The Department of Internal Medicine, which holds office at the fourth floor of the Rizal Medical Center, is composed of eighteen active consultants of different subspecialties and fifteen residents.  The Department is currently headed by Dr. Mariano B. Lopez, while the training officer is Dr. Primo B. Valenzuela.  The Chief Resident is Dr. Rochel P. Dalay.

At present, the Medical Ward has a 60-bed capacity while the ICU-CCU has an 8-bed capacity but in-patient census ranges from 50 to 100 per day.  The Medicine-ER sees an estimated 3,000 to5, 000 patients annually.  The Medicine OPD sees an estimated 14,000 to 15,000 patients, mostly indigents of Rizal and nearby areas.  Currently, the department has an Endoscopy Unit, Bronchoscopy Unit, Electroencephalogram Unit, Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, Hemodialysis Unit, Echocardiography Unit and a Toxicology Center as a satellite of the National Poison Control Center of the UP-PGH.  The Department also opened the New Conference Room, which is located at the fourth floor of the Medicine Office.  It was blessed last August 2011 in conjunction with the birthday celebration of Dr. Relito M. Saquilayan, and blessed once more last December 2011 for the launching or smooth opening of the New Conference Room.  The out-patient service, which serves about 50, includes subspecialty clinics with programs for its member patients; i.e. Hearts Club and Diabetes Club.  The Department plans to open a Stroke Unit.  The annual projects of the Department includes:  Hearts Fair, Research Paper Contest, Postgraduate Courses, Outreach Programs in forms of Medical Missions.  The in-patient outreach program, the Alay Buhay Medical Foundation, was established on June 2011 to cater to the needs of indigent patients.  The Department recently participated in a multicenter drug trial entitled “A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate Cardiovascular Outcomes Following Treatment with Alogliptin in Addition to Standard of Care in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes and Acute Coronary Syndrome.”  The department is also part of another multicenter drug trial entitled “A Randomized, Open-Label, Parallel-Group, Multicenter Study to Determine the Efficacy and Safety of Albiglutide as Compared with Liraglutide in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.”

MISSION

To produce internists who are knowledgeable, research-oriented, proficient and ethical in clinical practice and responsible members of the Philippine College of Physicians and society in general.

We, as an institution, try to develop the research potential of internal medicine residents by engaging them in research and research-related activities.

VISION

The department envisions a premier training institution in Internal Medicine providing holistic, up-to-date and ethical medical care through compassionate service by competent residents with the guidance of experts and support from the hospital administration.