Who’s Who in Bataan – Gonzalo Austria

GONZALO F. AUSTRIA was a Balanga native who served as one of the attending physicians to Philippine Presidents Manuel Quezon (1935-1944), Sergio Osmena (1944-1946) and Elpidio Quirino (1949-1953).

Dr. Gonzalo Austria was also the first president of the Philippine College of Physicians, as well as the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology, Philippine Diabetis Asociation, and the Manila Medical Society.

Born in Balanga, Dr. Austria was the valedictorian of his class at the Bataan High School in 1925. As a scholar of Fr. Mariano Sarili, he completed his course in Medicine at the University of the Philippines. He graduated on top of his class in 1932. Thereafter, he enrolled at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA, where he completed his Master’s degree in Public Health.

Dr. Gonzalo Austria also took up post-graduate course in Gastro-intestinal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and trained in various hospitals in the United States, such as the Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Hospital, Mayor Clinic, Massachussetts General Hospital and the University of California. He had attended various international medical congresses in Japan and Germany.

Dr. Austria became an Associate in Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (1942-1944) and a professor in Medicine at the University of Alabama (1978-1982). He was a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and an honorary Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

He was an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines, Dean at the University of the East College of Medicine, Fellow of the Philippine College of Cardiology and the Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism. At one time, he served as chairman of the board of Manila Doctors Hospital.