Fe del Mundo, M.D.

At 94, still in the practice of Pediatrics

This is a story of an international icon, who, at the age of 94, is still active in her practice of Pediatrics. Very few physiscians live to practice their medical career for half a century, much less 70 years. But one grand lady is an exception. This pediatrician, national scientist, researcher, hospital administrator and medical leader broke every record among her peers in the medical school, during her residency training, in practice and in medical politics, here and abroad. She is an international figure, a well-recognized and most decorated icon. She is indeed an exceptional breed, a phenomenon. Born November 27, 1911 in Manila, she was christened Fe. Nobody knew that she was to be a giant in medicine, the children's angel "of the world," as her name suggests.
But 91 years later, Fe del Mundo M.D. is even more luminous, still actively caring for her "beloved children" every day at the Fe del Mundo Children's Medical Center Foundation in Banawe, Quezon City, where she has been hospital president and chief pediatrician since 1957, more than half her life.

have now retired from practice, but Dr. del Mundo is, like the Duracell TV commercial says, "still going and going and going and going..." Many of her early pediatric patients are now great grandmothers themselves, giving her the joy of having ministered to four generations of countless families. Space would always be lacking if I were to list all her accomplishments and the honors, awards, recognitions and accolades Dr. del Mundo has recieved since her medical schooling in the late 1920's and early '30s.
But allow me to tease you with a sample of her laudable lifetime achievements. Dr. Fe del Mundo graduated as the "Most Outstanding Scholar in Medicine," a valedictorian, University of the Philippines in 1933, and travelled to the United States with a Fellowship Grant from the Commonwealth of the Philippines, completing Pediatric courses A, B and C at Harvard Medical College in 1937, earning an M.A. degree in Bacteriology from Boston University in 1940. She is a woman of superior intellect, a lady with many "firsts." She is the first Filipino woman, and the first female, to be enrolled at Harvard Medical School.

My admiration, pride and love for this great mentor, which has been shared by a classmate of mine in the medical school, Farida Quiambao Isip (later a pediatrician herself and my lifetime roommate), started in the late 1950's when we were both students attending pediatric classes under Dr. del Mundo. Our reverence for her grew more intense as the years went by. When Farida and I left for the United States at the end of 1962, a year after our graduation from medical school, we lost touch with Dr. del Mundo as the fast-paced lifestyle in the United States and our residency training had engulfed us.
To our amazement, however, when we met her in Chicago during one of her visits to the United States about three decades later,

She is the first Filipino Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics;the first lady president of the Philippine Pediatric Society; founder and first president of the Philippine Woman's Medical Association; the first woman to be elected president of the Philippine Medical Association in it's 65-year history; the first Asian to be voted president of the Medical Woman's International Association.
Dr. del Mundo has been a highly decorated physician, having received countless awards, some of which are as follows: Elizabeth Blackwell Award as a Woman Doctor of World Renown; Most Outstanding Woman in Medicine, International Federation of Women Lawyers; Distinguished Pediatrician and Humanitarian Award, International Pediatric Association; Honorary Doctoratein Science,

she still remembered us, and started recalling memories of us as her sudents. As always, she was lavish with her praises, sometimes to our embarassment When she gave a talk,her wry sense of humor was consistently fantastic, but second only to her superior public speaking prowess. onsistently fantastic, When I visited Dr. del Mundo on Macrh 5, 2003 at the Children's Medical Center Foundation, on my way from Cebu to Indiana, she twice repeated a motherly advise for me "not to come home to the Philippines very often, because of the potential threat of terrorism, like the explosion in Davao recently. "She knew that I fly to Cebu from Indiana every month as a chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Cebu Cardiovascular Center at Cebu Doctor's Hospital. Her somewhat frail voice and concerned look was indeed touching. I told her that my mother, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, had given me the same advice. Dr. del Mundo's practice of Pediatrics was not confined to the hospital. It branched to the countryside years ago to serve the children of the poor. Because she is unable to walk a lot anymore, she has sent various teams into villages in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, constantly sharing her wisdom, expertise and guidance with younger pediatricians and residents. She has adopted, and provided complete health care to 12 barangays (villages), areas that are deprived. She still visits and supervises those barangays that are within 70 kilometers from her hospital. For several years now, she has travelled to the United States to attend the medical reunions of her former students and medical meetings of Filipino physicians in America, succesfully rallying them to each support and adopt a barangay. At 94, Dr. del Mundo has a mind still as sharp as a razor, matched by her great power of persuasion and her extreme devotion to providing health care to children in the Philippines, especially those in doctor-less areas.
I can say without any fear of contradiction that Dr. Fe del Mundo, to date, is the world's greatest pediatrician, whose 70-year active career is still going strong, and whose record obviously can be broken only by herself. Most of us, her students,

Women's Medical College of Philadelphia and the Smith College, USA; Ramon Magsaysay Award for the public service; Academician, National Academy of Science and Technology; and the National Science Award. Her -adopted BRAT (Banana, Rice, Apple, Tea) diet for the treatment of diarrhea, have benefited and saved hundreds of millions of children around the world. Dr. del Mundo was chairman of Pediatrics at the Far Eastern University, and founder of Children's Home in Manila, the Children's Medical Center, and the Institute of Maternal and Child Health. She was director of the city of Manila Children' s Hospital, which later became North General Hospital (now Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital). She has authored more than 150 scientific articles, and became the editor-in-chief of the Textbook of Pediatrics and Child Health. For 20 some years, she has written a weekly health column for the SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE. All her life, she has been married only to her profession and to her career in medicine.
On October 11, 2002, President Arroyo presented to Dr. del Mundo the Outstanding Citizen Award in Medicine at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City, one of the 11 awards she recieved that year alone.
I would like to conclude this accolade for my beloved teacher by quoting an international historical figure, C.W. Nimitz, Fleet Amiral, United States Navy, who, about 50 years ago, gave Dr. del Mundo a passionate tribute, a excerpt of which is as follows: "Doctor Fe del Mundo began her medical career with an endowment of ability which made it obvious that she could be one of the very famous physicians of her generation....in this fascinating young Filipino woman, who came to Harvard University for her medical training 18 years ago, there were seeds of greatness.... Refusing to be merely a famous physician, she became something infinitely finer. She became a great physician... This very gallant woman is still working against incredible handicaps, and succeeding. She does not cry out for help, but the very nature and scope of her aspirations cry out to us in a voice that should not fall on an uncaring heart nor an unhearing ear... it is a voice that cannot be denied."

Philip S. Chua
Reprinted from The Sunday Times Magazine, April 27, 2003

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