Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 14) – The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to grant medical scholarship for aspiring doctors in the country.
Senate Bill No. 1520 or “Doktor Para Sa Bayan Act” aims to have one doctor per town in the country by providing scholarship to deserving but financially-challenged students, from state universities and partner private schools.
Under the measure, passed on final reading on a vote of 22-0, the scholarship grant covers tuition and other school fees, uniform, allowance for dormitory or transportation, internship fees, medical board review fees and licensure fees, medical insurance, and living allowance.
The student must pass first the National Medical Admission Test and the entrance examinations required for the Doctor of Medicine degree.
Scholars must also take the licensure exam for physicians within a year after completing the internship program.
After they pass the licensure exam, scholars should work in a government health office or government hospital in their respective hometowns “for one year for every year that the scholarship has been availed of.”
The proposed measure also provides that if a scholar refuses to render the mandatory return service, he/she shall be required to pay the full cost of the scholarship.
Its counterpart measure at the House of Representatives was already approved on third and final reading last August.
Once ratified by the Congress, the proposed measure will only need the President’s signature for it to become a law.
