July 16, 2012 Dear Colleagues, My warmest greetings to all !

I would like to inform the PCCP membership some issues regarding Philippine Medical Association (PMA) membership, categorization of physicians and Philhealth accreditation. Last June 16, 2012 PMA had a meeting with the presidents and specialty board chairmen of its component and affiliate societies. This was followed last July 12, 2012 with a meeting with PMA and the PRC Board of Medicine. The following were discussed in these meetings: 1) Philhealth has signed a memorandum of agreement with PMA last May 2012 appointing PMA to register physicians for Philhealth accreditation as a professional health care provider. Philhealth shall classify physicians following the PMA Classification of Categorization based on their specialty or subspecialty, training or experience. In this agreement PMA will collect the Philhealth accreditation fee of five hundred pesos (Php 500.00) per year per physician (Php 1,500.00 for 3 years) and will remit it to Philhealth. This agreement shall effect on July 01, 2012. 2) PMA has extended its amnesty program to its delinquent members until September 30, 2012to give them a chance to renew and update their PMA membership.A member with arrears may avail of the Balik PMA Program by paying Php 3,000.00 special assessment fee plus the current national and local dues. This payment shall write off arrears both national and local dues. The PMA is also urging the specialty/subspecialty societies to encourage all physicians to join the Philippine Medical Association (PMA). 3) In response to the request of PMA to all specialty/subspecialty societies to extend a similar amnesty program to their members, the PCCP Board of Directors approved last June 19, 2012 a similar amnesty program for our members. PCCP members with unpaid back dues for 3 or more years shall pay only three thousand pesos plus the current years membership fee. Those with one or two years

back dues shall pay the corresponding annual membership fees plus the current years membership fee. 4) In line with PMAs important role in the regulation of the practice of medicine, I encourage all PCCP members who are not yet PMA members to join this association. The role of PMA can be explained in the following: The PRC and the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) are the only bodies expressly created by law to supervise, control and regulate the practice of medicine in the Philippines. PMA is the accredited professional organization (APO) of PRC. Status/authority of the PMA emanate from its being the professional organization recognized and accredited by the PRC and PRBOM. Therefore, the following are the official professional regulatory authorities (PRA) for the practice of medicine in the Philippines: (a) Professional Regulation Commission; (b) Board of Medicine; and (c) Philippine Medical Association. The PCCP is a component society of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) which is one of the eight (8) recognized specialty divisions of the PMA. The PCCP, therefore is recognized by the PMA as a specialty society under the PCP.

Only specialty organizations, specialty boards, training programs accredited by the PMA are recognized by the PRC and the PRB of Medicine.Therefore, specialty organizations and specialty boards also possess and wield regulatory functions in their own disciplines. 5) In the meeting PMA with various specialty divisions, specialty and subspecialty societies last June 16, 2012, it was decided that three (3) tier classification of physicians be adapted as a transition, namely: (a) Generalists physicians licensed by PRC to practice medicine in the country but have not completed training in an accredited training program (b) Specialist / Subspecialist graduates of accredited training programs recognized by PMA and have passed their certifying examinations. (c) Board Eligibles graduates of accredited training programs who have not yet passed their certifying examinations. However in the meeting last July 12, 2012, the PRC Board of Medicine reiterated only 2 classificationsmade up of specialist/subspecialist and the generalist. They proposed that physicians in areas without credentialed specialist be given 5 years to pass their certifying examinations. Since PMA is more concerned at present in ensuring that as many clients of Philhealth be served as possible in congruence with the Universal Health Program of the Department of Health, it was decided that the 3 tier classification (specialist/subspecialist, board eligible, and generalists) be adapted as a transition. 6) In connection with the above agreement, the PMA has requested all specialty/ subspecialty societies to submit their members categorization (specialist , subspecialist or board-eligible) which will be the basis for physicians Philhealth categorization.

With the above developments, I encourage all PCCP board-eligibles to take the certifying specialty board examinations. To help them in their review, we have our on-line E-review program accessible in the PCCP website www.philchest.org. Im also extending a warm invitation to all of you to attend our 15 th PCCP Midyear Convention on August 2-4, 2012 in Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan. Hosted by the PCCP Southern Tagalog Chapter, the organizing committee has prepared well-balanced set of activities for intellectual advancement and fun. See you all in Puerto Prinsesa! Yours truly, Benilda B. Galvez, MD, FPCCP President