will focus their efforts on developing the curriculum, building a strong faculty, upgrading the facilities and admitting the first class of students. AUP intends to accept its first class of 20 medical students in June 2014 and will use Adventist Medical Center–Manila as its primary clinical teaching site. In addition, the new faculty at AUP will be enrolled in the online Master of Science degree program in Health Professions Education—an inter-professional graduate program at Loma Linda University designed to prepare clinicians to teach in the classroom. Dr. Giang congratulates AUP for achieving accreditation of its medical school and anticipates collaborating with the new sister school. “Adventist health education provides distinctive added values to students as well as a first-rate education in various health sciences disciplines. We strive to help students synthesize their commitment to faith and science while viewing each patient as a ‘whole person’ rather than as cases of a disease. We see health care as part of an overall mission of representing God in the world. That is what we strive for,” said Dr. Giang. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Department of Education has provided additional resources to LLU to help with this effort. Lenoa Edwards, Assistant Dean for Admissions within LLU School of Medicine, visited AUP to discuss admissions issues this past April. “We anticipate a busy year for both AUP and LLU,” she said. LLU has an ongoing history with Adventist University of the Philippines. LLU School of Public Health assisted the Filipino university in developing its own College of Health approximately 30 years ago; and LLU School of Dentistry also collaborated with AUP to develop its College of Dentistry in 2005. Ronald Dailey, PhD, Dean of LLU School of Dentistry, was part of the collaboration eight years ago and believes LLU’s partnership with AUP is special. “This is a unique opportunity,” he said, “to build a medical school in a country that is striving to advance the quality of medical education in their country. It took visionary leadership to make LLU what it is today, and I am confident that same vision and skill will translate in this partnership with Adventist University of the Philippines.” AUP is currently a highly regarded institution, which successfully operates schools of education, nursing, business, theology and health sciences. LLU provides resources for developing medical schools through its Global Health Institute, School of Medicine and the Master of Science degree program in Health Professions Education. LLU tailors its collaboration to meet the needs of each new medical school and will host the first international conference of Adventist medical educators in May 2014. This focus on health sciences education advances LLU’s tradition of sending health professionals to serve overseas.