Heroism of a Medical Student Group in the Combat Against COVID-19 in the Entire Philippines

Heroism of a Medical Student Group in the Combat Against COVID-19 in the Entire Philippines

Reynaldo O. Joson, MD

October 16, 2020

Merriam-Webster defines “heroism” as the “heroic” conduct especially as exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end. Merriam-Webster further defines “heroic” as exhibiting or marked by courage and daring (such as heroic decision) and supremely noble or self-sacrificing (such as heroic action).

A group of medical students from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (specifically from the Mu Sigma Fraternity and Sorority) exhibited heroism in the combat against COVID-19 in the entire Philippines from March 2020 up to this writing (October 16, 2020). The medical student group, despite being ordered not to have contact with patients even on a voluntary basis, has exhibited daring decision and supremely noble action when it provided personal protective equipment to at least one rural health unit or government hospital in ALL the provinces in the Philippines as a comprehensive strategy to protect the medical frontliners. It also has brought out for open learning in the Internet some best practices of Filipino medical frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 in the community. Six project papers were presented on July 30, 2020 in a virtual setting open to the public.

As of October 16, 2020, the group still continues to provide PPEs to healthcare institutions in need. In October 10, 2020, it has launched the Search for Community-Based Innovations and Best Practices for Health in the Time of Pandemic. This search is a nationwide competition showcasing innovative, progressive and reproducible public health interventions of municipal health officers and doctors to the barrios all over the country that battle against COVID-19 and other health issues. The search will end on December 10, 2020 and the presentation will be in January 2021.

This, in essence, constitutes the heroism of the medical student group in the combat against COVID-19 in the ENTIRE Philippines.

What contributed to this heroism of the medical student group?

The mission of the UP College of Medicine,

“Guided by moral, ethical and spiritual values; we commit ourselves to excellence and leadership in community-oriented medical education, research and service; using the Primary Health Care Approach; intended especially for the underserved.”

The 4 pillars of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority: Leadership, Service, Scholarship, and Brotherhood/Sisterhood.

Below is brief narration of events that transpired from March 2020 to present (October 16, 2020) that demonstrated the heroism of the medical student group.

In March 2020, just before the Luzon Enhanced Community Quarantine declaration by the national government, a question was asked: How does a Greek-letter organization like the Mu Sigma Fraternity and Sorority consisting of undergraduate medical students help in the fight against COVID-19

Answer: a lot. They can contribute to the cause physically (such as assisting in the management of patients); mentally (such as assisting in the planning blueprint, research, data gathering, analyzing data, reporting, etc.); and with donating materials (such as donating medical supplies and equipment, foods, cash, etc.).

Initially, the plan was to donate medical supplies and equipment and foods and to assist in the management of patients.

An initial plan was to provide complete support to one selected triage area set-up by the Philippine General Hospital administration (specifically the one in the Padre Faura entrance to PGH where the public passing through were being screened for COVID-19 symptoms). The MU students would ask permission from the PGH administration to do the following:

- Training of MU undergraduates on the policies and procedures in the selected COVID-19 triage area so that they could help man it with the resident-physicians.

- Determination of the needs and amount of personal protective equipment (PPEs) of personnel going on duty in the triage area for at least 3 months (April to June, 2020) and the MU would help supply through its MU Relief Program.

- Provision of foods for the personnel manning the selected triage area for at least 3 months (April to June, 2020) through the MU Relief Program.

With memoranda coming from the Commission on Higher Education and Association of Philippine Medical Colleges not allowing medical students to do clinical works with patients, the above plan was called off. The medical students were asked to stay home and do home study. The MU students just focused on gathering donations of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for the medical frontliners in the Philippine General Hospital, initially, then elsewhere (as will be presented below).

When the UP-PGH launched the Bayanihan Na! COVID-19 Operations Center on March 30, 2020, where 60 – 70 medical students were allowed to volunteer, about 27 MU Fraternity and Sorority medical students (see list) responded to the call. The Operations Center is essentially a call center for PGH services during COVID19. Up to now (October 16, 2020), the Bayanihan Na! COVID-19 Operations Center is still operating.

List of Mu Student Volunteers in Bayanihan Na! COVID19 Ops Center

MU Fraternity

Doms Agner ’20 Gian Aurelio (BL) ’20 Ted Campo ’20 Aug Cunanan (MEB) ’20 Gio Dizon ’20 Josiah Joson ’20 Tristan Manalastas ’20 Jolo Ramos ’20 Ruben Valeza ’20 Ino Villacastin ’20 OJ Acopiado ’21 Ronniel Bilbao ’21, Jeric Distor '21, Justin Maranan ’21 Jimbo Sambo ’22 Lee Montilla ’23, Jed Golez '23, Gneiss Almazan ‘24

MU Sorority

Yas Salces '20, Alexis Dinopol '20, Dan Concepcion '20, Janine Dela Cruz '20 Nala De Leon ’20, Ana Sison '20, Karol Tablante '20, Wynona Dela Calzada '21, Beng Daayata '21

On March 29, 2020, not wanting just to be restricted to home to study medicine and to providing PPEs to PGH and nearby hospitals, but craving to be of greater help in the fight against COVID-19 in the country, the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority extended its PPE support to at least one rural health units or one government hospital in ALL the provinces in the Philippines.

Anticipating that the COVID-19 pandemic would eventually involve all provinces in the Philippines, the MU medical students decided to provide PPEs to at least one rural health unit or provincial government hospital in ALL the provinces. True enough, after completing the distribution to all the beneficiaries in the provinces in July 14, 2020, the incident of COVID-19 started to rise in majority of the Philippine provinces in August and September, 2020. The only province that is declared COVID-19 as of August 2020 is Batanes. So, by July 14 2020 (the end of initial phase of distribution to ALL provinces), the beneficiary rural health units and government provincial hospitals have already their PPEs in place. This shows the foresight of the MU medical students.

The other reasons why the focus of help shifted to the rural health units and provincial government hospitals were the following:

1. The rural health units and provincial government hospitals are considered the medical frontlines in the battleground against COVID19. The COVID19 in the community should be prevented and controlled at the levels of the rural health units and provincial government hospitals to avoid the tertiary and specialized hospitals being swamped with COVID19 patients. They are crucial in helping “flatten the curve.”

2. The hospitals, in March 2020 and up to now, have cut down their medical services for non-COVID patients because of the COVID19 crisis. The non-COVID patients in the community have no hospitals to go to. Thus, the rural health units and the municipal health offices have to shoulder and take over the services that cannot be provided by the hospitals. The rural health units and the municipal health offices, aside from having a STAY SAFE FROM COVID19 program, also have a STAY HEALTHY program so that the people will not get sick and will not have to go to the hospitals, where there is a risk of being contaminated by confined COVID19 patients (aside from avoiding the hassle of getting into a hospital).

3. There are numerous reports of rural health units and municipal health offices not being enough logistical support from the local government because of the focus on hospitals.

4. Rural health units and municipal health offices in the provinces are more in need of logistical support compared to health care institutions in the MetroCities.

Again, these rationalizations of the project plan showed foresight and courageous and daring decision making of the MU medical students considering the NATIONAL scope of the project.

The MU medical student group partnered with Dr. Reynaldo O. Joson and HelpThru Philippines. Dr. Joson served as an adviser and a donor attractor. He would channel donations of ROJDonors to MU Relief Program and HelpThru Philippines. The Mu Relief is a stand-alone committee in the disaster response arm of the Service Committees of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority. HelpThru Philippines is a private charity organization which solicited donations in the fight against COVID-19 and it agreed to take care of sourcing the PPEs and distributing them to the rural health units and government hospitals in ALL the provinces in the Philippines.

There was a total of 79 beneficiary health care institution beneficiary under the March 2020 to July 2020 project - 39 in Luzon; 15 in the Visayas; 25 in Mindanao.

Below is a list of provincial beneficiaries of PPEs.

The MU medical student group also partnered with its so-called MU Relief Coordinators in the various rural health units and government provincial hospitals in the provinces. The Mu Relief Coordinators were essentially alumni of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority practicing in the provinces who agreed to volunteer to coordinate the use of the PPEs to be donated to the institutions in their respective provinces. In provinces where there are no Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority, the MU medical student group looked for any physicians who were willing to volunteer to serve as Mu Relief Coordinators. At the completion of the initial project (up to July 30, 2020), there were 79 Mu Relief Coordinators, 49 alumni of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity and Sorority and 30 non-alumni.

The partnership of the MU medical student group with other concerned citizens (particularly ROJDonors and HelpThru Philippines) and the MU Relief Coordinators throughout the country illustrated the group's extraordinary collaborative and synergistic leadership that led to a very fruitful and successful project (see Results below). Again, this shows the daring decision and supremely noble action of the MU medical student group.

Results:

1. From March 29, 2020 to July 14, 2020, ROJDonors - Mu Relief – HelpThru Against cOVID19 Project donated assorted personal protective equipment averaging about P50K to at least one rural health unit or provincial government hospital in ALL the provinces in the Philippines to protect the medical frontliners against being infected and subsequently dying from COVID19.

2. As of July 14, 2020, the total number of rural health units and hospitals provided with PPEs (through the ROJDonors - Mu Relief - HelpThu Philippines) was at least 266 with the following breakdown: 50 in Metro Manila; 133 in Luzon; and 83 in Visayas and Mindanao. (The number may be actually more when all are accounted for - see partial list of institutions given PPEs below.)

3. From March 29, 2020 to July 30, 2020, the following statistics on key performance indicators of the project were reported: 1) NO healthcare worker died of COVID-19 in the beneficiary health care institutions and 2) 21 (or 27%) health care institutions had health care workers infected with COVID-19 and all these were in the hospital setting, none in the rural health units.

In July 30, 2020, the MU medical student group together with ROJoson and HelpThru Philippines held a virtual "Recognition and Sharing Night."

In this virtual meet which was open to the public, recognition and appreciation-giving to donors was done. More than this, there was sharing of 6 projects from the Mu Relief Coordinators (see list of presentors below.) The reporting and sharing of practices of the MU Relief Coordinators were stipulated in the design and development blueprint of the project from the very start. This stipulation shows the importance the MU medical student group placed on longer-term and greater impact of the project and not just mere giving away of PPEs (or "dole-out" in the Philippine context). The MU medical student group emphasized to the Mu Relief Coordinators from the very start the need for documentation, reporting with results ala action research, and presenting and sharing. For those who presented, the MU medical students provided cash prizes of significant amount, not only to motivate the Mu Relief Coordinators to present and to share, but also to have additional funds for their anti-COVID-19 projects in their respective institutions.

Details and proceedings in the "Recognition and Sharing Night" can be seen in the following link:

https://sites.google.com/site/mureliefxcovid19awards/

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=619149282073442

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ItAd9wVjM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR09odMcAKygCqKdWPygCIlF98R04OMCuhBz0iSHUROlLr88OKZ-3JZ3PLE

In the Recognition and Sharing Night on July 30, 2020, the MU medical student group announced that it will continue the fight against COVID-19.

The Mu Relief continues to donate PPEs to PGH and other health care institutions outside PGH such as the rural health units throughout the country. See latest poster (October 10, 2020).

On October 10, 2020, the MU medical student group launched the The Search for Community-Based Innovations and Best Practices for Health in the Time of Pandemic. This is a nationwide competition showcasing innovative, progressive and reproducible public health interventions of health care providers (municipal health officers and doctors to the barrios) all over the country that battle against COVID-19 and other health issues. The deadline for submission is on December 10, 2020. The presentation and awarding will be in January 2021.

This Search again shows the leadership of the MU medical student group in the fight against COVID-19 in the Philippines.

Feedback:

Dr. Delen de la Paz (Professor): "Your project is very noble ...... Congratulations for the concept and I think this is something that we need to encourage and learn from. The best practices can be replicated in other communities. I hope that the respective LGUs and the DOH will be supportive." - October 13, 2020

Dr. Kring Jabonillo (Rural Health Physician): This is a very good initiative, Sir. We have lots of strategies in the provinces that are worth emulating sa cities or even sa national government. Thank you very much for recognizing our efforts! - October 12, 2020

There is a Search of almost similar nature by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) but this is for hospital-based anti-COVID-19 program. The Search of the MU medical student group is for community-based anti-COVID-19 program. The MU medical student group gives importance to the role played by the municipal health officers and doctors to the barrios.

Conclusion:

The above narration of events shows the heroism of a medical student group in the combat against COVID-19 in the ENTIRE Philippines.

Despite being ordered not to have contact with patients even on a voluntary basis, the medical student group from the Mu Sigma Fraternity and Sorority of the University of the Philippines has exhibited daring decision and supremely noble action when it provided personal protective equipment to at least one rural health unit or government hospital in ALL the provinces in the Philippines as a comprehensive strategy to protect the medical frontliners. It also has brought out for open learning in the Internet some best practices of Filipino medical frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 in the community. Six project papers were presented on July 30, 2020 in a virtual setting open to the public.

As of October 16, 2020, the group still continues to provide PPEs to healthcare institutions in need, in PGH and nationwide. In October 10, 2020, it has launched the Search for Community-Based Innovations and Best Practices for Health in the Time of Pandemic. This search is a nationwide competition showcasing innovative, progressive and reproducible public health interventions of municipal health officers and doctors to the barrios all over the country that battle against COVID-19 and other health issues.

This, in essence, constitutes the heroism of the medical student group in the combat against COVID-19 in the ENTIRE Philippines.

July 30, 2020 - Recognition and Sharing Night with the heads of the Mu Sigma Phi Fraternity (Jen Montemayor) and Mu Sigma Phi Sorority (Elise Severino)

October 10, 2020 - Finalizing the Search for Community-Based Innovations and Best Practices for Health in the Time of Pandemic - MU Medical Students with Adviser

List of beneficiaries furnished by HelpThru

NCR - 50

Luzon - 133

Visayas - 23

Mindanao - 58

Total - 264