Hello, UP Symphony Orchestra!
(PGH DRM x UPSO) Establishing rapport: hello orchestra, we are the Philippine General Hospital Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and would like to be your physicians.
Our team from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine started our Musicians’ Health Series of short-ish talks this morning with the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra. We joined them before their regular Saturday morning practice at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, at a temporary venue in the School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR) auditorium since their usual space at the Conservatory of Music was being renovated. Musical Director Chino Toledo, managers and musicians graciously hosted us today.
We have two more sessions planned later this year. Beyond this, we would like to establish clinical services in order to optimize healthy performance once we hammer out the logistics of doing so. I mean… our physicians already see the university athletes every other Tuesday, we can certainly do something similar for performing artists.
Our department chair Dr. Sharon Ignacio and most of the residents [physicians undergoing specialty training in rehabilitation medicine] came along for moral support and experiential learning. During today’s session we accomplished two things: (1) introduced Performing Arts Medicine to the musicians, and (2) got an idea of what they wanted and needed to know regarding healthy performance. We also got to watch and listen to some of their rehearsal time.
I (We) are honored and privileged to bring Performing Arts Medicine to the state university. As I said in my introductory talk today: thank you everyone – a dream coming true! It took just about 20+ years to get here but it’s happening. It has certainly been a long way from typing “performing arts” and “medicine” into a search box during medical school and discovering that such a field existed, and the journey is not over yet.
Photos courtesy of our core team: Drs. Frances Carlos, Ria Panis and Issa Abelita.
