By: Reagan Grey Ting Reyes, MD, Junior Resident, Department of Dermatology
L-R: Maria Cristina G. Magcalas, MD, Peachy Paz-Lao, MD (Chairman, Department of Dermatology); Anna Cecilia Francesca I. Alvarez, MD; and Maria Sharlene O. Pelino, MD.
Three Senior Residents from Makati Medical Center’s Department of Dermatology received awards on their respective research papers in the 33rd Residents’ Interdepartmental Scientific Paper Presentation as well as on the 39th Philippine Dermatological Society Annual Conventions’ Research Forum – Non-Experimental Category.
Anna Cecilia Francesca I. Alvarez, MD, bagged First Place at the Residents’ Interdepartmental Scientific Paper Presentation for her paper entitled “A Triple-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial on the Efficacy and Safety of 1.5% Carica Papaya Latex Cream vs. 2% Ketoconazole Cream in the Treatment of Pityriasis Versicolor Among Filipinos”.
Maria Cristina G. Magcalas, MD, and Maria Sharlene O. Pelino, MD, also raised the bar for the incoming Senior Residents. Dr. Magcalas, with her paper “A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Efficacy and Safety of Bee Propolis 5% ointment vs. Triamcinolone Acetonide 0.1% ointment in the treatment of Psoriasis Vulgaris among Filipinos aged 18-75” and Dr. Pelino with her paper “A Validation Study of United Kingdom Diagnostic Criteria for Atopic Dermatitis in Filipinos Aged 2 to 16 Years Old”, both placed 2nd in the Residents’ Interdepartmental Scientific Paper Presentation and in the Philippine Dermatological Society Research Forum.
Research has always been a part of medicine. It is one of the roles of a “five-star physician”, which according to the World Health Organization is a Health Care Provider, Teacher, Researcher, Manager, and Social Mobilizer. In line with this, the Makati Medical Center Department of Dermatology has always been at par in the field of medical research, instilling its importance in its residents as early as their first year of residency.
