19-20 June, 2024 | Tokyo, Japan
Enrique Puentespina
Philippine General Hospital, Philippines
Enrique Puentespina has completed Doctor of Medicine in the University of Santo Tomas, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. He finished his residency training on Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Philippine General Hospital where on his third year, he served as the president of the resident’s council. At present, he is currently taking up further training on prosthetics, orthotics, assistive devices and gait.
The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine (DRM), Philippine General Hospital recently had its 50th founding anniversary. Since then, no tracer study has been done for the department. Tracer Studies provide valuable information for evaluating results of education and training of specific institution of higher education. This aims to describe the demographic and career profiles of all DRM alumni. The data would provide updated information on scope of practice, interests of physiatrists and number of physiatrists practicing locally or internationally. This is a descriptive study using an original questionnaire that underwent validation by former chairpersons and training officers of the department. Alumni directory and referral methods were used in contacting the graduates. The online questionnaire was sent individually. Data was presented using descriptive statistics. 74 out of 138 responded, yielding 54% rate. Of these, there were 42 (57%) females and 32 (43%). 37 (50%) are primarily based on Metro Manila. 54 (73%) are presently or previously an administrator (chairperson, vice chair, etc.); 57 are academician, teaching different populations (medical students, undergraduate, etc.). Majority’s interests are musculoskeletal, neurorehabilitation and diagnostics. This is the first tracer study in the department. It provided information on the graduates’ demographic and career profile including an estimate of the number of physiatrists per region to determine the need for physiatrist. Information on different roles were also gathered such as administrative, academician and researcher. This would help the future graduates in determining their career paths after graduation. The identified field of interests would help in planning continuing medical education.