Dr. Mary Ruth Politico is the Chief of Policy and Standards Division at the Human Resource Development Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH). She supervises and manages projects and activities related to health workforce development and management and contributes to the review and development of local and international policies, standards, and plans for the health workforce. She is a nurse and physician by profession and previously worked as a rural physician under the DOH Doctors to the Barrio Program. She has coauthored publications on determining staffing standards for primary care, health workforce planning. and advocacy.