THE Davao Medical School Foundation Inc. (DMSFI) marked its 50th anniversary on Aug. 15, 2026, reaffirming its commitment to train healthcare professionals and provide quality medical services to underserved communities across Mindanao as it enters its next half-century.
DMSFI gathered its founders, past and present leaders, pioneering faculty members, and institutional partners for its Golden Jubilee celebration under the theme “Keeping the Fire Burning,” highlighting the institution’s growth from a medical school that began in borrowed classrooms in 1976 into a major center for medical education, research, and healthcare.
DMSFI President Atty. Alberto Rafael L. Aportadera said the institution’s five-decade journey was sustained by generations of people who shared the conviction that Mindanao needed to develop its own healthcare professionals.
“‘Keeping the Fire Burning’ is precisely the right title for what we celebrate today. Fifty years is not a single flame lit once and left to burn on its own. It is a fire tended generation after generation by everyone in this room and beyond it, who believed it was a flame worth keeping,” Aportadera said.
The foundation traces its beginnings to a time when Mindanao faced a severe shortage of physicians. In 1976, only 61 rural health physicians served the region, or about one doctor for every 5,194 people.
DMSFI began operations in a borrowed classroom at the San Pedro School of Nursing and relied on a consortium involving San Pedro Hospital, San Pedro College, Brokenshire Memorial Hospital, Ateneo de Davao University, and the Development of People’s Foundation.
The partnership allowed the fledgling medical school to share faculty members, classrooms, clinical facilities, and other resources as it developed its own academic and healthcare programs.
From its first batch of 45 graduates in 1981, DMSFI has since produced 16,865 graduates as of academic year 2025-26, according to records from the Registrar’s Office.
The foundation has since expanded into a 2.5-hectare health sciences campus comprising four key clusters: Academic, Hospital, Center for Research and Development, and the Institute of Primary Health Care (IPHC).
The campus includes a 150-bed hospital, research facilities, various academic programs, and a Center for Healthcare Simulation, strengthening the foundation’s role in healthcare education, research, and community health services.
Despite its growth, speakers during the anniversary celebration underscored that DMSFI must continue measuring its success through the communities it serves, particularly those with limited access to healthcare.
Patricia Melissa “Patmei” Bello Ruivivar, author of the commemorative coffee table book “Keeping the Fire Burning: DMSFI at 50,” highlighted the importance of protecting DMSFI’s primary healthcare mission even as the institution expands its programs and international reach.
She underscored the value of community-based healthcare, volunteerism, and training physicians who choose to practice in Mindanao instead of concentrating in major cities or seeking opportunities abroad.
Keynote speaker Fr. Edmundo M. Martinez similarly challenged DMSFI to remain focused on serving disadvantaged patients as greater financial stability creates opportunities for further institutional expansion.
He said the foundation’s core values of faith, integrity, respect, and excellence (FIRE) must continue guiding its decisions as it enters its next 50 years.
The challenge, Martinez said, is to ensure that institutional growth and financial independence do not distance DMSFI from the communities that motivated its establishment.
Board of Trustees Chairperson Dr. Lourdesita S. Chan reinforced the institution’s commitment to equitable healthcare by emphasizing the principle, “Un poco para todos es mejor que mucho para pocos,” or “A little for all is better than much for a few.”
The principle reflects DMSFI’s continuing investment in programs that bring healthcare closer to underserved areas, including its community health initiatives and involvement in facilities such as the Marilog District Hospital.
The golden jubilee also recognized individuals who helped build and sustain the foundation throughout its 50-year history.
DMSFI honored 12 present members of the Board of Trustees, three former BOT chairpersons, seven former presidents, 52 former BOT members, three former medical directors, six former Institute of Primary Health Care executive directors, 15 former college deans, three former office heads and 28 pioneering faculty members.
The recognition program highlighted the contributions of the institution’s founders, past presidents, former and present board leaders, pioneering faculty members, and former heads of its institutional units.
Over the past five decades, DMSFI has developed four major institutional pillars: the academe, the Center for Research and Development, the hospital, and the Institute of Primary Health Care. These units have allowed the foundation to combine medical education with research, clinical services, and community-based healthcare.
The celebration opened with an invocation from Fr. Antonio M. Basilio, SJ, PhD, who emphasized the responsibility of medical institutions to care for the whole person and match professional knowledge with compassion.
His message reinforced the foundation’s continuing emphasis on treating patients not simply as medical cases but as individuals whose dignity must remain at the center of healthcare.
DMSFI also highlighted its new convention center as one of the major developments marking its transition into its next phase of institutional growth.
Designed by Davaoeña architect Christine Buyco-Sy, the facility draws inspiration from the durian and carries the concept “Durian for the World.” It is envisioned as a venue for medical, academic, and professional gatherings.
The design gained international recognition after it was featured at the Future Architecture Festival in Miami in November 2025.
The new facility illustrates the scale of DMSFI’s development from an institution that once operated in borrowed classrooms into a medical education center capable of hosting local and international academic exchanges.
The Aug. 15 celebration culminated with the lighting of the Golden Jubilee Torch, symbolizing the continuation of the mission the institution has carried since its establishment in 1976.
As DMSFI begins its next 50 years, its leaders said the institution intends to expand without abandoning the purpose that shaped its beginnings: to develop competent healthcare professionals and bring quality medical care to communities across Davao and Mindanao, especially those that remain underserved. ACA