1944. Although she was admitted under the administrators’ mistake of her gender, they decided not to turn her away due to her strong records. She also attended at the University of Chicago and completed her master’s degree in bacteriology at the Boston University School of Medicine before returning to the Philippines. Mundo had many more achievements after Harvard which include being the first woman named National Scientist of the Philippines in 1980 and founding the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. To fund her hospital, Fe sold her home and almost everything she owned. The Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines, opened in 1957. The following year, she conferred her ownership of the hospital to a board of trustees.
While Dr. del Mundo continued to practice pediatrics at The Children’s Medical Center, she also continued her research into infectious diseases. Undaunted by the lack of modern laboratory facilities in the Philippines, she often shipped samples abroad for analysis. In her lifetime she published over a hundred articles, reviews, and reports in medical journals. Her research into dengue fever especially contributed to a greater understanding of how the disease works and affects children. Fe also wrote the “Textbook of Pediatrics”, which was used in medical schools in the Philippines for many years. Throughout her career she was active in promoting public health, with an emphasis on rural mothers and their children. Her work also helped to facilitate and improve the coordination between hospitals, doctors, and midwives. Since she sold her home to fund the opening of The Children’s Medical Center in 1957, Fe took up residence on the second floor of the hospital. She lived in the hospital for the rest of her life and was still making rounds to check on patients when she was wheelchair-bound at the age of 99. She passed away from a heart attack just a few months before her 100th birthday in 2011. It is important to remember that there are Filipino-Americans like Fe Del Mundo who proved that nothing is impossible in life if you believe in your dreams. She also proved that even minorities can make a large impact in society. Saludo po kami Dr. Fe Del Mundo! Lubos na nagmamahal, Your PCs: Guin & Lenard
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