College of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health in the upcoming UP campus in the area. The university also aims to build PGH branches in Los Baños and Diliman to build a hospital network to service UP constituents. However, the construction of PGH Diliman is facing scrutiny due to its impact to a protected forest area and its prioritization over upgrade of the current Manila facility. Academics UP Manila offers 79 health-related undergraduate and graduate programs in nine degree-granting units. The university's academic units are broadly organized into seven colleges, the National Teacher Training Center for Health Professions, and the School of Health Sciences. The Philippine General Hospital and National Institutes of Health also form part of the university as training and research centers. As the leading institution for medical education and research, UP Manila is regarded as the National Health Sciences Center of the Philippines and designated as one of the four pillars of the Metro Manila Health Research and Development Consortium. UP Manila develops programs that serve as models and benchmarks of health education and health care in the Philippines. Many of the pioneering curricular programs are offered only in the university even until now, such as the seven-year Integrated Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program, MS in Medical Informatics, MS in bioethics, Master of Rehabilitation Science, MS in Clinical Audiology, and MA in Health Policy Studies. The university also offered the first baccalaureate programs in nursing, organizational communication, and public health in the Philippines. Moreover, the UPM School of Health Sciences offers the first stepladder health sciences curriculum in Asia that allows students to take integrated courses on community health work, midwifery, nursing, and community medicine towards a Doctor of Medicine degree. Its community-oriented programs have been lauded worldwide for directly admitting scholars from targeted poor communities in need of health professionals. UP Manila units are also nationally and internationally recognized. The College of Medicine and the College of Nursing has been recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as National Centers of Excellence since 2001. In addition, the World Health Organization has designated the College of Nursing as WHO Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development and the National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions as WHO Regional Development Center in Health Professions Education in the Western Pacific Region. The College of Public Health also hosts the SEAMEO-Tropmed Regional Centre for Public Health, Hospital Administration,