A True-Blue (brown) Filipino Scientist

By Crystalle Lauren Quezon
Diliman Preparatory School

It's really nothing new when you hear an American or a French or a German inventor. But have you ever encountered a true blue Filipino inventor?

I have. And I feel so lucky that I got the chance to meet world renowned Filipino scientist - Dr. Ramon Gustilo, a doctor, a businessman, a family man and a scientist all rolled into one.

Dr. Ramon Gustilo is an orthopedic surgeon by profession. Fixing broken bones and joints and replacing them is his job, and he's very good at it.

Dr. Gustilo grew up in Negros Occidental, and he came from a very big family. He had six siblings, five girls and one boy. He studied at Manapla Elementary School then studied high school at the Negros Occidental Provincial High School.

He was so interested in medicine when he was young, so he took up a pre-med course at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, his medicine proper at the UP-PGH. He took up his masteral at the University of Minnessota, and there he stayed for six years, studying and training. All in all, Dr. Gustilo spent 13 years in medical school to prepare himself for the excruciating world of orthopedic surgery.

As soon as he got exposed to orthopedics, he felt there was a need to improve facilities and treatments used. He did a lot of research to alleviate that need, and he came up with his inventions that revolutionized the way bones, hips and joints are replaced.

Dr. Gustilo invented different hip replacement systems for hip joints, to ease the pain victims of accidents or chronic arthritis experience. One of these hip replacement systems is the Prime Cemented Hip System. He also designed replacements for the knees that companies like Smith and Nephews Richards of the United States of America distribute. These knee replacement system are called Exodus and Genesis.

Technologies like these are hard to come by in the Philippines. Dr. Gustilo, in true doctor in the barrios form, found a way to help distribute the bone replacement systems in the Philippines by setting up a company at the Light Industry and Science Park in Laguna. Orthopaedic Innovations, Dr. Gustilo's brainchild, designs and manufactures bone replacement systems in the country. Now, those needing bone replacements do not have to wander out of the country looking for the best possible fit, they can get it here.

But that's not where Dr. Gustilo's genius lies. His designs and innovations have come from years and years of studies. Remember, he was a student and trainee for thirteen years, and he still does a lot of research until now. Painstaking research and a lot of practice made Dr. Gustilo what he is today. And he has no plans of stopping, that is, at least until July 2000, when he plans to retire.

So the next time somebody asks you if you know a real, live scientist, say yes. Dr. Gustilo is not just a person you can just read about in books, he's a scientist who's still trying to find better ways to improve orthopedic surgery in the Philippines.

It is but fitting, with all Dr. Gustilo's pioneering studies in the country, that he be included in the National Science Heritage Hall of Inventors. During these days and times, when studying and inventing is not one of our fortes, Dr. Gustilo has made the country a formidable source of ingenuity and talent. This Ilonggo has definitely come a long way.

Now, did you say you never met a true blue Filipino scientist?

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