'Our first output was a guideline on how to deliver the CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to Covid-19 patients... teaching all health care workers how to save lives without getting infected.'There are times youngsters have been sidetracked from their original childhood ambition. Not cardiologist Dr. Gilbert Vilela, president of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA).'I have always dreamed of becoming a doctor,' Vilela tells Boardroom Watch. 'I've stayed on this path from the first day I entered school.'It's not surprising that Vilela pursued a career in medicine as he hails from a family of doctors. His father was a general practitioner, while his mother was a microbiologist and a pharmacist. His younger brother, Gerald, is also a cardiologist.Efficient balanceVilela boasts of an extended curriculum vitae, but has added yet another entry when he was elected as the new president of the PHA. He earlier served as director starting from 2016.'I was, I was so excited,' Vilela admits. 'It's a rare opportunity to contribute to nation-building. It's my chance to transform cardiovascular health care delivery in the country. Not everyone is given the chance to create and impact change. I welcomed my election with great enthusiasm and determination.'The PHA has approximately 2,007 members to date, according to Vilela. 'Around 2,000 are board-certified cardiologists,' he says. 'All of them are potential leaders. All of them are academicians and researchers. All of them are astute clinicians honed by long years of grueling studies and hands-on training.'The PHA has 18 chapters throughout the Philippines that execute every advocacy and every program designed by the national board.'PHA has also 20 academic research councils that churn out advisories, guidance and clinical practice guidelines that all medical practitioners recognize and comply with. These guidance and guidelines are recognized and certified as valid and binding by the national government through the Department of Health and Philhealth.'Vilela's biggest challenge as the president of the PHA in the new normal is time. 'Time to do all we all have envisioned to accomplish,' he says. 'We have embraced the changes the pandemic has brought us. After the initial shock in the first few weeks, we rolled up our sleeves and started working for the communities looking to us for guidance and help.'He continues: 'Our first output was a guideline on how to safely and effectively deliver the life-saving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on Covid-19 patients. That basically teaches all health care workers how to save lives without getting infected. After the first guideline, we were already on a roll. Sometimes, I had to call the attention of the membership to ask them to consider their safety.'Juggling a schedule between his medical profession and the PHA, Vilela manages to strike an efficient balance. He is also the president of the Philippine College of Cardiology. He reflects: 'Medicine has become an advocacy to me, so I did not find it difficult to lead the largest group of cardiologists in the country to an advocacy of reaching out to Filipinos with heart disease.'Other things that take up Vilela's time include teaching and conducting lectures, 'sharing what I have read and learned from the wards to all medical practitioners. Also, I am a husband and a father, 100 percent available to my family. I still date my wife. I still pick up my daughters from work, if they need me to.'Keeping focusedIn the past two years, Vilela has missed the face-to-face encounters with his patients. 'I missed holding the hands of the elderly ladies in my clinic,' he says. 'I missed the banter I shared with their funny husbands and everyone. I also do tele-medicine. I have no choice. They cannot come to me, so I go to them virtually.'Everyone who visits Vilela's clinic is treated like a relative, not a patient, he points out. 'My clinic is like my house,' he says. 'If you're my house guest, then, I treat you like a relative. If you're my relative, then I treat you like an important guest. Majority of my patients have been with me for more than 30 years, so I usually take care of families already — from the grandparents down to the grandchildren.'Vilela owns a 10-year-old SUV, which he calls his 'carabao,' that takes him to places. 'I drive an old but still handsome SUV,' he says, 'It is still serving me pretty well. My home is my last destination.'Vilela's pre-med course was Bachelor of Science Zoology from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST). 'I enjoyed it as well as I did my masteral studies in Theology, majoring in Pastoral Ministry at the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU).'I studied from the best,' Vilela says. 'I also had a diploma course on counseling from the Center for Family Ministry in AdMU. I did not graduate though from theology. I lacked a thesis. But the real reason I went there was to learn about my awesome God and not get a diploma or a title. I succeeded.'He is married to Dr. Maria Concepcion Casas-Vilela, whom he describes as the 'most beautiful pediatric anesthesiologist in the world, and runs their home superbly. 'I need not bother myself with household decisions,' Vilela declares. 'She makes sure of that.'His queen loves to putter around the kitchen and keep house. 'I look forward to my wife's cooking,' Vilela says. 'She's still the prettiest woman I have laid my eyes on. She also takes care of my technical stuff during my virtual lectures from my home. She made a virtual recording studio at home.'The couple has been married for 37 years and produced three children: Maria Diana (Madi), Maria Isabel (Missy) and Maria Francesca (Mafin). Only Missy has decided to follow her dad's footsteps and is now a senior resident in internal medicine.'Vilela's role model was Dr. Romeo Divinagracia, president of the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center and 'one of the Philippines' most respected and admired cardiologists.''He was also a leader, teacher and an administrator,' Vilela says. 'He taught me how to succeed in life and how to keep focused. How to see what was essential and how to be the best in everything I do. How to be steadfast amidst the turmoil. Most especially, how to grasp on to hope from someone much bigger than all of us are.'Vilela's spare time is spent doing lecture modules, and he keeps himself entertained by listening to music from his headphones. He was a member of the UST Action Singers in college and a member of a singing group in grade school. He adds: 'I also bought a stationary bike. Riding it is my only break from long hours of reading and studying for a lecture. I ride my bike several times a day to pump up my circulation and blood flow. 'On Tuesdays and Thursdays, after 5 p.m. I drive to see patients in Marilao, Bulacan [at the St. Michael Family Hospital] until 10 p.m. Pre-pandemic, I usually finished after 1 a.m.'Weekends are usually spent with the family. 'I'm a stay-at-home kind of guy,' he says. 'I'm most happy where my wife Ching is. She is home to me.'
