#ASPAH2023 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

November 25, 2023 Made it to Brisbane for the the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare annual conference. First in-person meeting since 2019, and learning from the pandemic: it’s a hybrid conference that is also available online! As with most formal Australian gatherings, there was a Welcome to Country ceremony from a representative of the […]

Cross-posting: blog post from the Philippine-American Physiatrist Association (PAPA)

Here is something I wrote for Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month, originally posted on PAPA’s website, papaorg1975.com. To access the blog post, click here, or just keep on reading. This also marks the first social media post with my new professional headshot! Many thanks to PAPA for having me as part of their Ask a […]

That was fun… we’d like an encore, please!

September 30, 2023 Maraming salamat, UP Symphony Orchestra! We enjoyed the collaboration between our university musicians and our Performing Arts Medicine team from the PGH Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in this series of three musicians’ health talks. Dr. Ria Panis and Ms. Florence Culaba (psychologist) talked about ergonomics and mindfulness, respectively, before their Saturday rehearsal […]

9th Annual Balik-Scientist Convention

September 27, 2023 Today’s (out of of town) event: 9th Balik Scientist Program (BSP) annual convention. Arrived at the convention center Tuesday the 26th, did a dry run of the presentation, had dinner with local relatives in the Angeles City area. To refresh your memory: I received a Balik Scientist Program award grant for a […]

First day of clinic: look, I match the wall!

I suppose that’s a good sign, right? After leaving the clinical world in 2019 for a 2-year expensive and soul-searching sabbatical + 1 year of health issues + easing back into medicine after that year through teaching duties… here I am! Outpatient clinic every Thursday afternoon. May consider doing Tuesday afternoons too, if needed. But […]

Musicians’ Health Series with the UP Symphony Orchestra

Proud of our PGH Department of Rehabilitation Medicine team at today’s musicians’ health series talks with the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra! We did a short slide show on optimizing performance followed by a warm-up and stretching regimen in preparation for their Saturday morning rehearsal. Grateful for the opportunity! Read about our first session […]

From the New York Times: When to Try Physical Therapy before Surgery

Some sociocultural commentary:Compared to the American population, I’ve found Filipinos are more receptive to starting with conservative therapy first (e.g., physical therapy or the local indigenous “hilot”). Partly because of the financial cost of medical care: the lack of insurance options, and sub-optimal coverage by Philhealth (universal healthcare), and partly because of surgery and strong […]

Curtains Up: Introduction to Performing Arts Medicine

This is a belated post about the recent webinar from the Performing Arts Medicine Association Young Professionals Committee, in which Dr. Mark Seton and I presented the basics of Performing Arts Medicine. From the PAMA. I was going to blog about it sooner, but life got in the way! From the PAMA website:Let’s start at […]

A Holistic Approach to Dancer Wellness

That’s a wrap! Thank you World Dance Alliance Singapore for having us speak about the holistic approach to Dancer Wellness today, January 23, 2022 (Asia). Optimizing dancer health needs to address the physical, emotional and mental aspects of health – while you can focus on just one aspect, we must recognize that all of these […]