October 29, 1996

Dear Rey,

1.  I  congratulate  you and the people who  put  this  together, 
particularly the data on the indicators, which surely took a  lot 
of effort.

2.  Unfortunately,  I  still  do not have a  clear  idea  of  the 
vision/mission   after   reading   the   lengthy   report.    The 
vision/mission  as  stated is the  usual  "motherhood"  statement 
which  I suspect every department of surgery in the country  (and 
even in the world) can make.

     Do  we  envision  ourselves to be like  the  other  training 
programs?

     I certainly hope not, considering the advantage we have over 
the others - notably the resources of the UP system, particularly 
PGH,  and  the  fact that people still recognize  UP  as  a  lead 
academic institution.

     There are 3 important elements that were not included.

1. Relevance to national development.
          
     It  is  UP's  role to constantly question  the  status  quo, 
hypothesize   and  test  hypothesis  on  how  to  make   service, 
training/teaching, and administration better, and see to it  that 
the models we generate eventually influence national policy,  and 
ultimately result in the improvement of health.

2. We cannot do everything.
     
     We   have  to  focus  and  prioritize  on   our   strengths, 
particularly  on  areas where 1) only we have a  good  chance  of 
truly  making a significant impact, 2) the expected  impact  will 
benefit the greatest number of our people.

3. Core staff

     To  achieve this  needs a system which will  enable  a  core 
staff who will spend most, if not all, of their time working  for 
the department.

The  exercise the division went through and the report  emanating 
from the exercise is a "de kahon" management exercise.

Without  the  3 elements mentioned, it is very difficult  to  see 
clearly what it is we really want to be, and to do, and how to do 
it.

A  vision is a dream, a clear and powerful dream of what we  want 
the  department to become (say, in the year 2025).  It will  take 
time and hard work to reach and realize it.

If we formulate the vision, then all it takes is time.

If  we don't, then we will continue to flourish in a sea  of  the 
status quo.

                                        Laudico

P.S. There are presently 63 PCS-accredited GS training  programs, 
most  of  which are doing a fairly good job of  turning  out  the 
surgeons  who  take  care  of our  country's  needs.   Is  merely 
producing  "better  surgeons" (so we claim) our  mandate?   Maybe 
not.