The incumbency of Dr. Julius A. Lecciones (1995-1996) sought to build upon the gains of the Society achieved thus far. Looking back at this Congress, he noted, “It is not so much what we can achieve individually, but what and how we accomplish together. And to succeed, there is no better way than to draw from our collective strength and common experience, and use lessons of the past to guide us confidently towards the future.” Inspired by the success of the 4th WPCCID, the members closed ranks to maintain the Society’s fine tradition of excellence in order to continue inspiring more achievements. With the Society’s celebration of its 25th Founding Anniversary in 1996, Dr. Lecciones pushed for an even more vigorous research culture, including advocacy for improved standards of practice in infectious diseases. In pursuit of these goals, research projects were funded from the Research Trust Fund with the creation of a Research Committee as a separate standing committee to oversee research project implementation. The development of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) began in earnest with the creation of Task Forces in 5 diseases, namely, community-acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infections, pulmonary tuberculosis, meningitis and STDs.

To further strengthen the voice of members in decision-making, permanent representation in the Governing Council was established, one each for the Visayas and Mindanao. Likewise, with the official transfer of the PSMID office to its present headquarters, operational systems and procedures as well as staffing requirements were established to better monitor activities and achieve effective organizational controls that will ensure unhampered and efficient operations.

Additionally, to further create symbols of inspiration, the PSMID Hymn and the PSMID Prayer were launched in 1996 to further mark PSMID’s Silver Anniversary, as well as the holding of the first Mid-Year Convention in Cebu hosted by the Cebu Chapter.

Funded research projects continued to flourish under the stewardship of Dr. Mary Ann Lansang (1997), who also presided over the completion of CPGs started during the previous year.

During the incumbency of Dr. Adrian Peña during the centennial year of 1998, the final drafts of the Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines (PCPG) on Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) and Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) were published. Other projects completed in that year were: the reactivation of the PSMID Gazette; the updating of the minimum standards and requirements of the fellowship training program, and an objective checklist to implement the program; the streamlining of the membership; and the guidelines delineating the requirements for an alternate pathway for attaining the status of Fellow.

The incumbency of Dr. Eric Tayag (1999) saw the consolidation of gains achieved from research programs established years back, and in the dissemination of CPGs nationwide for increased CPG utilization. This emphasized the continuity in program administration as one critical success factor in PSMID’s performance.