Fe del Mundo
Encyclopedia
Fe del Mundo was a Filipino
pediatrician
. The first woman admitted as a student of the Harvard Medical School
, she founded the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. Her pioneering work in pediatrics
in the Philippines in an active medical practice that spanned 8 decades won her international recognition, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service
in 1977. In 1980, she was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines
while in 2010, she was conferred the Order of Lakandula
.
. Her father Bernardo served one term in the Philippine Assembly
, representing the province of Tayabas
. Three of her eight siblings died in infancy, while an older sister died from appendicitis
at age 11. It was the death of her older sister, who had made known her desire to become a doctor for the poor, that spurred young del Mundo towards the medical profession.
Del Mundo enrolled at the University of the Philippines, Manila
in 1926 and earned her medical degree
in 1933, graduating as class valedictorian
. She passed the medical board exam that same year, placing third among the examinees. Her exposure while in medical school to various health conditions afflicting children in the provinces, particularly in Marinduque
, led her to choose pediatrics as her specialization.
for further training in a medical field of her choice by President
Manuel Quezon. She accepted the offer and chose to go to Harvard
, arriving at Harvard Medical School
in 1936. She was unwittingly enrolled in Harvard Medical School, an institution which did not yet then admit female students. As recounted in her official Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation biography:
Some sources cite del Mundo as the first woman ever enrolled in Harvard Medical School, or the first woman to be enrolled at Pediatrics at the school, or even the first Asian admitted to the Harvard Medical School. On this point, del Mundo herself would acknowledge only that she was "the first [woman] coming from [as] far [as the Philippines]". However, Harvard Medical School began to accept female students only in 1945, nine years after del Mundo was enrolled in the school.
Del Mundo remained in HMS until 1938, completing 3 Pediatric courses. She then took up a residency at the Billings Hospital of the University of Chicago
, before returning to Massachusetts
in 1939 for a two-year research fellowship at the Harvard Medical School Children's Hospital. She also enrolled at the Boston University School of Medicine
, earning a Master's degree
in bacteriology
in 1940.
internment camp for foreign nationals. She set up a makeshift hospice within the internment camp, and her activities led her to be known as "The Angel of Santo Tomas". After the Japanese authorities shut down the hospice in 1943, del Mundo was asked by Manila mayor León G. Guinto, Sr.
to head a children's hospital under the auspices of the city government. The hospital was later converted into a full-care medical center to cope with the mounting casualties during the Battle of Manila, and would be renamed the North General Hospital (later, the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center). Del Mundo would remain the hospital's director until 1948.
Del Mundo joined the faculty of the University of Santo Tomas, then the Far Eastern University
in 1954. She likewise established a small medical pediatric clinic to pursue a private practice.
in order to finance the construction of her own hospital. The Children's Medical Center, a 100-bed hospital located in Quezon City
, was inaugurated in 1957 as the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. The hospital was expanded in 1966 through the establishment of an Institute of Maternal and Child Health, the first institution of its kind in Asia
.
Having sold her home to finance the medical center, del Mundo chose to reside at the second-floor of the hospital itself. As late as 2007, she retained her living quarters at the hospital (since renamed the "Fe del Mundo Children's Medical Center Foundation"), rising daily at five in the morning and continuing to make her daily rounds even though then wheelchair-bound at 99 years of age.
As early as 1958, del Mundo conveyed her personal ownership over the hospital to a board of trustees. In July 2007, the Medical Center Foundation reported to the Department of Labor and Employment
that it would cease operations after having incurred losses of more 100 million pesos. Reports soon emerged that a joint venture composed of the management and consulting firm Accent Healthcare and the STI College
s had offered to lease, manage and operate the institution, thus precluding it from shutting down. Concerns over the employment status of the rank-and-file hospital employees following the takeover led to a strike
that forced the temporary closure of the hospital in August 2007. In September 2007, the hospital announced its re-opening under the new management of the joint venture
management firm Accent/STI Management, Inc. According to a statement released by the hospital, under the 20-year management lease agreement contracted with Accent/STI Management, Inc., the latter agreed to absorb the outstanding debts of the hospital.
.
s in Philippine communities. Undeterred by the lack of well-equipped laboratories in post-war Philippines, she would not hesitate to send specimens or blood samples for analysis abroad. In the 1950s, she pursued studies on dengue fever
, a common malady in the Philippines of which little was then yet known. Her clinical observations on dengue, and the findings of research she later undertook on the disease are said to "have led to a fuller understanding of dengue fever as it afflicts the young". She authored over a hundred articles, reviews and reports in medical journal
s on such diseases as dengue, polio and measles. She also authored "Textbook of Pediatrics", a fundamental medical text used in Philippine medical schools.
Del Mundo was active in the field of public health
, with special concerns towards rural communities. She organized rural extension teams to advise mothers on breastfeeding
and child care. and promoted the idea of linking hospitals to the community through the public immersion of physicians and other medical personnel to allow for greater coordination among health workers and the public for common health programs such as immunization and nutrition. She called for the greater integration of midwives into the medical community, considering their more visible presence within rural communities. Notwithstanding her own devout Catholicism
, she is an advocate of family planning
and population control
.
Del Mundo was also known for having devised an incubator
made out of bamboo
, designed for use in rural communities without electrical power.
named del Mundo as a National Scientist of the Philippines, the first Filipino woman to be so-named.
Among the international honors bestowed on del Mundo was the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind, handed in 1966 by Hobart and William Smith Colleges
, and the citation as Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian by the International Pediatric Association in 1977. Also in 1977, del Mundo was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
On April 22, 2010, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded del Mundo the Order of Lakandula
with the rank of Bayani at the Malacañang Palace
.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
pediatrician
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
. The first woman admitted as a student of the Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, she founded the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. Her pioneering work in pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
in the Philippines in an active medical practice that spanned 8 decades won her international recognition, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel...
in 1977. In 1980, she was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines
National Scientist of the Philippines
The rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government.The award was created on December 16, 1976 by President Ferdinand Marcos through Presidential Decree Nos. 1003 and 1003-A, which also created the National...
while in 2010, she was conferred the Order of Lakandula
Order of Lakandula
The Order of Lakandula is one of the highest honors given by the Republic of the Philippines. It is an order of political and civic merit, awarded in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s people.Its...
.
Early life and education
Del Mundo was born in Intramuros, Manila, her family home located just across the Manila CathedralManila Cathedral
Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is also known as Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception or Basilica Minore dela Inmaculada Concepcion or Basilica Minore dela Nuestra Señora de Inmaculada Concepcion A Roman Catholic church having a higher status of "Minor Basilica" with...
. Her father Bernardo served one term in the Philippine Assembly
3rd Philippine Legislature
The Third Philippine Legislature was the meeting of the legislature of the Philippines under the sovereign control of the United States from October 16, 1912 to February 24, 1916.-Sessions:...
, representing the province of Tayabas
Tayabas
Tayabas may refer to:* Tayabas Bay* Tayabas Province* Tayabas City* Tayabas Isthmus...
. Three of her eight siblings died in infancy, while an older sister died from appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
at age 11. It was the death of her older sister, who had made known her desire to become a doctor for the poor, that spurred young del Mundo towards the medical profession.
Del Mundo enrolled at the University of the Philippines, Manila
University of the Philippines, Manila
The University of the Philippines Manila , founded in 1908, is a coeducational and public research university in the Philippines. It is located in Manila, the country's capital. It is the oldest of the seven constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System...
in 1926 and earned her medical degree
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1933, graduating as class valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
. She passed the medical board exam that same year, placing third among the examinees. Her exposure while in medical school to various health conditions afflicting children in the provinces, particularly in Marinduque
Marinduque
In 1945, combined American and Philippine Commonwealth troops attacked from the Japanese Troops liberated to the Battle of Marinduque in the Second World War.-Archaeology:...
, led her to choose pediatrics as her specialization.
Admission to Harvard Medical School and post-graduate studies
After her graduation from U.P., del Mundo was offered a full scholarship to any school in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for further training in a medical field of her choice by President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Manuel Quezon. She accepted the offer and chose to go to Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, arriving at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
in 1936. She was unwittingly enrolled in Harvard Medical School, an institution which did not yet then admit female students. As recounted in her official Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation biography:
[Del Mundo] humorously relates that when she arrived in Boston and went to the dormitory assigned her in a letter from the director of the hospital housing, much to her surprise she found herself in a men's dorm. Unknowingly the Harvard officials had admitted a female to their all-male student body. But because her record was so strong the head of the pediatrics department saw no reason not to accept her. Thus, upsetting Harvard tradition, she became the first Philippine woman and the only female at the time to be enrolled at the Harvard Medical School.
Some sources cite del Mundo as the first woman ever enrolled in Harvard Medical School, or the first woman to be enrolled at Pediatrics at the school, or even the first Asian admitted to the Harvard Medical School. On this point, del Mundo herself would acknowledge only that she was "the first [woman] coming from [as] far [as the Philippines]". However, Harvard Medical School began to accept female students only in 1945, nine years after del Mundo was enrolled in the school.
Del Mundo remained in HMS until 1938, completing 3 Pediatric courses. She then took up a residency at the Billings Hospital of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, before returning to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1939 for a two-year research fellowship at the Harvard Medical School Children's Hospital. She also enrolled at the Boston University School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school holds the unique distinction as the first institution in the world to formally educate female physicians. Originally known as the New England Female Medical College, it was...
, earning a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in bacteriology
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
in 1940.
Medical practice
Del Mundo returned to the Philippines in 1941, shortly before the Japanese invasion of the country later that year. She joined the International Red Cross and volunteered to care for children-internees then detained at the University of Santo TomasUniversity of Santo Tomas
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the...
internment camp for foreign nationals. She set up a makeshift hospice within the internment camp, and her activities led her to be known as "The Angel of Santo Tomas". After the Japanese authorities shut down the hospice in 1943, del Mundo was asked by Manila mayor León G. Guinto, Sr.
León G. Guinto, Sr.
Leon G. Guinto, Sr. distinguished himself as public servant in the Philippines from the Commonwealth period up to the post-war era, best remembered as the war-time Mayor of the City of Manila in the Philippines....
to head a children's hospital under the auspices of the city government. The hospital was later converted into a full-care medical center to cope with the mounting casualties during the Battle of Manila, and would be renamed the North General Hospital (later, the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center). Del Mundo would remain the hospital's director until 1948.
Del Mundo joined the faculty of the University of Santo Tomas, then the Far Eastern University
Far Eastern University
Far Eastern University in the University Belt area, West Sampaloc, City of Manila, is a nonsectarian, private university in the Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, FEU became a university in 1934 under the guidance of...
in 1954. She likewise established a small medical pediatric clinic to pursue a private practice.
Establishment of the Children's Medical Center
Frustrated by the bureaucratic constraints in working for a government hospital, del Mundo had desired to establish her own pediatric hospital. Towards that end, she sold her home and most of her personal effects and obtained a sizable loan from the GSISGovernment Service Insurance System (Philippines)
The Government Service Insurance System is a government-owned and -controlled corporation in the Republic of the Philippines. Created by Commonwealth Act No...
in order to finance the construction of her own hospital. The Children's Medical Center, a 100-bed hospital located in Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
, was inaugurated in 1957 as the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. The hospital was expanded in 1966 through the establishment of an Institute of Maternal and Child Health, the first institution of its kind in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Having sold her home to finance the medical center, del Mundo chose to reside at the second-floor of the hospital itself. As late as 2007, she retained her living quarters at the hospital (since renamed the "Fe del Mundo Children's Medical Center Foundation"), rising daily at five in the morning and continuing to make her daily rounds even though then wheelchair-bound at 99 years of age.
As early as 1958, del Mundo conveyed her personal ownership over the hospital to a board of trustees. In July 2007, the Medical Center Foundation reported to the Department of Labor and Employment
Department of Labor and Employment (Philippines)
The Philippines' Department of Labor and Employment is the executive department of the Philippine Government mandated to formulate policies, implement programs and services, and serve as the policy-coordinating arm of the Executive Branch in the field of labor and employment...
that it would cease operations after having incurred losses of more 100 million pesos. Reports soon emerged that a joint venture composed of the management and consulting firm Accent Healthcare and the STI College
STI College
Systems Technology Institute College is the largest network of for-profit information technology-based colleges in the Philippines. This private college system offers a curriculum including business studies, computer science, education, engineering and health care.STI uses a trimestral calendar as...
s had offered to lease, manage and operate the institution, thus precluding it from shutting down. Concerns over the employment status of the rank-and-file hospital employees following the takeover led to a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
that forced the temporary closure of the hospital in August 2007. In September 2007, the hospital announced its re-opening under the new management of the joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
management firm Accent/STI Management, Inc. According to a statement released by the hospital, under the 20-year management lease agreement contracted with Accent/STI Management, Inc., the latter agreed to absorb the outstanding debts of the hospital.
Later life and death
Del Mundo was still active in her practice of pediatrics into her 90s. She died on August 6, 2011 after suffering cardiac arrest. She was buried at the Libingan ng mga BayaniLibingan ng mga Bayani
is a national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It was established as a fitting resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals, as well as heroes and martyrs...
.
Research and innovations
Del Mundo was noted for her pioneering work on infectious diseaseInfectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
s in Philippine communities. Undeterred by the lack of well-equipped laboratories in post-war Philippines, she would not hesitate to send specimens or blood samples for analysis abroad. In the 1950s, she pursued studies on dengue fever
Dengue fever
Dengue fever , also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles...
, a common malady in the Philippines of which little was then yet known. Her clinical observations on dengue, and the findings of research she later undertook on the disease are said to "have led to a fuller understanding of dengue fever as it afflicts the young". She authored over a hundred articles, reviews and reports in medical journal
Medical journal
A public health journal is a scientific journal devoted to the field of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care . Public health journals, like most scientific journals, are peer-reviewed...
s on such diseases as dengue, polio and measles. She also authored "Textbook of Pediatrics", a fundamental medical text used in Philippine medical schools.
Del Mundo was active in the field of public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, with special concerns towards rural communities. She organized rural extension teams to advise mothers on breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
and child care. and promoted the idea of linking hospitals to the community through the public immersion of physicians and other medical personnel to allow for greater coordination among health workers and the public for common health programs such as immunization and nutrition. She called for the greater integration of midwives into the medical community, considering their more visible presence within rural communities. Notwithstanding her own devout Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, she is an advocate of family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
and population control
Population control
Human population control is the practice of artificially altering the rate of growth of a human population.Historically, human population control has been implemented by limiting the population's birth rate, usually by government mandate, and has been undertaken as a response to factors including...
.
Del Mundo was also known for having devised an incubator
Neonatal intensive care unit
A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit —also called a Special Care Nursery, newborn intensive care unit, intensive care nursery , and special care baby unit —is an intensive care unit specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants.The problem of premature and congenitally ill infants is not a...
made out of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, designed for use in rural communities without electrical power.
Citations
In 1980, President Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
named del Mundo as a National Scientist of the Philippines, the first Filipino woman to be so-named.
Among the international honors bestowed on del Mundo was the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for Outstanding Service to Mankind, handed in 1966 by Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...
, and the citation as Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian by the International Pediatric Association in 1977. Also in 1977, del Mundo was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
On April 22, 2010, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded del Mundo the Order of Lakandula
Order of Lakandula
The Order of Lakandula is one of the highest honors given by the Republic of the Philippines. It is an order of political and civic merit, awarded in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s people.Its...
with the rank of Bayani at the Malacañang Palace
Malacañang Palace
The Malacañan Palace, commonly known simply as Malacañang, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. Located at 1000 J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila, the house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been the residence of every...
.