CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--In response to Section 12 of Republic Act 11509, or the Doktor Para Sa Bayan Act, the University of Science and Technology of the Southern Philippines (USTP) formally opens its College of Medicine at the USTP Dr. Ricardo E. Rotoras (DRER) Memorial Hall, here, July 28.

Dr. Ambrosio B. Cultura II, USTP System president, said, "In a meeting with SUCs (in Region 10), we had this conversation identifying who will be the best university that can offer the College of Medicine. CMU (Central Mindanao University) was interested, but we agreed among ourselves that with the strategic location of USTP, it is the best SUC to offer the program first."

RA 11509 states that "In order to have a holistic solution and address the scarcity of doctors in the country, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), shall ensure that each region shall have at least one medical school.

Cultura said the establishment of the USTP College of Medicine (COM) is a long-term solution for ensuring the sustainability of public health countermeasures, particularly in terms of the sufficiency of the nation’s healthcare experts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for more doctors and other healthcare workers in the Philippines, and the USTP College of Medicine will contribute to meeting that demand.

For his part, Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said, "I filed a bill establishing the College of Medicine in USTP; that was 2 years and 6 months ago. Now, we already see approval for that. More than 40 were applying for medical school; tayo ang isa sa mga na-aprobahan agad (we are among the first to be approved)."

Full preparations for the opening of the first school year of the USTP College of Medicine kicked off in 2022 when Dr. Mitchel Dennis B. Gonzalez, dean of the USTP College of Medicine, and academic consultant Dr. Agaton Panopio, Jr., worked side by side to search for the best faculty for the program.

Gonzalez shared that the people working on their curriculum are already experienced teachers in medicine, with faculty members coming from esteemed colleges in the city. But In terms of confidence in being ready, it was there from the very beginning.

"The medicine program of the university passed through a lot of tedious review processes in the region and was forwarded to the central office for a technical panel. Ang pinag-uusapan natin dito ay buhay [we are talking about lives here]. That makes it different among the programs; that’s why we are very particular about all of the details. It is not that easy," said CHED Commissioner Jo Mark M. Libre.

As to USTP's readiness, all of the areas, from faculty to the laboratory, were presented to the commission en banc. All commissioners unanimously approved the USTP College of Medicine.

Libre said for the first two years, there is a permit, and before the end of the 2nd year, the technical panel will again visit the USTP College of Medicine to ensure that everything will be compliant and that the "next application for the 3rd and 4th years—a government recognition to be awarded to the USTP College of Medicine before the first batch graduates."

Students screening

Rodriguez said the difference between USTP and private schools is that USTP can afford to choose the best students; "all of them who will study here will be free of tuition and fees. We get the best, even if they cannot afford to pay tuition."

"We have a very stringent screening committee; I really believe that the success of the students begins with the proper screening during admission, and we do have really high-performing students that we have accepted," Gonzalez said.

There are currently 24 who are accepted to the program, 11 of whom graduated Cum Laude, 8 graduated Magna Cum Laude, and 1 graduated Summa Cum Laude; the rest are candidates for Latin honors.

Scholarship availability

Dr. Arlita Amapola Minguez, education supervisor of CHED-10, said scholarships are available to deserving applicants to the medical program in accordance with the "Doktor Para sa Bayan Act."

She added that scholarship applicants are rigorously screened and ranked, and further looked into some of the following criteria: if an applicant comes from a municipality with no doctors, comes from a barangay belonging to a Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Area (GIDA), comes from disaster- or conflict-prone areas, belongs to a family whose gross annual income is P450,000 or below, or if a family member has a chronic medical condition or disease.

Further, Minguez said, "If they [students] are from state universities, automatic the tuition and other fees are paid by CHED, but if they are in the private schools, we have two partner private medical schools, and we give them a maximum of P100,000 for tuition and other school fees; more than that, it is subsidized by the schools."

In terms of allowances, scholars get P88,500 per semester as a grant from 1st to 4th year, books, uniforms, miscellaneous (including connectivity (internet), living, lodging, and transportation), totaling P177,000 per year.

As students reach their 5th year (internship) before the board exam, CHED provides an additional grant of P66,000 per semester and an additional grant of P16,000 for review, and the commission also pays for board exams on their first attempt.

The grant is otherwise known as a return service program, where a scholar will render the equivalent of one whole year of service per one whole year of grant after finishing the program.

The Department of Health (DOH) then identifies which towns need doctors. The scholars will also go through an immersion in barangays without doctors or physicians during their fourth year in the program.

"CHED also provides for their PhilHealth contribution from the 1st to the 5th year and medical insurance through GSIS.  There's no reason for them not to finish the program," Minguez said. (SAYU/PIA-10)