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The Truth About Philippine Medical Schools PDF Print E-mail
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Sections - Health and Medicine
Written by Allan Albert   
Wednesday, 03 October 2007 14:59
Part V of "Should We Do Desperate Moves About the Supposed "Desperate Housewives" Slur on RP's Med Schools?"

 

Teri Hatcher’s comment in “Desperate Housewives” has stirred up a hornet’s nest of responses. Many people are offended; others just take it like a joke that it was meant to be.

 


It was indeed, meant to be a joke. However, it fails as such mainly due to the ignorance of ABC's writers. The line

before we go any further, can I check those diplomas because I just wanna make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.



was meant to imply that the Philippines is some sort of a bogus medical diploma mill, where anyone can obtain a doctor’s degree without any real training.

The truth, however, is so far from that - that the joke fails as an insult to the Caucasian doctor who attended to Teri Hatcher in the TV episode. If indeed he did get his diploma from the Philippines that would put his training at par with the highly-qualified 20,000+ other Philippine-trained medical practitioners here in the USA. Then it becomes more a compliment than an insult.

Remember, whether you studied here or abroad, you would have to pass a tough medical board exam in order to practice medicine in the USA and undergo internship plus fellowship in an accredited hospital.  How would you do that if your training was inferior? What's more, most of those 20,000+ passed it in their first attempt. Need proof of that? Make your own survey, just ask the next Philippine-trained nurse or doctor that you come across - they are easy to spot, as they would be the ones cheerfully taking really good care of you.

That is not to say that the Philippines as a medical-teaching environment is perfect. It does have its shortcomings. Its schools of medicine are not as "High-Tech" as some of the medical colleges and universities in the United States. American schools can afford the state-of-the-art medical equipment, which is usually very expensive. The Philippines, being a poor country AND because its medical facilities don't charge as much, the local schools can usually ill afford them.

Now does that mean that these Philippine schools are inferior? Not in the least bit.

What they lack in terms of equipment, they have to make up for with good old-fashioned HARD WORK. Think of it as learning math without the aid of a computer or calculator. If you were trained in such manner, what can you do WITH one of those?

That's one of the reasons why they are so in-demand here in the US. We have the tools, and they are not trained to rely on them, but with medical gadgets, they become even more efficient. More efficiency means less stress dealing with an inherently stressful environment. Less stress translates directly into more time for patient care - more smiling doctors and nurses that are not too busy to stop by just to see how you are doing.

Below is a list of some of the medical schools in the Philippines. Though the list is not comprehensive (taken from WikiPedia), you would be hard pressed to find fault in any of these schools. Most of them have been around for more than 50 YEARS (UST is even older than Harvard by 25 Years!) or are extensions of prestigious schools. Definitely not fly-by-night operations, which I doubt the mostly Catholic teachers in the Philippines would agree with anyway.

    * Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (University 1859)(Medicine 2007)
    * Cebu Institute of Medicine (1957)
    * Centro Escolar University (1907), Medical Technology (1960), Nursing (1975), Optometry (1928), Pharmacy (1921)
    * Davao Medical School Foundation
    * De La Salle-Health Sciences Campus - College of Medicine (1987)
    * Far Eastern University - Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (1952)
    * Our Lady of Fatima University, Fatima College of Medicine (1967)
    * Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, College of Medicine (1967)
    * San Beda College, College of Medicine - (1901), (2002)
    * St. Luke's Medical Center, William H. Quasha Memorial College of Medicine
    * University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC) - (1956)
    * University of the Philippines, Manila College of Medicine - (1908), 1907 (College of Medicine)
    * University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery - (1611), Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (1871)

So what do we make of the Desperate Housewives "Joke"? Well, it does become funny if you consider its ironic ignorance. However, due to the show's popularity, it could damage the well-earned reputation of the Philippines in the field of medicine, and as such, a public retraction, apology and information campaign (to counter the misinformation that may have been caused) should be demanded from ABC Television Network.

As for the ignorance of the writers of that show, and to those inclined to believe whatever they see and hear on TV, I would suggest a month of classes with Jesuit teachers to fix their afflictions.

 


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Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 October 2007 03:42
 
Comments (14)
davao medical schcool foundation is accr
1 Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:36
davao medical schcool foundation is accredited in india
Reply
I want to add good medical schools from
2 Monday, 13 April 2009 07:34
I want to add good medical schools from the Philippines
Manila Central University 1908 Medicine 1948
University of Perpetual Help Laguna Medicine 1976
Southwestern University
Emilio Aguinaldo College 1973
Urios University
Remedios T Romualdez College of Medicine
Virgen Milagrosa Educational Foundation
Cebu Doctors University
Xavier University
Angeles University Foundation
Ateneo De Zamboanga University
Bicol Christian College of Medicine
St. Louis University Baguio
Reply
there are a lot of medical schools in in
3 Monday, 13 April 2009 07:51
there are a lot of medical schools in india that are not accredited in their country and that they dont have difficult licensure exams like what we have in the Philippines before you can practice being a physician. In india as long as you graduated medicine ( MBBS) from an accredited institution you can already start practicing your profession and train for the specialization you desired but not quite in the Philippines where you need to pass the Medical board exams, after schooling, in order for you to practice your profession and to start training for specialization. Why boast of being accredited in india? The Philippine Medical Education has its own system and was patterned by American Medical Curriculum and adopted for Philippines, that is why I really dont like the MBBS program in the Philippines which is being started by several schools already. Our medical curriculum is a lot longer than india and yet there are more casualties in medical licensure exams because questions are a lot more difficult.
Reply
Which do you think is best for a pre-med
4 Thursday, 04 February 2010 03:41
Which do you think is best for a pre-med? Biology in Ateneo, or MedTech in UST?
Reply
Thats true!Its not about what school you
5 Thursday, 11 March 2010 17:05
Thats true!Its not about what school you came from or whatever.Even if you came from the poorest school but you have a strong determination to be great of what you do its really up to you.Like Manny Paquiao in Boxing. Its your capabilities if you can pass the comprehensive examination of passing the board exam.That should reflect or testament who you are if you are a knowledgeable doctor.Its like taking a driver license test.You have a written and practical exam. If you can pass both that then you should be ok coz you know what your doing.Coz you cannot judge a book by its cover.
Reply
regarding the list of medical schools ab
6 Sunday, 14 March 2010 11:06
regarding the list of medical schools above, i believe centro escolar university has no medical school. In reference to the question posted by "aimee", number 4, if one of your options for pre-med is medical technology. its better to go to a center of excellence in medical technology education like feu-nrmf, slu in baguio or cim in cebu. these are the top medical technology schools in the philippines. ust is alo good but the record of feu-nrmf is far more impressive. but if yopur choice of school is ust, its better to take PT or pharmacy because ust is a center of excellence for these two courses. ateneo bio is also a good pre-med, i had calssmates in med school who graduated from ateneo with degree in bio, though some of them had difficulty in 2nd year subjects that med techs in my class were basically repeating they passed the subjects.
Reply
in reference to the comment posted by jo
7 Sunday, 14 March 2010 11:17
in reference to the comment posted by joel, number 2, (with due respect to the author of the comment) i believe that in the list posted only ateneo de zamboanga is a good school because it has been declared by ched as a center of development due to its performance in the board exam, the rest of the schools dont perform well in the board. Although mcu has a good historical record, but its already a history, sayang. Its one of the oldest medical school in the philippines pa nman(ust then up then swu tapos mcu in 1949 at feu-nrmf in 1952---the oldest med schools). i believe the schools of medicine that have been rocognized by an accreditting body as a center of excellence are: UP and UST (APMC, CHED, PBME, DEPED), AND FEU-NRMF (APMC, PBMED, DEPED). the three schools are also centers of excellence in research by DOST-Philippine council for health research and development.
Reply
Center of Excellence
8 Thursday, 08 July 2010 04:21
Hi, I'm a third year Medtech student in UST. And I can tell you that it's considered as the best premed around. Not to mention despite FEU's reputation in Medtech, we're the highest rankers in the board exams with a high passing rate of 90% average. I have a friend who is taking up biology in Admu, and I think we might have the edge since a lot of first year subjects in medschool are taken up in medical technology. Plus, we don't follow CHED's curriculum for medtech since our passing rate is so high we're granted some degree of autonomy.

Not to debase FEU of course. They're medical program is also very strong.
Comments (1)
regarding medtech program of FEU
9 Thursday, 15 July 2010 14:42
Med Tech program of FEU is ranked 1st in metro manila followed by UST as per resord of PRC from 2004-2007. Med tech is the best pre-med course if you want to take up Medicine.

The latest result of Med Tech board exam were SLU got 100%,FEU 97%,UST 83%...
Comments (1)
top notch schools
10 Wednesday, 27 October 2010 22:01
It could have been true that UST and UP, FEU were the best medical schools in the, Philippines before since few schools offered medical courses in the past. Wether we like it or not, a lot of medical schools outside manila are also doing excellent job. Infact, they are taking now the place of those pionered schools in manila when it comes to topping the board examination. SLU baguio has been consistent of producing top notchers in any board exams hence, that school is now regarded as one of the best university in our country. The achievement of this school is far ahead than those old universities found and manila. Our basis in determining the best schools should be according to records not just on our opinion. thanks.
Reply
top notch schools
11 Wednesday, 27 October 2010 22:02
It could have been true that UST and UP, FEU were the best medical schools in the, Philippines before since few schools offered medical courses in the past. Wether we like it or not, a lot of medical schools outside manila are also doing excellent job. Infact, they are taking now the place of those pionered schools in manila when it comes to topping the board examination. SLU baguio has been consistent of producing top notchers in any board exams hence, that school is now regarded as one of the best university in our country. The achievement of this school is far ahead than those old universities found and manila. Our basis in determining the best schools should be according to records not just on our opinion. thanks.
Reply
What about?
12 Sunday, 14 November 2010 23:25
what about these schools?

Davao Medical School Foundation
Xavier University
Silliman University
Reply
top notch schools
13 Friday, 26 November 2010 11:09
yes, courses related to natural sciences, has board examination and can be considered as pre- med courses are very strong in SLU- Baguio City. Record shows that pharmacy, medical technology and even nursing which are normal courses in SLU and may be considered pre-med courses have exceptional board passers. Most of the time SLU will garner 100 % passing and on few instances that failures have been recorded in board exams. It shows that the standard is primordial concern of the said university. and they dont want the passing mark to go below of what the national passing is regestering. It is at far with the old medical schools in Manila and the whole nation in general.
Reply
top med school and pre-med course
14 Thursday, 06 January 2011 08:20
the best med schools are up, ust, feu-nrmf and uermmmc. these schools have produced the best and the finest filipino doctors practicing here and abroad. let us not forget that a school can only be as good as its students, graduates and teachers. no matter how high the board rating is, if the graduates dont render the services that are required of them then the school where they came from must not be good. i believe that if you are from one of these schools, you are assured of having a good mentoring which is the advantage of graduating from a established medical school with a university hospital. for pre-med, i believe the two best courses would be med tech and pt. for med tech, no school has matched the record of feu-nrmf, it has been since its establishment and still is the best. although, ust has been trying to catch up (check your data because ust's record years ago is far from being satisfactory as it is almost now), feu still has the record.moreover, l dont thik ust has been recognized as a center of excellence in med tech education like feu. for PT, ust has the record, although feu was recognnized years ago as a center of excellence, ust is still better in pt. Pt students do very well in first year med while med techs in the 2nd year. the both get to enjoy a glorious year in med school.
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