Medical photography as a training module and project in OMMC Department of Surgery and in any department of surgery in the Philippines

[Written in 2006]

Although medical photography was being promoted in the Department of Surgery of Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center (OMMC) as early as 2002, it was only in June, 2004, that we formalized a training module through a so-called Project Medical Photography.  This will be reinforced in 2006 after we review what transpired in 2005.

The above question and answer [see primer on sidebar] on medical photography kicked off this training module or project.   This was reinforced by samples of pictures of do’s and don’ts and critics of pictures presented by the surgical residents during the Tuesday and Thursday conferences.

This project can be easily duplicated in any department of surgery in the Philippines as long as there is a commitment and support from everybody from the department administration to the residents.  Awareness of importance of medical photography should be followed by the commitment and support for Project Medical Photography.  Digital cameras, computers, know-how in the transfer of photos from cameras to computer, powerpoint presentation know-how, electronic scans, and LCD projectors should be made available to promote the success of medical photography.  There must be continual monitoring and evaluation of the quality of medical photography output of the surgical residents.

A value-added activity will be a pictorial exam on pattern recognition.

Expected outcomes of Project Medical Photography

For the surgical resident:

Every surgical resident will have a digital camera, using it at least for medical photography, to achieve the four specific objectives of documentation (learning, training, research, support for testimonies)

Every surgical resident knows how to produce quality medical pictures (clear and not jampacked and clean).

Every surgical resident has acquired at least 90% accuracy in the diagnosis of common surgical conditions based on pattern recognition (after seeing the medical photos aided by supplied pertinent data).

For the department:

All the medical pictures taken by the residents are incorporated into the collection of medical pictures of the Department of Surgery.

The collection can be hosted in the websites of the Department for easy retrieval.

The collection can be used for learning, training, research, pictorial examination of medical students and residents, advocacies and public health education programs of the department and support for testimonies.

ROJ@12feb17