THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas conducted a three-day medical-surgical mission for the general public.

Dubbed ‘Alaga at Tulong Tomasino’, the initiative was spearheaded by the UST Hospital in collaboration with alumni, corporate partners, the media, the Santísimo Rosario Parish, and the academic units of UST.

It offered consultation services and medicine for neurology, dermatology, internal medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmology, orthopedics, cataract surgery, general surgery, and ENT.

The mission brought together the expertise of hospital and academic staff and alumni, as well as the vigor of student clerks and interns to cater to patients from Luzon.

Now in its second year, UST Hospital CEO Fr. Julius Paul Factoras said the mission is the latest initiative to help those in need, in keeping with the Church’s mission.

“Time and again since the Hospital was established, we have been serving poor patients. [But since last year] meron tayong malakihang medical-surgical mission para hindi lang ma-service ‘yung [nakatira] around the UST area but also those from Luzon. We have Bulacan, Cavite, and Pangasinan patients,” Factoras said.

Fr. Factora expressed his commitment to continue the mission annually during January as part of the Church’s and the Hospital’s mission to help those in need.

Meanwhile, UST Hospital Medical Director Dr. Charito Malong-Consolacion shared that the medical-surgical mission would not be possible without the joint efforts of various stakeholders.

“We want this to be accessible to a lot more people, [so we] struck partnerships with our students from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, and the College of Education, as well as our alumni spread all over the world,” she said.