Medicine Week celebration




THE last 300 years witnessed rapid advances in the field of medicine. New forms of treatment and diagnosis, e.g., the use of anesthetics, antiseptics, X-rays, penicillin, vaccination, antibiotics, ultrasound, CT-scan, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), care-giving institutions, and laboratories replaced quackery, bleeding, purging, and ostracism in the cure of the sick.


The results of these advances were dramatic. Epidemics of diseases were controlled and prevented, tens of thousands of lives were saved, the average life span lengthened, proper nutrition was popularized, medical practice was professionalized, scientific medicine, public health, psychiatry and therapy developed.

Modern medicine today plays a major role not only in protecting and preserving human life and in promoting the health and well-being of the people but also in enhancing social values. Medicine, as perceived by the public, consists of doctors, drugs, and hospitals. Often-times, these aspects of medicine are viewed by the public, especially children, with fear. But medicine is more than these things. It means life. How to project a positive public image is a challenge to the members of the medical profession.

Enhancing the public image of medicine and the medical profession is the major reason we annually observe Medicine Week. Our Philippine Medical Association leads this nationwide celebration as mandated by Presidential Decree No. 439 issued by then President Carlos P. Garcia. "Nagkakaisang Mamamayan at Manggagamot Para sa Bayan" (The Public and the Doctor United for the Nation)" is the theme for this year’s Medicine Week celebration, highlighting the symbiotic relations that exist between the public and medical practitioners. The theme thus brings into focus the ideal about the "Doctor of and for the People."