Reynaldo O. Joson, MD
Circa 1995
I wrote this learning session circa 1995 (see below).
As of November 14, 2018:
I left the following learning objectives unanswered:
Define the scopes of the different subspecialties of surgery especially as practiced in the Philippines.
Discuss the surgical competencies expected of a basic physician.
Discuss how a physician becomes a full-pledged surgeon.
I have the formulated the following Questions and Issues for Discussion: (also unanswered):
As of today, there are still surgeons who are called general surgeons. What is the scope of their work nowadays?
ANSWER: See https://sites.google.com/site/rojosontipsforgeneralsurgeons/general-surgeons---what-and-who-are-they
Specialization has pros and cons. Think of least one advantage and one disadvantage of specialization with regards to patient care.
There are overlaps in the different surgical subspecialties, meaning two or three subspecialties may be capable of handling the same kind of a disorder. Example, a patient with a head and neck tumor can be handled by both the head and neck surgeon and the cancer surgeon. If you have such a patient whom you cannot handle, to whom will you refer this patient and why? You can use other overlapping subspecialties to expound on your answer.
As a basic physician to be, what do you think you need to learn about surgery which you can use in the management of a patient?
Specific Objectives:
At the end of the session, the student must be able to:
Define surgery as a branch of medicine.
Discuss the history of surgery as a specialty of medicine.
Enumerate five major events that initiated development of surgery in the Philippines.
Define the scopes of the different subspecialties of surgery especially as practiced in the Philippines.
Discuss the surgical competencies expected of a basic physician.
Discuss how a physician becomes a full-pledged surgeon.
Surgery is a branch of medicine which treats diseases, wholly or in part, by manual and operative procedures. An operation is any act performed with instruments or by the hands of the surgeon.
Historically, all physicians were trained to use both instruments and medicines in the treatment of patients. With the advent of specialization, physicians became classified into surgeons and non-surgeons.
Historically, surgeons are general surgeons who were trained to do all kinds of operations in the treatment of patients with a surgical disease. Again, with the advent of specialization, surgeons became classified into obstetric and gynecologic surgeons; orthopedic surgeons; ophthalmologic surgeons; otorhinolaryngologic surgeons; urologic surgeons; plastic and reconstructive surgeons; pediatric surgeons; neurologic surgeons; thoracic and cardiovascular surgeons; head and neck surgeons; colorectal surgeons; endoscopic surgeons; cancer surgeons; etc.
At the moment, the process of specialization is still going on. Thus, one should expect the establishment of more and more subspecialties in medicine, in both the non-surgical as well as the surgical fields.
The history of surgery dates back to the start of the human race of earth. The development of surgery as a branch of medicine has always been along the line of constant search for improvement in the management of patients with a surgical disease.
The development of surgery in the Philippines was initiated by the establishment of the following institutions, programs, and agencies:
Hospitals, notably the San Juan de Dios Hospital in 1577; the University of Santo Tomas Hospital in 1871; and the Philippine General Hospital in 1908.
Medical schools, notably those of the University of Santo Tomas in 1871 and of the University of the Philippines in 1907.
The Philippine College of Surgeons in 1936.
The surgical residency training programs.
The Philippine Board of Surgery.
Questions and Issues for Discussion:
As of today, there are still surgeons who are called general surgeons. What is the scope of their work nowadays?
Specialization has pros and cons. Think of least one advantage and one disadvantage of specialization with regards to patient care.
There are overlaps in the different surgical subspecialties, meaning two or three subspecialties may be capable of handling the same kind of a disorder. Example, a patient with a head and neck tumor can be handled by both the head and neck surgeon and the cancer surgeon. If you have such a patient whom you cannot handle, to whom will you refer this patient and why? You can use other overlapping subspecialties to expound on your answer.
As a basic physician to be, what do you think you need to learn about surgery which you can use in the management of a patient?
Other questions and issues you want to raise and discuss.
ROJ@18nov14