From October 19-22, the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA) hosted
its 50th Anniversary Celebration and National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The event included a variety of speakers and a gala, as well as a Continuing Medical
Education program organized by Monica Anne Faye Villegas (DO `24).
“Having this event during the Filipino American Heritage Month emphasized not only the milestone of 50 years for APPA but also how far Filipinos have come in medicine. This was especially highlighted through the different CME speakers who ranged from undergraduate premeds, med students, PhD candidates and physicians,” shared Villegas.
Villegas is a member of the Council of Young Filipino Americans in Medicine (CYFAM) which is part of the APPA. The council focuses on supporting the needs of the younger generation of Filipino medical students and attendings. After meeting Rommel Rivera, MD, head of the APPA, Villegas knew she wanted to be involved in the 50th Anniversary celebration and led a team of four to build the CME curriculum from scratch.
The CME program had a hybrid format in which there were virtual and in-person speakers,
as well as live-streamed for audiences in the U.S. but also in the Philippines. The
itinerary for the CME sessions included a plethora of speakers who addressed topics
such as the impact of COVID-19 and sleep deficiency among migrants, particularly focusing
on their impact on the Filipino community. PCOM students Carlo Comia (DO `24), Devon
Player (DO `24) and Madison Baltazar (DO `25) also volunteered their time to this
event.
Villegas also currently serves as the Southeast Asian Director for the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), the Mentorship Co-Head for CYFAM, and a member of the Bureau of Membership for the American Osteopathic Association. She was also named the 2022 PCOM Student DO of the Year.
Villegas was born and raised in Rome, Italy, to Filipino parents who immigrated to Italy in the early 1980s. She moved to the Washington, DC area when she was eleven years old and received her bachelor of arts in neuroscience from Skidmore College and her master’s in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown University.
As stated on the APPA website, the organization works to establish continuing education programs for Philippine physicians, to provide aid for the education of physicians and medical students, to support and stimulate medical research, and to render free medical care for underserved people.
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
Brandon Lausch
Executive Director, Strategic Communications
Email: brandonla@pcom.edu
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