Dr. Pastorfide is UP Med’s Distinguished Alumnus 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine premier obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Gregorio Banzon Pastorfide (photo) has been named a Distinguished Alumnus awardee for 2012 by the University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society (UPMAS).

The highest award that the UPMAS gives out yearly will be presented to Pastorfide (UP College of Medicine, Class of ’67) in ceremonies to be held at Edsa Shangri-la Manila on Dec. 20.The Distinguished Alumnus award (previously called Outstanding Alumnus award) is given to an alumnus/alumna “whose qualities of leadership, professionalism and dedication to quality care exemplify the high standards of conduct and ethical behavior in patient care embodied in the objectives of the College, envisioned by Hippocrates and epitomized by Galen.”

Dr. Greg hails from Balanga, Bataan, where he was influenced by his mother, a nurse who delivered most of the babies in their town some 50 years ago. The young Greg accompanied his mother when she did her rounds, witnessing first-hand how happy couples are the moment a baby comes into their lives.  The realization that such service gives so much joy to people convinced him to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology.

He was handpicked by his role model, renowned OB-Gyne Dr. Constantino Manahan, also a recipient of an outstanding UP alumnus award two years before died, to become one of the residents to train at the UP College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology. 

Dr. Greg pursued his residency in the US, beginning at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in 1968 up to 1969, and next at Tufts University of Medicine at the New England Medical Center and St. Margaret’s Hospital. The year 1972 saw him as a research fellow of the Endocrine Research Group at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital – Harvard Medical School and a year later he was awarded a clinical fellowship at the Boston Lying-in Hospital - Harvard Medical School. In those six years abroad, Dr. Greg apprenticed under the likes of world-renowned endocrinologist Dr. Melvin Taymor and trophoblastic expert Dr. Donald Goldstein.