The Department of Health (DOH) Department Order 2013-0171 mandated all teaching and training hospitals (TTH) to establish and/or expand existing Family Medicine Training Program to provide a continuing integrated and coordinated training to enhance competence and lifelong learning for health professionals in all levels of care as indicated by DO 2013-4453.
The DOH identified the Practice-based Residency Training Program (PBRTP) of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) as a means to provide training for community-based physicians in strengthening the family as partners in the delivery of health care in the country side. The different regional TTH have the capability for logistics, physical infrastructure and manpower to provide mentoring. In Region VII, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu, can train city health officers (CHOs), municipal health officers (MHOs), the doctors to the barrios (DTTBS) and other government rural physicians to be champions in primary care responsive to Universal Health Care (UHC).
The standardized competency-based curriculum developed by the PAFP which employ blended learning strategies (ie lectures and demonstrations, small group discussions, case-based approaches, experiential learning and work-based strategies) are suited to address the needed competencies in the community. The activities centered on the foundation courses of the PAFP and the core clinical rotations are implemented in the first year of the program followed by elective courses (specialization) that are useful in the community practice of the trainees. The curricular contents (named as foundation courses by the PAFP) are deliberately integrated in the learning activities that are delivered in modules/ blocks.