The University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Inc. (UERMMMCI) is a non-stock, non-profit foundation founded in 1956. The centerpiece of the UERM Memorial Medical Center is the College of Medicine. The UERMMMCI College of Medicine aspires to become a bastion of quality education, service, and research in the health sciences, advancing health empowerment towards nation-building.  It has been recognized as a Center of Excellence in Research by the Department of Science and Technology and is the first private medical school to obtain a Level IV Accreditation by the PAASCU.

In the 1980s, Dr. Joven Cuanang, the Dean of the College of Medicine, envisioned having a formal Dermatology residency training program at the UERMMMCI. In 1988, the Section of Dermatology was established by Dr. Juanita Arcilla, an internist and dermatologist, with the help of Dr. Ida Tiongco . Dr. Arcilla was then appointed as the section’s first Head. The other founding members were  Dr. Rosario Lim and  Dr. Nora Cortez.  In 1989, the section was accredited by the Philippine Dermatological Society (PDS), accepted its first resident trainee .  In the same year, with Dr. Tiongco as the course director, the UERMMMCI Section of Dermatology conducted its first post-graduate course focusing  on dermatologic surgery utilizing pig’s feet, the first surgical workshop of its kind in the PDS. This was followed by a series of annual Dermatologic Surgery courses with Dr. Tiongco as an essential faculty.  Soon thereafter, Consultant Staff ranks were expanded with the entries of other PDS members who excel in their own field of subspecialty.

In the year 2000,UERMMMCI acquired a narrowband UVB phototherapy booth, adding this valuable treatment modality to the list of services offered at the Dermatology Outpatient Department (OPD). A 5-header microscope was donated by a UERM alumni, enabling simultaneous viewing of slides during the residents’ dermatopathology sessions.

Under the Department of Medicine, the section offers dermatology training in basic and advanced clinical dermatology to resident physicians with daily out-patient consultations as well as dermatology admissions and referrals in the wards, emergency room, and intensive care units. The trainees are equipped with additional clinical exposure through rotations in the Departments of Medicine and Surgery. Senior residents also have a three-month rotation at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center for exposure to more pediatric dermatology cases, and rotations with several consultants for Cosmetic Dermatology, where they are exposed to non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures such  therapy with lasers  and other energy based devices, botulinum toxin injections, and soft tissue augmentation, supplemented with hands-on workshops. Regular Dermatologic Surgery sessions are also done at the OPD wherein the residents are able to perform simple to advanced dermatologic surgical procedures with the supervision of highly competent dermatologic surgeons. Aside from these, there are regular didactics in Dermatopathology, Dermatologic, Cosmetic, and Laser Surgery, genodermatoses, Immunodermatology, infectious diseases including, sexually transmitted infections, Occupational Dermatology, Pharmacology, Pediatric Dermatology, and Photobiology.

Furthermore, the section, together with the UERMMMCI-Research Institute of Health Sciences (RIHS), challenges its residents to be in the forefront of groundbreaking knowledge in the field of Dermatology by producing high-quality research papers. Many residents have won in research fora, and have presented their papers in both local and international scientific meetings.

The UERMMMCI Section of Dermatology is complete with all subspecialties represented in the consultant staff and consistently obtains full accreditation with outstanding rankings, reflective of the section’s unwavering dedication to excellence in training, research, and service. These, despite weathering typhoons and floods that have damaged equipment and training materials of the section, show the tenacity and commitment of the consultants to make the section not merely survive and exist, but thrive and excel.