Support PAMA, support me! (and our efforts to build Performing Arts Medicine in the Philippines)
A few weeks ago, the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) asked me to write a bit about my experiences with PAMA and how it has enriched my life in Performing Arts Medicine. They used a snippet for social media (no, that is not me in the photo!), but here is my entire treatise… enjoy! Grateful for the opportunity.
Learn more about the Performing Arts Medicine Association and its efforts for #givingtuesday. What is Giving Tuesday? It is the international day of giving back – read more here.
Attending my first PAMA international symposium in 2012 felt like a homecoming – I finally found “my people”. I’ve attended other national and international conferences and have marveled at all these other people who were passionate about what they were doing, wondering why I didn’t feel the same way. Coming to PAMA that year reignited the burned-out physician in me and I wanted to practice medicine again.
And so I kept coming back yearly, as long as my schedule allowed it. The collective wisdom from healthcare professionals, arts educators and artists (often the attendees wear more than one of these hats: the “participants’ performance” is always a big hit at PAMA) offered many novel perspectives and ideas that would help me understand myself and my patients as artists. Networking with like-minded people fostered a lot of inter-disciplinary collaborations. My presentations over the years have been co-authored not only by fellow physicians, but have included a physical therapist, occupational therapist, athletic trainer, Pilates instructor, dance educator and a researcher who studies neuroethics and gender issues.
After being based in the USA for most of my clinical career, 2022 has brought me back home to the Philippines where I will be for the foreseeable future due to family reasons. My experience with PAMA and the international connections I have made have greatly helped in building awareness of PAM, mentoring trainees, and slowly starting my own rehabilitation medicine practice focused on PAM locally. While the Philippines has most, if not all, of the healthcare professionals and resources to address performing artists’ health, we still do not have a concerted effort that will address their health holistically. In the coming year I hope to be a part of such a growing endeavor not just here in metropolitan Manila but in other parts of the country as well.
