College of Physicians holds 31st annual convention

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), the umbrella organization of internal medicine specialist societies, will hold its 31st annual convention on May 9-11 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The three-day gathering will focus on the theme "General Internal Medicine: Back to the Future."

According to PCP president Dr. Marcelito Durante, noted international and local specialists in the various fields of internal medicine have been invited to ensure comprehensive coverage of medical issues and breakthroughs.

Among the speakers are diabetes specialist Dr. Andrew David Burns Harrower, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow; toxicologist Dr. John Harris Trestrail of the Ferris State University in Michigan, USA; Dr. Edmund Chiu, an associate professor in psychiatry of old age at the University of Melbourne; infectious diseases expert Dr. Ethan Rubinstein, a professor at the Tel Aviv University; Dr. Christopher Philip Chen Li-Hsian of the Singapore General Hospital’s Department of Neurology; and Dr. Bu C. Castro, a medico-legal consultant.

Dr. Antonio Villalon, Organizing Committee chairman, said the plenary sessions will feature topics such as caring for the cancer patient, dying with dignity, geriatric care, the human genome project, and insulin resistance.

There will also be clinical skills enhancement sessions which will include among others: interpreting X-rays, the three-minute neurologic exam, deciphering dermatologic disorders and optimizing base studies. Dr. Antonio Dans chairs the Scientific Committee.

According to Dans, there will also be clinical update symposia on preventive medicine and will include topics such as strategies for asthma control, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, adult immunization and emerging risk factors for coronary disease.

The Algoithms, meanwhile, will discuss approaches to the management of bruises, dyspepsia, hospital-acquired pneumonia and obesity.

There will also be interactive sessions, clinical debates and medical informatics.

The convention is not only for PCP members but also for family physicians, health care partners, allied health professionals, medical trainees and generalists. Registration begins tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For more details, call 910-2251 or 910-2252.