Saturday, October 18, 2008 Evangelista: An American doctor and Baguio's earliest school By Gerry Evangelista Sr. Centennial Updates
DID you know that one of the most famous names in medicine today, especially those involving kidney and nervous system disorders, was named after an American physician who spent his early childhood days in Baguio?
Bartter's syndrome, an ailment that refers to kidney cells and stimulation of the nervous system despite normal blood pressure, was named after Frederic Crosby Bartter, born in Manila on September 10, 1914 and spent his childhood years as an American-British missionary's son here in Baguio until he was 13 years old.
His earliest teachers were his father, his mother who was a teacher by profession, and a priest from a nearby monastery.
Upon reaching 13, he was sent to the USA where he attended College and studied at Harvard Medical School, graduating M.D. 1940. He interned at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York, and during World War II he served with the US Public Health Service. From 1946 to 1951 he worked with Fuller Albright at the Endocrine Section at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Another of Bartter's favorite fields of research was mushroom poisoning. His early interest in wild mushrooms might have been influenced by his boyhood experiences, and given his scientific background, soon became an expert in the field.
He took pride in being able to classify more than 200 mushroom species, becoming a lecturer in mycology and an expert in diagnosis and treatment of amanita haloids-type mushroom poisoning. His research career is accounted for in more than 400 scientific articles.
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Bartter was serving in the National Institute for Health in the US, doing research on the regulation of blood pressure and processes of importance to hypertension when he discovered that he himself suffered from malignant hypertension. He died suddenly on May 5, 1983, at the age of 69, from cerebral hemorrhage.
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The Baguio Central School is acknowledged as the first school in the city, and among the earliest educational institutions in the country. The first 20 students attended classes in the house of Ibaloi herdsman Mateo Carino. They were transferred in 1901 to another house where the present public market stands.
The school was then expanded to an industrial school where American teachers taught livelihood trades. Later, the school was moved to a two-classroom building with a dormitory and a mess hall, after which it was housed in its present site behind the Baguio City Hall. It was destroyed during the war and rebuilt in 1949.
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Daniel R. Williams, private secretary to then Philippine Commission member Bernard Moses, in a book, recounts the early days of Baguio's pioneer school in his account of June 12, 1901, "a school was opened here about two weeks ago, and about twenty little Igorrotes have already been gathered from the bushes and started on the royal road. They are scant of clothes and very dirty, and the hut where they are housed is primitive in its bareness. The scene impressed one as being the very beginning of things -- a sowing of seed whose reaping in its fullness lay with far distant generations."
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The Baguio Centennial Commission on Friday served more than 200 patient-beneficiaries in the second edition of the Centennial Pasadang Pambarangay at Aurora Hill.
Residents were given free medical, dental, and ophthalmology services and medicines, while various workshops and orientations were held. The project was led by Fiscal Benny Carantes and the CenteCom committee on community extension services.
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Meanwhile, the Committee on Special Events under Gerry Evangelista are coordinating with the Department of Defense Press Corps for presentations and exhibits to mark next year's World Veteran's Day in the city.
Broadcast journalist and Defense Press prime mover Kiko Calado had already indicated willingness to bring to Baguio the moving photo exhibit entitled "Lente" by April next year.
Next week, the National Defense Week will feature a sampling of the Lente exhibit, including performances from the various branches of the Armed Forces at Burnham Park.
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Also this week, the CenteCom approved the inclusion in the Centennial calendar of activities the planned Lisa Macuja ballet performance at Camp John Hay on March 29.
The show organized by Art Haven, and entitled "Happy Birthday Baguio...Love, Lisa," will also feature dance numbers from Ballet Manila and the Le Conservatoire de Danse de Ballet.
Beneficiary for the performance is the Hub of Hope day-care center, which maintains a breast milk bank catering to indigent working mothers and their children.
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For comments and suggestions, please email adambaguio@yahoo.com.
