Mechelle Palma, MD, MMHA, CFP, DipIBLM, DPCLM, FPCLM, FACLM
Dr. Mechelle Acero Palma is a Certified Family Medicine Physician and a Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is the current president of the Philippine College of Lifestyle Medicine, secretary of the Asian Lifestyle Medicine Council, member of the World Lifestyle Medicine Development Taskforce, the President of Remnant Institute Inc., and the founding director of Lifestyle Medicine Solutions. She also initiated the establishment of the Lifestyle Medicine department of the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center and the Antique Medical Center.
Together with her colleagues, she collaborated with the establishment of Lifestyle Medicine Education curriculum in the College of Public Health at the Adventist University of the Philippines. She is also the founder of Culinary Medicine Asia that was launched in 2016, which is now utilized in many different educational platforms, including public health and medical education curriculum. She is a researcher, a book author, and curriculum developer in the field of Lifestyle medicine.
Dr. Palma has been active as a resource person and training program developer for various private and public organizations advocating healthy lifestyle since 2008. As one of the pioneering certified lifestyle medicine physicians in the country, she focused on the advancement of lifestyle medicine by developing the Competency Course and Specialty Board Examination, reorganizing the Society, and led its accreditation as an Affiliate Specialty Society of the Philippine Medical Association under the division of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Palma believes that integrating lifestyle medicine education in the medical and interprofessional curriculum is the key to advance the practice of lifestyle medicine and address the burden of chronic disease in the country. Her passion is to provide education platforms and develop training programs for health care providers. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Adventist University of the Philippines College of Medicine and College of Health, the Director of the Philippine Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Palma is the head faculty of the Philippine Lifestyle Medicine Competency Course, a member of the review team for the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies, and Lifestyle Medicine Intensivist Competencies by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.