Neurology and Psychiatry are disciplines that deal with the highest and most important functions of living organisms, man above all. Indeed, Aristotle’s ascending order of the cosmos finds expression in man’s head! “Ontogeny is a recapitulation of phylogeny.” Yet, the specialties are young in Philippine medicine. Fortunately, our medical school and hospital were pioneers in separating Neurology and Psychiatry from Medicine to form a distinct department, after a position paper justifying its creation was submitted by the late Dr. Gilberto L. Gamez in 1967. The Department was established in 1968.

When the Very Rev. Fr. Angel de Blas, O.P., a famous psychologist and philosopher, assumed the rectorship of the university, he opened the first privately run Institute of Neuropsychiatry in 1950, with a bed capacity of thirty. The Institute was opened primarily for the diagnosis and treatment of acute mental disorders. The first two resident physicians were Dr. Gilberto L. Gamez, concurrently a resident in Internal Medicine, and Dr. Henry Cube. Within a year’s time, both resident physicians were sent as university scholars to pursue specialized training at the Universidad Central de Madrid and its affiliated hospitals. Dr. Cube took up Neurosurgery, while Dr. Gamez specialized in Psychiatry. In spite of the great plans that Fr. Angel de Blas had for the Institute of Neuropsychiatry, it was closed three years later. In part, the closure was brought about by lack of a formal training program.

Until 1968, Neurology and Psychiatry (Neuropsychiatry) constituted the smallest section in the Department of Medicine. As such, there were no residents undergoing training to become neurologists and psychiatrists. Nonetheless, formal teaching rounds were regularly conducted. The Friday Neurology-Neurosurgery Grand Rounds is one of the most enduring institutions of the Faculty and the Hospital. At this point, much of the direction of effort was geared towards undergraduate education.

While still a section of Medicine, Drs. Leopoldo Prado, Sr., Dominador Nieva, and Romeo Gustilo and others taught the subjects in the medical college. In 1955, three leading personalities returned from their training abroad, viz.: Drs. Gilberto L. Gamez, Remedios Rosales, and Henry M. Cube. Drs. Gamez and Cube were UST scholars sent to Spain later. Both scholars continued their training in the United States. While Dr. Gamez trained in Neurology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital Neurological Institute and later at the University of Louisville Hospital, Dr. Cube continued his neurosurgical training at Hartford University, and later at Yale University. Dr. Remedios Rosales was primarily a trained neuropathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. With the arrival of these three doctors, Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery became more dynamic, so that in the later part of the 1950’s, more Neurology beds were assigned in the charity wards or what is now known as the Clinical Division. (We might point out that the Charity Wards were located in the first floor of the Pay Division. Also, the Neurology Friday conferences were held in open air across where the air-conditioned chapel is now located. It is no wonder that it is hallowed ground, explaining why the Sacred Heart is placed there!)

Both Drs. Gamez and Cube were no strangers in the university, having been residents and instructors prior to their training abroad. In the real sense, they were among the first balikbayans. Not having any formal appointed residents, Dr. Gamez, a natural and innovative teacher, started accepting preceptors. All told, prior to 1968, some 30 physicians started training in this manner and thus, was planted the seeds of Neurology and Psychiatry. Nurtured in fertile soil, the seeds germinated, grew, blossomed, and bloomed to what it is today.

Towards the end of the 1960’s, there was a confluence of events that made departmentalization inevitable and desirable. For one, Fr. Jesus Diaz, O.P., a former regent of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and a forward-looking administrator became Rector of the University. Dr. Hermogenes Santos, a dedicated teacher and outstanding physician, became the chairman of the Department of Medicine. Dr. Antonio Gisbert, at that time the Director of the Hospital and Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs, was very receptive to innovations and allocated space in the hospital for a psychiatric service unit. Dean Buenaventura Angtuaco wanted new projects to move the medical college forward. Truly, these gentlemen attended and midwifed the birth of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry.

On March 1, 1968, under the deanship of Dr. Buenaventura V. Angtuaco, and the rectorship of the Very Rev. Fr. Jesus Diaz, O.P., the new Department of Neurology and Psychiatry was organized with Dr. Gilberto L. Gamez as its first Chairman. Immediately after its organization, the Department was divided into two sections: the Section of Neurology and the Section of Psychiatry. Formal well-organized Residency Training Programs in Neurology and Psychiatry were immediately implemented with four residents. Drs. Leonor Testa-Feliciano, Anita Lim, and Co Bun Tee were among the first graduates of the Residency Training Program.

Since 1968, the Department’s growth has been continuous, with most of its graduate residents pursuing post-residency fellowship in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Of late, the Department established several laboratories. Likewise, the number of beds allotted for neurologic cases gradually increased because of the demands of the training program and the needs of society.

The rapid growth in the early years was enhanced by the return of several alumni who had their training abroad. With the transfer of the charity beds to what is now the Clinical Division, more beds were allocated to the Department for neurological cases, and the Psychiatric Ward (Community Center) was opened. The Community Center may be said to have been a revival of the very first private psychiatric hospital service in the Philippines opened in 1950 by former Rector of the University, Rev. Fr. Angel de Blas, O.P. The first psychiatric unit was housed in a squat wooden building where the present Commerce Building stands. The Community Center underwent extensive renovations in the early part of 2016 until August 2016 when it was reopened and renamed as the San Lorenzo Ward (as an extension of the names of the wards in the Pay Hospital). The establishment of the Department/Division of Neurology and Psychiatry brought about several advantages, namely:

1.Academically organized Residency Training Programs in the two specialties of Neurology and Psychiatry.

2.Better service for patients suffering from diseases of the nervous system.

3.The medical and nursing students of the university did not have to go to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) for their rotation in Psychiatry. They received better instruction and training in the new department. Moreover, the two colleges, the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and the College of Nursing were saved the financial burden of paying affiliation fees for each student at the NCMH.

The first Section Chief of Neurology was Dr. Artemio Pagdanganan, and the first Section Chief of Psychiatry was Dr. Pilar Nacu. Among the early staff members were Dr. Dominador Nieva, Dr. Romualdo Anselmo, Dr. Rudolfo Varias and Dr. Gorgonia Galang, a neuroanatomist. Soon after, Drs. Artemio T. Ordinario, Gregorio Pineda and Eduardo L. Jurilla were appointed affiliates, i.e., they had no formal academic rank and volunteered to teach without compensation. Their affiliate status lasted nearly two years. Dr. Pineda was the first Filipino to have trained in Pediatric Neurology and his expertise was widely used in the department.

Several key players joined the department in the early 70’s. Dr. Jesus F. Poblete, who finished residency in Medicine here, along with Dr. Paulino S. Tenchavez, came back from the United States, and joined the department. After the emigration of Drs. Pagdanganan and Nacu, Dr. Ordinario became the Section Chief of Neurology and Dr. Anselmo, Section Chief of Psychiatry. With the expansion of the department, services and pedagogical activities also increased and became more varied.

In 1971, on the 100th year of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Gamez was appointed Dean. This was the height of student activism, sometimes called ‘the first quarter storm’. The universities were under siege and events required leadership and prudence. One can rightfully say that times needed the faith of Abraham, the strength of David, and the Wisdom of Solomon. Nineteen hundred and seventy two (1972) was a historic year. Martial law, an unfamiliar milieu and a disastrous adventure, was imposed. Certain adjustments became necessary. Because of some radical changes in the medical curriculum, our medical students were graduated with the M.D. degree after their clinical clerkship in the 4th year. Internship was a dispersal attempt by the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges and was done outside the university hospital for most of our graduates. In that same fateful year, the Philippine Neurological Association (PNA) separated itself from her mother organization, the Philippine Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. Drs. Gamez, Ordinario, Poblete, Tenchavez and Jurilla were among the founding fathers. Dr. Gamez was elected as the first President and Dr. Ordinario was the first Chairman of the Specialty Board. In the same year, Dr. Jose C. Navarro and Dr. Robert T. Walter, the first graduate residents of the department passed the Neurology and Psychiatry Specialty Boards and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.

In 1972, under the deanship of Dr. Gilberto L. Gamez, who was concurrently Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, a Section of Rehabilitation Medicine was established and formed as part of the department. Thus, the Department was renamed to the Department of Neurology, Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Medicine. The new section grew so fast and, in 1974, after the establishment of the Institute of Physical Therapy, a unit under the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, the section matured to become a separate department. Thus, the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry became the only department to have sired a new school in the college.

In 1983, Dr. Jesus F. Poblete was appointed Chairman of the Department for both the Hospital and the College. He finished his residency training in Neurology from Cornell University in New York. He served in this capacity from 1983 to 1986 during which the residency program was expanded to accommodate a greater number of residents.

In 1986, Dr. Artemio T. Ordinario was appointed as the third Chairman of the Department. His term was somewhat abbreviated when he was appointed to the Board of Medicine. Dr. Jose C. Navarro, the first one to be certified as Fellow by examination of the Philippine Neurological Association, became chairman.

In 1989, Dr. Ordinario resigned from the Board of Medicine and resumed his Chairmanship of the Department. Since then, he has been reappointed for three consecutive terms and has steered the Department to attain her rightful place in the history of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.

In 1996, Dr. Bernardo L. Conde was appointed as the fourth Chairman of the Department. Under his leadership, the Department has been steadily expanding in the fields of research and health care - further establishing the Department as one of the pillars of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.

In 2002, Dr. Dante H. Abcede became the fifth Chairman of the department. During his term the stroke unit, which was conceptualized under the initiative of Dr. Conde, was inaugurated, and the renovation of the social hall of the Community Center was completed.

In 2004, Dr. Simeon M. Marasigan became the chair of the department. Under his leadership, the department has been sending residents for fellowship training in the various subspecialty of Neurology, such as dementia, stroke and neurophysiology. The section of Psychiatry had been strengthened with the addition of younger consultants to the hospital staff. The establishment of an integrated neuroscience curriculum remains a dream to which the present staff argued for.

In August 2004, the Santo Tomas Neuroscience Alumni Association was launched during the 2nd Gilberto Gamez ICONS. It aimed to strengthen ties among graduates of the residency training program as well as to promote collaborative researches in the field of Neurology and Psychiatry.

In 2007, the Hospital separated from the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Simeon M. Marasigan remained the chairman of the department in the Hospital while Dr. Imelda S. David became the chairman of the department in the UST Faculty of Medicine & Surgery.

In 2010, Dr. David became the chairman of the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry of both the Faculty and the Hospital. Through her leadership, the department was brought to greater heights in the field of Neurology and Psychiatry.

In March 2016, Dr. Raymond L. Rosales, who also holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, was appointed as the new chair of the Department of Neurology & Psychiatry of the UST Hospital. In mid-2017, Dr. Alejandro C. Baroque II assumed the chairmanship of the Department of Neuroscience and Behavioral Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.