Q. Why did you choose dermatology?
A. I chose dermatology because it is perfectly suited to my goals:
a. I found the subject interesting since it was very visual and I am partial to the fine arts.
b. I wanted to be a pioneer in academic dermatology since there were less than 14 dermatologists in Manila then, mostly without real, modern residency except for two.
c. I wanted to teach.
d. I wanted a profession that allowed me to have enough extra time after or before work to do other things I loved doing such as painting, dancing ballet, gardening, participating in the arts, reading and attending spiritual growth retreats/seminars.
e. I wanted to have time to devote to my family.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Yes. The human person is more than skin, bones and organs. The psyche, feelings, emotions and spirit are totally integrated. Therefore, treatment of only the diseased organ is lacking because the basic cause could be not what is seen or heard, but what is unperceived by the five human senses. A spiritual, emotional problem may be the basic, deep-rooted cause of skin disease. Therefore, Western treatment consisting of creams or oral medications will not solve the dermatologic complaint.
Q. How do you relax?
A. I meditate about 15 to 30 minutes in the morning followed by 5 to 10 minutes of qigong. I exercise almost daily: stationary bicycle, yoga, video exercises, Tae-bo, and flamenco dance. (I’ve already had two mini-recitals.)
I read my favorite books on spirituality (new age) and attend retreats/seminars on spirituality. (I must have attended about a hundred retreats since 1976.)
I’ve also completed a course in interior design (took a home-correspondence course in Sheffields School of Interior Design in New York City) and a dress design course, which I took at the Parsons school in New York City.
I also paint and have had three exhibits — two one-woman shows and a two-women show).
I also enjoy traveling to high-energy places, such as the Philippines’ Rice Terraces, Egypt’s Pyramids, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, and to Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France. A place I always enjoy going to is my country home beside a volcano within a lake within a volcano (Tagaytay, Cavite) with my family, especially my new granddaughter.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. In the Philippines I would say that it is the apathy of lawmakers toward illegal, unethical practices of dermatology by untrained doctors and non-doctors. That is why we are trying to get a law passed to protect the public against unethical and unsafe practice of dermatology by these untrained people. I am the chair of this task force of the Philippine Dermatological Society.
Q. Why did you choose dermatology?
A. I chose dermatology because it is perfectly suited to my goals:
a. I found the subject interesting since it was very visual and I am partial to the fine arts.
b. I wanted to be a pioneer in academic dermatology since there were less than 14 dermatologists in Manila then, mostly without real, modern residency except for two.
c. I wanted to teach.
d. I wanted a profession that allowed me to have enough extra time after or before work to do other things I loved doing such as painting, dancing ballet, gardening, participating in the arts, reading and attending spiritual growth retreats/seminars.
e. I wanted to have time to devote to my family.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Yes. The human person is more than skin, bones and organs. The psyche, feelings, emotions and spirit are totally integrated. Therefore, treatment of only the diseased organ is lacking because the basic cause could be not what is seen or heard, but what is unperceived by the five human senses. A spiritual, emotional problem may be the basic, deep-rooted cause of skin disease. Therefore, Western treatment consisting of creams or oral medications will not solve the dermatologic complaint.
Q. How do you relax?
A. I meditate about 15 to 30 minutes in the morning followed by 5 to 10 minutes of qigong. I exercise almost daily: stationary bicycle, yoga, video exercises, Tae-bo, and flamenco dance. (I’ve already had two mini-recitals.)
I read my favorite books on spirituality (new age) and attend retreats/seminars on spirituality. (I must have attended about a hundred retreats since 1976.)
I’ve also completed a course in interior design (took a home-correspondence course in Sheffields School of Interior Design in New York City) and a dress design course, which I took at the Parsons school in New York City.
I also paint and have had three exhibits — two one-woman shows and a two-women show).
I also enjoy traveling to high-energy places, such as the Philippines’ Rice Terraces, Egypt’s Pyramids, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, and to Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France. A place I always enjoy going to is my country home beside a volcano within a lake within a volcano (Tagaytay, Cavite) with my family, especially my new granddaughter.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. In the Philippines I would say that it is the apathy of lawmakers toward illegal, unethical practices of dermatology by untrained doctors and non-doctors. That is why we are trying to get a law passed to protect the public against unethical and unsafe practice of dermatology by these untrained people. I am the chair of this task force of the Philippine Dermatological Society.
Q. Why did you choose dermatology?
A. I chose dermatology because it is perfectly suited to my goals:
a. I found the subject interesting since it was very visual and I am partial to the fine arts.
b. I wanted to be a pioneer in academic dermatology since there were less than 14 dermatologists in Manila then, mostly without real, modern residency except for two.
c. I wanted to teach.
d. I wanted a profession that allowed me to have enough extra time after or before work to do other things I loved doing such as painting, dancing ballet, gardening, participating in the arts, reading and attending spiritual growth retreats/seminars.
e. I wanted to have time to devote to my family.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Yes. The human person is more than skin, bones and organs. The psyche, feelings, emotions and spirit are totally integrated. Therefore, treatment of only the diseased organ is lacking because the basic cause could be not what is seen or heard, but what is unperceived by the five human senses. A spiritual, emotional problem may be the basic, deep-rooted cause of skin disease. Therefore, Western treatment consisting of creams or oral medications will not solve the dermatologic complaint.
Q. How do you relax?
A. I meditate about 15 to 30 minutes in the morning followed by 5 to 10 minutes of qigong. I exercise almost daily: stationary bicycle, yoga, video exercises, Tae-bo, and flamenco dance. (I’ve already had two mini-recitals.)
I read my favorite books on spirituality (new age) and attend retreats/seminars on spirituality. (I must have attended about a hundred retreats since 1976.)
I’ve also completed a course in interior design (took a home-correspondence course in Sheffields School of Interior Design in New York City) and a dress design course, which I took at the Parsons school in New York City.
I also paint and have had three exhibits — two one-woman shows and a two-women show).
I also enjoy traveling to high-energy places, such as the Philippines’ Rice Terraces, Egypt’s Pyramids, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, and to Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France. A place I always enjoy going to is my country home beside a volcano within a lake within a volcano (Tagaytay, Cavite) with my family, especially my new granddaughter.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. In the Philippines I would say that it is the apathy of lawmakers toward illegal, unethical practices of dermatology by untrained doctors and non-doctors. That is why we are trying to get a law passed to protect the public against unethical and unsafe practice of dermatology by these untrained people. I am the chair of this task force of the Philippine Dermatological Society.
