Historical Background
In 1990, Fr. William H. Kreutz, SJ, president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga,
called together members of the medical profession and civic-minded community
leaders for a series of consultations to determine if there was a need to
establish a medical school for the region. In these consultations health data of
the region were looked at, leading to the following conclusions:
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Western Mindanao has the highest infant mortality rate in the Philippines.
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Of the nearly 100 municipalities and 3,000 barangays in the region, more than
80% lack medical attention.
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Zamboanga City has enough doctors with training in specialty areas who can be
tapped to teach in the medical school.
These series of consultations led to the consensus that there was indeed a
need to establish amedical school for the region and that this school should be
in Zamboanga City. Subsequent to this, a corporate body was established to
affiliate with the Ateneo de Zamboanga. Thus, the Zamboanga Medical School
Foundation, Inc. (ZMSF) was finally incorporated as a non-stock, non profit
corporation. It's 15-man Board of Trustees is composed of seven doctors, five
civic leaders, and three educators. During the first few years of its
operations, the ZMF will be using the facilities of the Ateneo while a building
for the medical school is planned once a sufficient financial base is
established. |