Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12) – Two more state universities will now offer medical degrees in a bid to provide more doctors in underserved areas.
The Commission on Higher Education said Wednesday that it has authorized the Cebu Normal University-Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Western Mindanao State University to open their Doctor of Medicine programs this coming school year.
CHED said this is in support of the Universal Health Care Act and the Doktor Para Sa Bayan Program.
Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the UHC Act, CHED is mandated “to develop and plan the expansion of existing and new allied and health-related degree and training programs based on the health needs of the population.”
The Doktor Para Sa Bayan Act, on the other hand, aims to have one doctor per town in the country by providing scholarship to financially-challenged but deserving students from state universities and partner private schools.
“In support of these landmark laws, CHED is aggressively assisting top SUCs develop doctor of medicine programs to address the shortage of doctors across regions of the country,” CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III said in a statement.
With the addition of CNU-VSMMC and WMSU, there are now ten state universities offering Doctor of Medicine programs. Other schools which offer medical degrees are: Mariano Marcos State University, University of Northern Philippines, Cagayan State University-Tuguegarao, Bicol University, West Visayas State University, University of the Philippines Manila School of Health Sciences in Leyte, University of the Philippines Manila, and Mindanao State University-Marawi City.
According to CHED, CNU-VSMMC will follow a combination of the Cuban and Canadian model curriculum which balances clinical and population or community-based practice.
The WMSU program, meanwhile, will focus on holistic and integrated learning approach, which combines problem-based integrated system approach and research-based and values-driven education.
