Left to right: Rowena A. Hernandez, Maria Cecilia G. Estrella, Milagros Antonio-Kropp, Christian Barkow (behind) Minister and Consul Donna M. Rodriguez, Dr. Thomale, Third Secretary and Vice-Consul Alvin C. Malasig, Nelma J. Casas, Mylah Ann C. Rubio, Amor P. de Asis-Del Mundo and Lourdes Marie Reyes

In line with the 39^th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week, the Philippine Embassy in Berlin invited Dr. Med. Ulrich-Wilhelm N. Thomale to conduct a lecture entitled “Challenges of Acute and Chronic Care for Children with Spasticity.

The lecture covered neurosurgical treatment possibilities for different challenges in acute and chronic care of cerebral palsy and spasticity.  As a preventive measure in cases with hydrocephalus it is important to optimize the treatment for normalization of brain water (cerebral spinal fluid, CSF) circulation in order to avoid long term consequences of brain damage.  Modern endoscopic and shunt techniques were described.  As treatment options to enhance motor function of spasticity, the minimal invasive technique of “selective dorsal rhizotromy“ (SDR) was explained to enhance the patient’s state of mobility.

During the meeting, the Embassy personnel and Dr. Thomale discussed the possibility of cooperation in terms of medical exchanges between the Pediatric Neurosurgery Department of Charité Hospital and a counterpart hospital in the Philippines in the field of pediatric neurosurgery.

Associate Professor Dr. Thomale has been the Head of the Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Charité University, Department of Medicine since December 2014.  He specializes in congenital malformations, neuroendoscopy, brain tumors, and hydrocephalus.  He is the representative of the Section for Endoscopic Neurosurgery, neuronavigation and Intraoperative Imaging of the German society of Neurosurgery.  He was a research and clinical fellow at the Pediatric Neurosurgery, John Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, USA in 2007.  He attended medical schools at the Universities of Tübingen, Vienna, and Berlin.  He has published more than ninety (90) papers and book chapters, and has been invited to more than 100 various international conferences and neurosurgical courses.END

The Board of Foreign Service Examinations will hold the Qualifying Test for the 2018 Foreign Service Officer (FSO) Examinations on 28 January 2018.

For those who are interested, the following are guidelines for the submission of completed application forms:

• Application forms should be printed in ;
• Applicant should be a Filipino citizen and a permanent resident of the Philippines;
• Applicant should be a holder of at least a four (4) year bachelor’s degree or higher. Submission of relevant evidence, i.e. transcript of records, and either the diploma or certificate of graduation is required;
• Applicant should have undergone employment or undertaken further studies for two (2) years after graduating from college or university;
• If married to a foreigner, the applicant must secure from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, through the Board of Foreign Service Examinations, the authority to take the FSO Examinations; and
• If applicant has dual or multiple citizenships, he/she should submit a notarized affidavit stating that upon passing the examinations, he/she intends to renounce his/her allegiance to all of his/her other countries of citizenship; and, he/she must also submit a notarized affidavit stating that he/she is a permanent resident in the Philippines.

Application forms can be downloaded from the DFA website www.dfa.gov.ph.

A non-refundable fee of Php500.00 (or €8.86 or US$9.84) must be paid by the applicant for the application.

The final determination of the applicant’s eligibility to take the Qualifying Test rests on the Board of Foreign Service Examinations (BFSE) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila.

The deadline for submission of completed application forms is on 01 December 2017. Applicants are advised that incomplete requirements will not be accepted.

For further information, please contact the Board Secretariat through telephone numbers +63 2 834 3080/+63 2 834 3083/+63 2 834 4925 or by email at bfse@dfa.gov.ph END.