My First Week at Southern Philippines Medical Center for Immersion...

May 4, 2017, marked my first day at Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for my Industry Immersion. This is in relation with the Technological Institute of the Philippines’ (TIP) requirement for the Doctor of Information Technology program. For TIP, industry immersion is a vital and indispensable component of graduate education. Through immersion, we, the students, will be able to acquire valuable exposure on the latest technology and processes in leading industries to validate the theoretical perspective thought on classrooms.

In my first few days in SPMC being around from 8:00 am to at most 5:00 pm, it all started with an acquaintance meeting with the people from Integrated Hospital Operations and Management Program (IHOMP), where I was assigned, headed by Mr. Johann Manalang. I also had the opportunity to talk with Engr. Gregorio R. Candelario Jr., the System and Software Development section head of IHOMP, and of course with the Medical Center Chief itself, Dr. Leopoldo J. Vega. It was a fruitful meeting indeed, and I was fascinated with the characters of the people behind the success of SPMC.

The meeting was then followed by an orientation on SPMC’s Vision, Mission, Core Values and policies on the conduct of immersion program. Engr. Candelario also presented SPMC’s hardware infrastructure, software capability, various on-going and future projects and SPMC’s best practices. This was then followed by a tour around the IHOMP infrastructure, particularly at their data center. It was a great opportunity for me to have the chance to be working around in a hospital with the most advanced healthcare information technology data center that enables it to manage its health services efficiently and the first hospital to achieve full digital maturity concerning Hospital Information Systems. Seeing all these in my first few days made me feel jubilant and excited, as I know it will be a great experience ahead of me.

Before the week ended, Mr. Manalang and Engr. Candelario discussed the possible deliverables they expect from me. Thus we sat down and had a talk regarding my Mentor’s Blueprint, one of our requirement in TIP. We agreed that I would have a draft of my Mentor’s Blueprint based on what we have discussed. After having it drafted, I immediately emailed it to Engr. Candelario for comments and suggestions.