About Us

Dr. Rizal D. Aportadera Burn Institute at Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Dr. Rizal Aportadera was a burned child. He was 3 when he was asked his aunts to dance. Little did he know that next to him was a bag of starch solution that was hot. He sat on it and got burned. So he got to go to doctor every day for several days. I think was one of the reasons the he became a burn surgeon.

Born on June 19, 1938 also in the same day as the Philippine national hero – Dr. Jose P. Rizal; He spent his medical school at the University of Santo Tomas and graduated at the age of 20. His father; Magdaleno was so happy that started calling people to be his patients. He entered residency first as a pediatric resident, when Dr. Virgilio Durban, a surgeon ask him to help in surgery. He saw that this doctor was good at it. So he decided not to return the budding pediatrician. So the pediatrician became a surgeon.

He did his peripheral vascular surgery at the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo Ohio USA. After he came back from the U.S. he met Dr. Edward Falces of The St. Francis Memorial Hospital who offered him and his wife Cornelia a chance for a fellowship in Burn care. After which he started the burn unit at Brokenshire Memorial Hospital in Davao City. Then when he moved to the Davao Medical Center; now the Southern Philippines Memorial Center; he brought his burn unit with him.