Executive Profile — Board of Trustees

Professional Summary

Dr. Sigua’s credentials as public health physician include the following:

• Doctor of (Health)Communication, UP
• International Diplomate on Mental Health & Human Rights Law, Pune Law College, India, as WHO scholar
• Certificate in Nanocourse in Epidemiology, Harvard University, Boston Ma USA
• Behavioral Science/Family Systems Educator Fellow, Society of Teachers in Family Medicine, USA
• Certificate in Global Health, Washington University
• Certificate in Leadership in Mental Health , American University in Cairo (as WHO scholar)
• Residency Family and Community Medicine, UP-PGH
• Master in Hospital Administration, UP
• Fellow, Family and Community Medicine, Philippine Academy of Family Physicians
• Certificate in Occupational Health, UP
• Doctor of Medicine, UP

• Trailblazing and revolutionizing medical curricula in the country through initiating richer and more holistic content in terms of values-driven and systems-thinking-based pedagogy in 9 top medical academes , as school dean
• Contributing to regionalization of undergraduate medical education by groundworking, founding and operating the first ever state medical school in Region 4B, Palawan State University SU Medisina
• Leading the development of Centers of Excellence for Primary Care in Regions 2, 7 & 8 ,in affiliation with Department of Health & European Union
• Developing the Monitoring & Evaluation framework of Mental Health Psychosocial Support program of UN & WHO during the Covid19 pandemic with DOH Health and Emergency Management Bureau
• Organizing a global forum and writing a published compendium of best practices among the Asia Pacific Economic Forum economies on promoting mental health resiliency among healthcare workers in the new normal/postpandemic, in affiliation with the Department of Health Emergency Management Bureau
• Serving as a panel of policy developers to the ASEAN nations on integrating mental health in primary care (with journal publication)
• Educating on critical environmental issues such as planetary health, climate change, family & community medicine, and disaster management with Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other government agencies like DILG, DSWD, as well as NGOs & quadmedia
• Engaging in scholarly health services research from being co-inventor of an herbal drug used to treat kidney stones to promoting qualitative and mixed methods research paradigms in medicine
• Pursuing global and local credentialed lifelong learning and teaching as medical faculty in 9 most prestigious health and legal institutions in the country for more than 40 years , and still counting
• Working with Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel on Medical Education as to compliance and permit acquisition of 4 newly birthed medical schools in the country
• Garnering an international caliber as a Filipino speaker and author, including Cultivare
• Being the first and lone Asian recipient of the prestigious Behavioral Science Educator Fellowship of the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine ( USA)
• Acting as official candidate in Indonesia for UNDP Medical Technologies Development
• Serving as Medical Specialist 3 at the DOH Philippine Institute of Traditional HealthCare , promoting T &CM
• Writing the TB Manual for DOH/USAID

Strategic Plan of Action

1. Collaboration and Communication:
   • Encourage public health physicians to effect a collective representation by harmonizing with other healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and communities of practice. Networking will help them share knowledge, resources, and best practices, ultimately strengthening the profession, using as springboard common frameworks, shared language, and common data structures ( e.g. M & E, surveillance systems).
2. Continuing Education and Training:
   • Promote continuous learning opportunities for public health physicians, including workshops, conferences, online courses, inspiring benchmarks that help them stay updated on the latest advancements and trends in public health, ensuring that they can provide the best care possible across the entire spectrum of care and prevention.
3. Advocacy and Policy Influence:
   • Motivate public health physicians to engage in advocacy efforts and contribute to the development of evidence-based policies, raising the profile of the profession and ensuring that public health concerns are considered in decision-making processes and a balance of personalized/individualized and population-based care are applied in providing healthcare.
4. Research and Evidence-based Communities of Practice:
   • Support public health physicians in conducting research and implementing evidence-based practices to help improve the quality of care and contribute to the overall progressive development of the profession.
5. Value co-creation:
   • Organize campaigns and events to engage the community and raise awareness about the value of public health physicians' work that utilize a balanced macro and micro lenses of whole-of-person, whole-of-systems, and whole-of-society approach to public health practice.
6. Mentorship and Career Development:
   • Establish mentorship programs for young public health physicians, providing them with guidance, support, and resources to grow professionally fostering a culture of growth and development, e.g. dialogical health communication.
7. Professional Development and Recognition:
   • Work with relevant professional organizations to establish standards and guidelines for public health physicians, as well as recognition programs for outstanding contributions to the field, elevating the profession's status and attract more talented practitioners to strive better.
8. Interdisciplinary /interprofessional education:
   • Encourage undergraduate health and medical academes to very early on implement interprofessional education and teach the pedagogy of collaborative practice among various disciplines ( including non-medical) and also aim to minimize the divide between and among specialties and general practice , even public health physicians to adopt an interdisciplinary approach, collaborating with professionals (e.g. clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, sociologists, and environmental scientists).
9. Investment in Technology and Infrastructure:
   • Advocate for increased investment in technology and infrastructure to support public health physicians in their work, including electronic health records, data management systems, and telemedicine capabilities.
10. International Collaboration:
    • Foster partnerships and cross-pollinations among public health professionals and organizations globally using all landscapes and platforms available.