Tycoons, cadavers and a cutting-edge school

A cold female cadaver is laid out almost grotesquely on the table, ready for dissection, as tycoons Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Helen Yuchengco-Dee and Yvonne Yuchengco watched with wide-eyed awe while doctors explained the insides of the human body.

It’s not for the faint-hearted or those who may easily feel grossed out. The cadaver, after all, is in all its naked glory – cold and, to a certain extent, gory.

Mrs. Dee, however, stood close to the cadaver, asking about the digestive organs, while JAZA watched from a distance, keenly observing this instant pop-up anatomy lesson.

We are at the Human Health Learning and Innovation Center of the Mapúa School of Medicine in Makati. It is a new, cutting-edge school of medicine launched by the Mapúa University in collaboration with Arizona State University.

Mapúa is the flagship university of iPeople Inc., the education powerhouse of the Yuchengco Group’s House of Investments and Ayala Corp., “whose goal is to make world-class education accessible to as many Filipino students as possible.”

The occasion was a tour of the new facility and I was fortunate enough to join members of the university’s Board of Trustees and iPeople officials at the event.

I was impressed with the modern and innovative facilities that I saw.

The cadaver shown to us, for instance, is a synthetic cadaver, which replaces traditional ones.

These synthetic cadavers are constructed from hydrogels and saline polymers, which give a tactile feel similar to human flesh. They’re more efficient, says Dr. Malaya Santos, dean of the Mapúa School of Medicine, because traditional cadavers can only be used for a limited time, while the synthetic ones can last indefinitely.

Even the texture and the temperature mimic that of a real human body, according to the team of doctors at Mapúa during our visit.

I touched the different parts, and they felt almost ice-cold and wobbly.

These synthetic cadavers are used for live anatomy lessons and are part of the most modern suite of immersive tools in the country, which also includes virtual dissection, augmented and virtual reality, ultrasound simulation, body painting and body projection.

We also saw blood-drawing lessons using a synthetic arm, which caught the interest of Mrs. Dee’s sister, Yvonne Yuchengco, a director of iPeople. I noticed she was closely observing this demonstration.

The advantage of using a synthetic arm – which mimics the real thing – is that it can be used multiple times. In the traditional setting, the patient or volunteer could suffer injuries if the student had to make multiple attempts to find a vein and draw blood.

Revolutionizing medical education

The goal of this new cutting edge school is to produce practice-ready physicians equipped with the skills to excel anywhere in the world in the rapidly evolving landscape of 21st-century health care.

JAZA said providing quality medical education can help increase the supply of health care professionals both for the country and beyond.

“We’re always looking for pain points in the economy. If there’s an opportunity or something that is untapped, then we can tackle it. Education was one, and we decided to partner with Helen,” he also said.

Fred Ayala, president of iPeople, added that the Ayala and Yuchengco groups have been trying to bring world-class education at a reduced cost. “Technology allows us to do simulation while sharing the tools with many people.”

Dean Malaya said that with the modern facilities, they hope to shape the next generation of health care professionals to lead with innovation, especially with their collaboration with Arizona State University. This enables them to provide students with inter-professional training, global exposure and access to cutting-edge technology like AI and advanced immersive facilities.

“We are revolutionizing medical education to prepare them for the diverse challenges of modern health care,” she said.

JAZA believes that young medical students such as the Gen Z and Gen Alpha would be thrilled with all the innovative tools of learning that the Mapúa School of Medicine offers.

Mapúa has come a long way as the country’s premier engineering and technological school and one of the best universities in the world.

Today, it is already among the top six percent of the world’s higher educational institutions and one of only four Philippine universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024.

The future of health care

It was a pleasant experience to see the modern medical education facilities of Mapúa, a testament to what the private sector can do, especially when they collaborate among themselves or with the government.

Will there be more partnerships between the Yuchengco and the Ayala Groups? With her trademark warm but enigmatic smile, Mrs. Dee says they are always open to opportunities.

As for raising the quality of education and health care in the country, there’s always room for improvement.

With better medical schools, more Filipinos will gain access to quality medical education, which I hope would translate into more health care professionals for the country.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.