The Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center – Department of Dermatology was initially established in 1977 as a section under the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Rosario R. Canete held outpatient consultations from Monday to Friday for two hours a day, occupying a single cubicle at the outpatient department.

In 1980, the Section of Dermatology commenced its three-year Preceptorship program. Graduates of the program were allowed to take the Diplomate certifying examination given by the Philippine Society of Aesthetic Medicine (PSAM).

Formal Dermatology Residency Training started in 1988, with Dr. Eileen Regalado-Morales, the current Residency Training Officer, being the section’s first resident. Dr. Canete served as the section Chairman from 1977 to 1996, with the department achieving full accreditation status from the Philippine Society of Cutaneous Medicine in 1995. She was succeeded by Dr. Regalado-Morales, who helped transform the one cubicle room into a 305 square meter facility at the hospital’s ground floor. Dr. Marcellano Cruz was invited to join the roster of consultants as a Dermatologic Surgery and STD/HIV specialist, while Dr. Amelita Tanglao-De Guzman became the Dermatopathology specialist.

From 1998, Dr. Benedicto dL Carpio, a fellow of the Philippine Dermatological Society has served as the Chairman, while Dr. Eileen Regalado-Morales, the previous head of the Section served as the Residency Training Officer. Under their leadership, the Section was elevated to Department Status in 2002. On the same year, four graduates of the Residency Training Program shared the prestige of being Specialty Board Topnotchers.

Following the unification of the country’s two premier dermatology societies, the Department was granted full accreditation status by the Philippine Dermatological Society. On 2008 and 2010, Dr. Ma. May Jasmin Ramos-Yason and Dr. Armelia Lapitan-Torres, graduates of the Residency Training Program, joined the department’s consultant staff. Dr. Ramos-Yason handled Photodermatology, while Dr. Torres became the department’s Research Coordinator. Dr. Ida Tiongco, a Dermatologic Surgeon from the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, likewise joined the roster of consultants. In that same year, the Department embarked on the project of making OMMC the Premier Dermatologic Surgery Center in the Philippines. On 2013, the department marked another milestone with the creation of a Sexually Transmitted Diseases clinic to cater to the growing burden of STD even among the youth. Another graduate of the Residency Training Program, Dr. Mary Ann Abesamis, joined as the Department’s Contact and Occupational Dermatitis specialist on 2015. Since then, more graduates of the department have joined the department as homegrown faculty, mentoring in other subspecialty fields such as Dermatopathology, Lasers and Cosmetics as well as Pediatric Dermatology.

Presently, the Department takes pride in having a complete Residency Training Program that encompasses a diverse exposure to pathologic and cosmetic cases and various therapeutic modalities. Residents undergoing through the three-year Residency Training Program are guaranteed quality supervision in the various Dermatologic subspecialties such as Contact and Occupational Dermatology, Dermatopathology, Dermatologic Surgery, Infectious Dermatology, Pediatric Dermatology and Photodermatology. Graduates of the department have consistently garnered top places in the Specialty Board Exams and have won several awards in Research in both local and international events. It is the mission of the Department to train physicians in the art and science of Dermatology, while providing excellent as well as compassionate service to patients.

Indeed, the Ospital ng Maynila Department of Dermatology has now grown to become the premier skin, hair, and nail referral center of the City of Manila.