First at Harvard School of Medicine

The first Asian to have entered the prestigious Harvard University's School of Medicine is Dr. Fe del Mundo, a world-famous pediatrician. Del Mundo, an International Pediatric Association (IPA) awardee, is an alumna of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine. She was chosen by former President Manuel Quezon to receive a fellowship program at the world's premiere medical school in 1936. She was also the first woman to become a part of the traditionally all-male student body of the medical school. So strong were her academic records that the head of the Pediatrics Department saw no reason not to accept her.

She also studied and trained at Columbia University, University of Chicago, Boston University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1941, del Mundo has contributed more than 100 articles to medical journals in the U.S., Philippines and India. In 1966, she received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, for her "outstanding service to mankind". In 1977, she was bestowed the Ramon Magsaysay Award for outstanding public service.