To ensure the best medical care for their patients, a doctor has urged his colleagues to strive for excellence.

Dr. Eugene Reyes, former medical director of the Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH), said doctors must be up-to-date on medical developments and advancements.

“To be excellent, you need to be up to date, and to be up to date you need to attend many conferences,” Reyes said on DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Straight Talk.

He said MDH encourages its doctors to keep up on their research as it is the best way to stay updated on relevant treatment methods and healthcare.

“I think it is already included in the standard of care but we have a set of standards or a set of commands if there’s an emergency,” he said.

Reyes said that with the department heads knowing their roles in the hospital, especially during emergencies, the hospital functions well. “It’s a team approach as always, and not just the medical director,” he said.

The location of MDH has made the hospital accessible to its neighbor, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). Most doctors practicing at MDH also practice at PGH.

“Many of the doctors at PGH practice at MDH. You know, although there is a clinic at PGH for private patients, the clinic at MDH is still different,” Reyes said.

He recalled that this was how he got involved with Manila Doctors Hospital. “I also came from UP, and when I had patients admitted to PGH I would also see them at Manila Doctors,” he said.

“Sometimes, when I had patients at MDH, I saw them at PGH, since the two hospitals are one block away from each other. It became a trend in practice,” Reyes added.

He said that PGH and MDH cannot be considered competitors as the former is an academic institution while the latter does clinical practice. He said Manila Doctors doesn’t have plans to put up its own medical school at the moment.

“MDH has a college, it’s the Tytana college in Macapagal. While they don’t have a college of medicine, they’re seeing medtech and other allied medical programs,” Reyes said.