Mr. Sherwin Pazzibugan (BSN IV), emerged as one of the winners in Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta’s 1st International Health Students’ Conference – Speech Competition on November 21, 2021. Held via zoom and live streamed in the official youtube channel of Politeknik Kesehatan Kementerian Kesehatan Yogyakarta, the conference was participated in by health care students across Indonesia and other partner schools in Asia.
The conference’s theme: “Edu-Health Tourism in the Pandemic Era”, aimed to foster and continually develop student competence in this time of the pandemic through healthy and friendly competition. It likewise aimed to strengthen the unity and camaraderie of students in different countries, cultivate interest in foreign language (especially English) and value sportsmanship. The said event showcased the talents and prowess of health care students in scientific article writing, poster making, edu-health tourism vlogging, speech writing and speaking.
Mr. Pazzibugan’s speech titled: Opening Edu-health Tourism in Closed Borders, highlighted the new normal order of edu-health tourism in the Philippines with the utilization of distant presence technologies such as telemedicine, teleconsultation and virtual examinations, which made significant impacts in health care provision in these pandemic times. Mr. Pazzibugan related his experiences as a volunteer worker of telemedicine under the Bayanihan e-Konsulta platform in their local community, which has tremendously benefited many Filipinos who lack access to medical services. He further added that edu-health tourism has also helped in the distribution of medical knowledge, approximation and standardization of procedures worldwide, thus enabling the development of healthcare alliances between countries.
His co-winners in the speech category were Indonesian health care students, Afifah Meizayani of Poltekkes Bengkulu and Ruth Siraiyy of Poltekkes Banten. In attendance with him in the conference was fellow BSN 4 student, Ms. Marie Louise Mendoza.
