January 15, 2011. LIS Congress 2011. UP Diliman.

1. Medical Librarianship in
the Philippines
What’s in store beyond the
next generation?
Joseph M. Yap Alma Mila D. Prosperoso
De La Salle University World Health Organization
LIS Congress 2011: Innovate. Collaborate. Revolutionize. January 15, 2011. UP NISMED.

2. Objectives

4. Some statistics

5. Medical Papyrus
• Kahoun Papyrus - oldest known papyrus; Amenemhat III (1840-
1792 B.C.). It consists of three sections, one dealing with human
medicine, the second with veterinary science, and the third with
mathematics.
• The Ebers Papyrus is the longest of all the known papyri and the
most important, considering the physiological and medical
knowledge it reveals. It is complete in 108 pages and bears the
date of the 9th year of the reign of Amenophis I (1550 B.C.).
http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/oldest-medical-books.php

6. Just a thought!
• -- no malicious intent…
• -- do not block websites or information in general that are of academic in
nature and those that are useful for research
• -- what’s important is that it is well-written, makes sense and is information-
rich!

9. Medical books preserved in the Philippines
• 1529 - Dioscorides Amazarbeus, Pedacius.
De Medica Materia; De Letalibus Venenis (753 p.)
“The medical matter; from a deadly poisons.”
- Miguel de Benavides Library, UST.
• Compilation of medical doctoral theses and speeches.
1895 – Pardo de Tavera, Trinidad Hermenigildo.
Arte de cuidar enfermos.
“Art of caring a sick.”

10. Hospitals
• 1577/8: San Lazaro Hospital
• 1587: San Gabriel Hospital
• 1656: San Juan de Dios Hospital
• 1907: Philippine General Hospital

11. Academe
• 1871: Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, UST
- 1601: San Jose College, pre-university studies
where faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy was first
accommodated
- Hospital de San Juan de Dios
• 1907: University of the Philippines College of Medicine

12. Trivia
• What was the first college that offered dentistry?
Colegio Dental del Liceo de Manila, 1798.
It is now known as De Ocampo Memorial College.

13. Trivia
• Who were the first Filipina physicians?
- Dr. Honoria Acosta-Sison
- Dr. Olivia Salamanca
- Dr. Maria Paz Mendoza Guazon

14. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera
• 1899: President, Colegio Medico-Farmaceutico de
Filipinas
• 1923: President, Philippine Library Association.
• 1923-25: Director, Philippine Library and Museum.
• Taught 1 year in UST: Human physiology and private
hygiene.

15. Historical landmarks in Philippine medical
librarianship
• Mr. Aquilino Y. Argosino, Sr. - 1937-1961
pioneered the Philippine Index Medicus.
-first medical librarian from UP Manila.
-first president, Phil. Medical Library Society
(Aug. 31, 1956).
• Prof. Rosvida R. Rosal – first MAHLAP President
(1988)
• Ms. Rebecca Agoncillo – Marchesseau – Filipino
librarian who have worked in the World Health
Organization-Head Quarters in Geneva,
Switzerland. She is the second MAHLAP
President.

16. Libraries during the Pre-Spanish era
• The religious orders established schools and colleges,
founded libraries and museums, and set up printing
presses. They also built hospitals, asylums, and
orphanages to take care of the sick and needy

17. What are medical libraries?
Definition by wikipedia
A health or medical library is designed to assist
physicians, health professionals, students, patients,
consumers and medical researchers in finding health
and scientific information to improve, update,
assess or evaluate health care.
Medical libraries are typically found in hospital, medical
schools, private industry and in medical or health
associations.

18. What skills do medical and health librarians have?
A study conducted in the US in the early 90s by Roper
and Mayfield listed the following skills as important that
medical and health librarians should have:
• Oral and written communications
• Computer database searching
• Networking/telecommunications
• Ability to work in teams
• Knowledge of health practitioners needs
• Developing services to meet needs
• Common sense

19. • Willingness to learn
• Flexibility
• Personnel Management
• Retrieval techniques
• Health sciences information sources
• Computer software
Reference:
Roper FW, Mayfield MK. Surveying knowledge and
skills in the health sciences: results and implications.
Bull Med Libr Assoc 1993 Oct; 81(4): 396-407

20. How to become successful health and
medical librarians:
• Knowledge on how to access reliable information
sources in health and biomedical field
• Ability to assess conflicting and non-conflicting
information
• Train in reviewing published and evidence based
researches
• Ability to determine sources of information specifically
according to their format, relevance and authority

21. What is the role of medical and health
librarians in healthcare and research?
• Provides information to doctors/clinicians to support the
treatment or diagnosis of patients;
• Assist in the prevention of errors in medication;
• Assist in relevant literature searches for research studies;
• Contributes to best practices ideals of the hospital or
clinics by training end users (e.g. how to access the right
databases);
• Assist in the development of networks and databases; and
• Assist external users (patients and their families) on their
health information needs

22. The emerging role of medical and health sciences
librarians in the 21st century can be attributed to:
• Technological development (electronic and digital
libraries
• Creation of medical and health databases
• Telemedicine

23. What are the opportunities that await
medical and health sciences librarians?
• Employment opportunities to the following:
1. Academic institutions that offers paramedical and
allied health courses (e.g. nursing, dentistry)
2. Schools of medicine
3. Hospitals and clinical care facilities
4. Pharmaceutical companies
5. Health insurance companies
6. Indexing and abstracting services
7. Health organizations (national and international)

24. • Competitive salaries, and health care package as a
result of employment to high end industries such as
pharmaceutical and research facilities.
• More opportunity for professional advancement and
continuing education as medicine is a limitless and
diverse field.

25. Innovate

26. Collaborate
• Health Action Information Network (HAIN)
• Health Research and Development Information Network
(HERDIN)
• Nutrition Research Information Network (NUTRINET)
• Science and Technology Information Network of the
Philippines (ScINET-PHIL)
• Proposed MAHLAPNET
• World Health Organization’s Global Health Library
(WPRIM / HINARI)

27. Revolutionize
Ebooks for iPads (through
iBooks)
Android phone

28. PubMed On Tap
• an application for your iPhone, iPod Touch,
and iPad that lets you search PubMed while
on the go.
http://imposedblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/library-comic-bizarro/

29. Mobile Friendly Medical Websites
• The Best Android Apps for Doctors, Nurses and
Health Care Professionals
-LSUHSC-S Medical Library
• The Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library Project

30. MAHLAP Congress
• 23rd MAHLAP Congress, Silliman University, Dumaguete
City, Negros Oriental, March 2-4, 2011.
• Theme: UNDERSTANDING ACCREDITATION
STANDARDS AS A MEANS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND
EXCELLENCE
www.mahlap.org

31. References
• Dayrit, C., Santos-Ocampo, P. & Dela Cruz, E. (2002).
History of Philippine medicine 1899-1999.
• Miguel de Benavides Library, UST (2008). First
International Conference on the history of medicine in
the Philippines.
• Photo credits: internet! ☺

32. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
Joseph M. Yap
joseph.yap@dlsu.edu.ph
Alma Mila D. Prosperoso
prosperosa@wpro.who.int