The UPMed Webinars, established by the U.P. Medical Alumni Society (UPMAS) in 2015, is a series of regular online seminars on current health problems. It aims to bridge knowledge gaps in medicine and health care, as this is one of the missions of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM). It endeavors to reach as many health professionals, overcoming distance barriers using information and communications technology. It celebrates the expertise of the UPCM silver jubilarians' as primary speakers in this web-based lecture series; UPCM – PGH alumni and faculty are also tapped.

 

The UPMed Webinars targets primary care physicians: general practitioners, family medicine practitioners, community medicine physicians, industrial and occupational medicine practitioners, and other health workers, especially those serving underserved communities and populations in the Philippines or globally. The DOH Doctors to the Barrios are specifically targeted to attend, especially because up to a third of them are UPCM alumni. Registration is free, subsidized through efforts of collaborating units of the UP Manila. This online learning resource is available to the University of the Philippines Manila School of Health Sciences in Palo, Leyte, in Baler, in Aurora and in Koronadal, South Cotabato. In 2017, the number of participants for each session ranged from 200 to 400 nationwide; we expect to have more in 2019 especially with the use of a new platform.

 

The sessions will be held every Wednesday at 12-1:00 pm beginning on January 16, 2018 and every week thereafter, except for national and local holidays. The venue will the Medical Informatics Service (MIS) office at the Old Dentistry building, UP Manila compound along Padre Faura street. Invited speakers are members of the UP Medicine class who are celebrating their 25th year after graduation in 2019, as well as alumni of UPCM and faculty members of UPCM and the Philippine Genera Hospital, who are experts in the topics which have been planned for the webinars.

 

The UPMED Webinars receives educational grants and sponsorships from the health care industry and other health-related organizations. Acknowledgements and disclosures are made, as needed. Proceeds from the UPMED Webinars are utilized for various UPMAS projects, in support of its alma mater, the UPCM. Copyright has been exclusively assigned to the UP Manila; re-use is possible only upon authorization in writing by the UP Manila.

 

The speaker is given 30 minutes to discuss the topic, and another 30 minutes is given for an open forum to allow the speaker to interact with the webinar participants who have sent their questions on-line. Afterwards, a link to a feedback form is sent by email to the participants to evaluate the webinar session (see attached sample of the feedback form). Once the feedback form is received by the secretariat, the certificate of participation is then sent also by email.