SOCIO-CULTURAL INVOLVEMENT
ROJoson is a Chinese national (pure, born of Chinese parents, in 1949) who became a Filipino by naturalization in 1976.
When he was in University of the Philippines Diliman taking his BS Pre-Medical Course, he was advocating for the integration of the Chinese into the Filipino society through the UP Filipino-Chinese Students Association (he was its president in 1968-1969) and through the Sapang Palay Project of the Philippine Historical Commission (which was promoting the Chinese integration). Aligned with his advocacy, he changed his Chinese surname of "DY" to a Filipino family name "JOSON" after his naturalization process. Aligned with his advocacy also, he married a Filipina to complete the Chinese-Filipino integration. This backstory of ROJoson's racial origin and assimilation and integration into the Filipino society approximates the life of Dr. Jose P. Rizal. Dr. Rizal was a Chinese mestizo who functioned as a Filipino working for the Filipino nation and people. ROJoson is a pure Chinese who by his acts of naturalization and change of name has proclaimed his loyalty to the Philippines and as will be seen within these nomination documents, has been functioning as a Filipino working for the Filipino nation and people (specially as a Filipino physician).
As to languages and dialects, he can speak English, Chinese (Mandarin and Fookien) and Filipino (Tagalog).
As to socio-civic involvement, he is a member of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine; member of the Philippine Medical Association (Manila Medical Society - he was a speaker once in the PMA convention); member of the Philippine College of Surgeons (regular speaker in its convention circa 1982 to 1996); once an examiner of the Philippine Board of Surgery (1984 to 1996); member of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine Alumni Association, Philippine General Hospital Alumni Association; National Teachers Training Center for Health Profession Alumni Association; UP College of Public Health Alumni Association; University of the Philippines Alumni Association; once a member of St. Andrew Parish Church Lay Minister Group (2002).
Before 1989, he used to join surgical missions for the underprivileged Filipinos. After 1989, he decided to change focus. He has been on outreach educational mission creating the Education for Health Development in the Philippines Program in 1990. He believes in "Teach a man to fish, you feed him for his whole lifetime." He has traveled to various parts of the Philippines (north to south) to conduct his outreach educational mission (for departments of surgery; hospitals; medical schools; etc.)
For his cultural-educational cum vacation tours (especially with his family), he has traveled to various countries in the world (Europe, America, Asia, Africa, etc). His latest was in Israel (September 2019).
For his sports, he has been into swimming, lawn tennis, bowling, table tennis, windsurfing, stand-up paddling, and snorkling. He is an advocate of daily walking exercise and daily stretch-flex exercise for the healthy lifestyle package. For the past 5 years (65 to 70 years old), he has been doing 3-km to 5-km daily walking cum rosary prayer and 20 to 30 minutes of stretching and flexing exercise. He has been reminding his 6000 Facebook friends in doing the same as part of the healthy lifestyle and intentional living he is promoting.
He has been into medical photography since 1977 when he was still a surgical resident in the Philippine General Hospital. Medical photography and slide preparation for medical presentation are important skills that are of importance to academic physicians and surgeons. Since 1981, he has been advocating the proper ways of preparing overhead transparencies then slide preparations during presentation particularly in medical conferences (https://www.slideshare.net/rjoson/the-art-of-creating-digital-slides-for-a-medical-presentation-rojoson-2017). At the same time, he has been advocating proper ways of taking pictures that will be used in medical presentation. He has been teaching to surgical residents in various hospitals, medical students in various medical schools and hospital staff as well. He has consolidated all his experiences and past writings in this website, Digital Medical Presentation - https://sites.google.com/site/digitalmedicalpresentation/.
Relating socio-cultural involvement to the practice of medicine, majority of his patients are Filipinos and he respects the varying socio-cultural tendencies of his patients, mentees, and colleagues when dealing and interacting with them and particularly, in doing problem-solving and decision-making in the management of their medical problems.
ROJ@19nov17