Is there anyone here applying to Philippine Medical Schools?

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dexorbit

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Gosh, it has been a while SDN! Anyway, I was just wondering if there is anyone here applying to Philippine medical schools? If so, where do you plan to apply?

I have now decided to go to school there. I took the NMAT in LA last October 15, 2016 and it went pretty well considering the time I studied for that test.

So, I will be applying to UST, UERM and CIM. Should I consider other schools as well?

How viable is it to go to a PI medical school at this point in time and still be able to come back to the US and match to residency and hopefully practice here?

Thank you in advance! :)

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I'm in St Luke's College of Medicine right now, 5th year (internship). In the last board exam (Sept), the number 1 ranking schools were us and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM, translates to University of the City of Manila). One of my classmates now used to be a graduate of Berkeley Biology with Latin honors, Summa Cum Laude if I remember correctly. As for viable, I think it's ok. St Luke's is now part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, would that make it easier for you to come back and find a program?
 
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I'm in St Luke's College of Medicine right now, 5th year (internship). In the last board exam (Sept), the number 1 ranking schools were us and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM, translates to University of the City of Manila). One of my classmates now used to be a graduate of Berkeley Biology with Latin honors, Summa Cum Laude if I remember correctly. As for viable, I think it's ok. St Luke's is now part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, would that make it easier for you to come back and find a program?

Hi kgomez4487! I have looked into St. Luke's but there's not too many recent threads regarding the school. Last thread I read about the school was around 2006-2009. They were doing a lot of revamping in terms of the curriculum and a lot of professors were asked to resign at that time? They wanted Profs with Ph.D's in a particular specialty/subject to teach the class. Which is good though, because that is how it's done here in the US.

As far as your experience though with the school, how are you liking it? Do they allow their students to do clerkships here in the US? I did not even know that St. Luke's is part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. I'm just not sure if that will make any difference though?
 
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Hi kgomez4487! I have looked into St. Luke's but there's not too many recent threads regarding the school. Last thread I read about the school was around 2006-2009. They were doing a lot of revamping in terms of the curriculum and a lot of professors were asked to resign at that time? They wanted Profs with Ph.D's in a particular specialty/subject to teach the class. Which is good though, because that is how it's done here in the US.

As far as your experience though with the school, how are you liking it? Do they allow their students to do clerkships here in the US? I did not even know that St. Luke's is part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. I'm just not sure if that will make any difference though?

Yup. The new curriculum is great if we're talking about board passing. 100% passing rate since 2009. Clerkship and internship are done in house though at the hospital. You do have 1month (clerkship) and 2months (internship) of electives which you can do at other hospitals/countries.

As for the experience and level of teaching, I'd say it's one of the better ones in the country. When we have outside rotations, when other people learn from St Luke's, they seem to have higher expectations. They're trying to compare us to the students from other universities, and ask us the differences in how we were taught. Although it could be that because of the hospital we're able to practice ideal management, unlike the others. Local hospitals in the Philippines can be so lacking in terms of facilities sometimes, especially government hospitals. Training in St Luke's will give you a closer experience to US-based hospitals than others I suppose. The government hospitals will give you better exposure to more diseases though. However I am not sure if it will translate well to the US since the diseases here aren't similar in proportion.

The student body is a bit small compared to other schools (75-100+ per batch only, UST in comparison has like 400 or more), but I think that's better because the teachers can focus more on you. They tend to know each student individually, and they're approachable and friendly. You can go to their offices and ask for help if there's a subject that's bothering you. One of the teachers we have is a pediatric throaco-cardiac surgeon trained at Cleveland Clinic. It's a mix of locally trained and internationally trained faculty.


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Yup. The new curriculum is great if we're talking about board passing. 100% passing rate since 2009. Clerkship and internship are done in house though at the hospital. You do have 1month (clerkship) and 2months (internship) of electives which you can do at other hospitals/countries.

As for the experience and level of teaching, I'd say it's one of the better ones in the country. When we have outside rotations, when other people learn from St Luke's, they seem to have higher expectations. They're trying to compare us to the students from other universities, and ask us the differences in how we were taught. Although it could be that because of the hospital we're able to practice ideal management, unlike the others. Local hospitals in the Philippines can be so lacking in terms of facilities sometimes, especially government hospitals. Training in St Luke's will give you a closer experience to US-based hospitals than others I suppose. The government hospitals will give you better exposure to more diseases though. However I am not sure if it will translate well to the US since the diseases here aren't similar in proportion.

The student body is a bit small compared to other schools (75-100+ per batch only, UST in comparison has like 400 or more), but I think that's better because the teachers can focus more on you. They tend to know each student individually, and they're approachable and friendly. You can go to their offices and ask for help if there's a subject that's bothering you. One of the teachers we have is a pediatric throaco-cardiac surgeon trained at Cleveland Clinic. It's a mix of locally trained and internationally trained faculty.


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Okay thank you What is your typical schedule when you started first year? second year and so on? 5th year is just internship? Do you have the option of doing it outside of St. Lukes or only the 2 months that you mentioned? Is there a lot of fil-ams and non-Filipino students at the school as well?
 
Okay thank you What is your typical schedule when you started first year? second year and so on? 5th year is just internship? Do you have the option of doing it outside of St. Lukes or only the 2 months that you mentioned? Is there a lot of fil-ams and non-Filipino students at the school as well?

Typically they let you study on your own. 8am-5pm Mon-Fri is the typical classroom schedule. The rest it's up to you to manage your study hours. Schedule for clerkship and internship is dependent on what department you are in, but typically its a 3 day rotation of preduty-duty-from duty. Pre is 8am-5pm, Duty-from is basically 24hr duty from 7am-7am the next day, but you still have to stay at the hospital until 5pm (from duty status) . That's pretty normal schedule for any Philippine school.

4th yr is clerkship only, and 5th yr internship. You have to do both in St Luke's. Only the electives can be done in other hospitals/countries. You graduate after thr 5th yr, which is atypical of schools in the Phils (others you graduate 4th yr and look for an internship hospital on your own).

Yes there are a number of students from the US but they're the minority.

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Typically they let you study on your own. 8am-5pm Mon-Fri is the typical classroom schedule. The rest it's up to you to manage your study hours. Schedule for clerkship and internship is dependent on what department you are in, but typically its a 3 day rotation of preduty-duty-from duty. Pre is 8am-5pm, Duty-from is basically 24hr duty from 7am-7am the next day, but you still have to stay at the hospital until 5pm (from duty status) . That's pretty normal schedule for any Philippine school.

4th yr is clerkship only, and 5th yr internship. You have to do both in St Luke's. Only the electives can be done in other hospitals/countries. You graduate after thr 5th yr, which is atypical of schools in the Phils (others you graduate 4th yr and look for an internship hospital on your own).

Yes there are a number of students from the US but they're the minority.

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Thank you kgomez4487! I'm definitely considering this school too. Is the curriculum all stable now? I know a few years back they were changing a lot of things.
 
Yeah curriculum hasn't undergone much change in the last 4years.

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Hey kgomez, do you know if your fil-am peers were able to study or take mle on their 3rd or 4th year?


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Hey kgomez, do you know if your fil-am peers were able to study or take mle on their 3rd or 4th year?


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Well, most of those who do take MLE do it after graduating. While there's no barrier to you taking it, you do it on your own time and you're not allowed to miss anything from the classes, as that would count as an unexcused absence. It's not typical for those who studied Medicine here in the Phils to take the USMLE before graduating.

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I agree. It is rather difficult to study for the MLE especially from a traditional type of curriculum. Although, I've read on here that some people have done it at the expense of their grades in class. I wouldn't mind taking it after graduating. Ideally, I would want to before matriculating but if it's difficult then I won't be pushy about it.

How are rotations at St. Luke's Hospital like? I read students were complaining from a previous post that they do a ton of paperwork instead of the skills they ought to be learning. It would suck if that were the case.

Do they allow you, as clerks or as interns, to co-manage patient cases alongside attendings and residents? Are you even allowed to touch your patient? Do physical exams? And perform procedures? Etc.?

Do you rotate somewhere else too? Like a public hospital or a public institution?

Thanks so much kgomez. You have been very insightful despite me constantly bombarding you with questions. You must be like, "why did I even respond to this post?!" Haha

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Well there is a lot of paperwork when compared to other hospitals here in the country. Everything is documented and stuff. Every patient needs some paperwork done. But it's better because you can review the entire progress of the patient from his chart. That also helps in learning when you read what your senior did, and why he did it, as it's written on the chart. Skills is not so much as learning them as opposed to not enough practice. But it's on you. For example, nurses are usually the ones who insert IV lines. But you can always tell the nurses you want to do it (you're allowed to do simple procedures it on social service patients on your own with minimal supervision), but if you're feeling lazy and not ask for it, you're not going to be able to practice your skills.

As clerks what id expected of you is getting to practice history and PE. They don't mind if you want to suggest a course of management but they don't expect it. They expect that from interns. You're not allowed to order anything or like that. You're unlicensed. But you're allowed to express your thoughts on the case and how it is to be managed to the resident or attending. It's up to them anyway what to do.

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Well there is a lot of paperwork when compared to other hospitals here in the country. Everything is documented and stuff. Every patient needs some paperwork done. But it's better because you can review the entire progress of the patient from his chart. That also helps in learning when you read what your senior did, and why he did it, as it's written on the chart. Skills is not so much as learning them as opposed to not enough practice. But it's on you. For example, nurses are usually the ones who insert IV lines. But you can always tell the nurses you want to do it (you're allowed to do simple procedures it on social service patients on your own with minimal supervision), but if you're feeling lazy and not ask for it, you're not going to be able to practice your skills.

As clerks what id expected of you is getting to practice history and PE. They don't mind if you want to suggest a course of management but they don't expect it. They expect that from interns. You're not allowed to order anything or like that. You're unlicensed. But you're allowed to express your thoughts on the case and how it is to be managed to the resident or attending. It's up to them anyway what to do.

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Thank you for your helpful insights kgomez! I appreciate it a lot. Is it true that the max international rotations is only 3 months for all the schools now? Do you know anything about it?

For prospective applicants to Philippine medical schools, feel free to post on here. It would be nice to keep this discussion going, we might learn a lot from it.

The Ateneo School of Medicine Program seems very interesting as well. Their philosophy is really in line with my interests. The only downside to it is that, it is still quite new. But they will be 10 years next year so hopefully they will be recognized by the CA medical board.


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I don't know anything about the max international rotations. I didn't bother with it since I doubt I'll leave the country to practice. You know, comfort zone and all that.

I applied for ASMPH before. Didn't push through. Didn't want the added burded of doing a masteral on business administration to my studies. I felt it would have distracted me.

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Just recently applied to UST...now I'm trying to get a hold of UERM interviewers here in the States!!
 
Hi Thinah! I applied to UST and UERM too. I got an acceptance at CDU in Cebu but I won't make a decision until I hear back from UST and UERM. I just found out today that the UERM interviewer closest to me is back in the Philippines doing her medical mission and won't be back until 2/14 . Are there any other schools you're applying too?


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I applied to UST and currently applying to UERM. And are you from California? Because the interviewer from California went back to the Philippines and I have been trying to contact her since early January but to no avail... I decided to contact another interviewer (the one from Kentucky) and I was able to make an appointment for a phone interview. And congratulations on your acceptance! :)
 
Yes I am. Yeah the CA interviewer is unavailable until 2/14. Which sucked coz I'm like 30 minutes away. But I contacted the one from Texas. And I'll have a skype interview soon! *cross fingers* how did your interview go?


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My interview hasn't taken place yet, I sent him my resume, NMAT score etc and he will contact me to set up an interview :) I'm nervous but I'm sure it won't be that difficult since he sounded very chill on the phone.

And I wonder why UST doesn't have an interview...makes me anxious just turning in all my documents and simply waiting for the acceptance email. I'm definitely leaning towards UST for a number of things...their campus looks much nicer, I heard their equipment are much nicer, and they accept around 450 students with 5-7% being foreigners so that means a lot of people to relate to! heh. What about you? Are you leaning towards any schools?
 
My interview hasn't taken place yet, I sent him my resume, NMAT score etc and he will contact me to set up an interview :) I'm nervous but I'm sure it won't be that difficult since he sounded very chill on the phone.

And I wonder why UST doesn't have an interview...makes me anxious just turning in all my documents and simply waiting for the acceptance email. I'm definitely leaning towards UST for a number of things...their campus looks much nicer, I heard their equipment are much nicer, and they accept around 450 students with 5-7% being foreigners so that means a lot of people to relate to! heh. What about you? Are you leaning towards any schools?

Oh good luck on your interview. Let me know how it goes! Yeah UST doesn't have one which is both convenient and weird? I am still quite confused though. I like UST because of the things that you just mentioned. I just don't know if they allow any international rotations. I've been reading that they only allow 2 weeks and you have to arrange it on your own while UERM has an affiliated hospital in Chicago that you can do your rotations for more than 6 months, last I checked. So if I get accepted to both its going to be hard as to where I would want to go but that USCE is really important.

Have you visited both campuses?
 
Could someone enlighten me a little bit about the NMAT grading. I know it's percentile, ect. However, I am wondering what percentile I could expect to get if I score about 70% correct in every sub test. I am hoping to score 60%+ percentile, since I am going to apply to Silliman as my first choice and so far I keep getting about 70% of the questions correct in the practice exam.
 
Could someone enlighten me a little bit about the NMAT grading. I know it's percentile, ect. However, I am wondering what percentile I could expect to get if I score about 70% correct in every sub test. I am hoping to score 60%+ percentile, since I am going to apply to Silliman as my first choice and so far I keep getting about 70% of the questions correct in the practice exam.

Its based on an already existing control set. They compare your score to the norm group and you are given a percentile rank based on your score comparison to the norm group.

Basically, even if you get 80% correct, if the norm group had 50% of the group getting 81 and up, that means you'll be getting an NMAT score of 50%.

Basically, to get a score of 60%, you have to be better than 60% of the norm group.

Then it would also depend on which exam. I remember I was got only 500+ standardized score (out of 800) in Math but got a 95% rating. However in the science part I needed to get a score of 730 to get a rating of 99%.

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Its based on an already existing control set. They compare your score to the norm group and you are given a percentile rank based on your score comparison to the norm group.

Basically, even if you get 80% correct, if the norm group had 50% of the group getting 81 and up, that means you'll be getting an NMAT score of 50%.

Basically, to get a score of 60%, you have to be better than 60% of the norm group.

Then it would also depend on which exam. I remember I was got only 500+ standardized score (out of 800) in Math but got a 95% rating. However in the science part I needed to get a score of 730 to get a rating of 99%.

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Yeh I had already figured out that it works like that. The thing is that I would want to know what to expect if I would get 70% correct. No one knows for sure, thats given. However, I would like to hear people's experience on their NMAT. By that I mean, what score did they get and how many questions they think they got right. Or better yet, how many questions they got correct on the practice exam.
 
Yeh I had already figured out that it works like that. The thing is that I would want to know what to expect if I would get 70% correct. No one knows for sure, thats given. However, I would like to hear people's experience on their NMAT. By that I mean, what score did they get and how many questions they think they got right. Or better yet, how many questions they got correct on the practice exam.
Personally I thought the NMAT was easier than the test exam I got from BRAINS Review Center. I got a 97% rank on both test exam and actual NMAT though. If I remember correctly, I needed higher scores on the test exam than on the actual NMAT to reach that percentile rank. I also know people who got below 70% percentile score on BRAINS test exams who got >90% in the actual test. So the test exams aren't really a good barometer, since it also depends on where you got the test exam from.

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I am referring to the 'test exam' that CEM provides you when you sign up for the NMAT.
 
It's mid February right now has anyone who applied to UST heard from them yet? I thought they were going to email/release the accepted students on the 2nd week of February?
 
I am referring to the 'test exam' that CEM provides you when you sign up for the NMAT.
If they didn't change it from the one 6 years ago when I took the NMAT, then that test is way easier than the actual exam.

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It's mid February right now has anyone who applied to UST heard from them yet? I thought they were going to email/release the accepted students on the 2nd week of February?
I called admissions office first week of February. They told me that they will be releasing results first week of March. *sigh* more waiting. Saint Luke's just released their first list yesterday. Unfortunately, I haven't applied to that school.
 
Could someone enlighten me a little bit about the NMAT grading. I know it's percentile, ect. However, I am wondering what percentile I could expect to get if I score about 70% correct in every sub test. I am hoping to score 60%+ percentile, since I am going to apply to Silliman as my first choice and so far I keep getting about 70% of the questions correct in the practice exam.

To be honest, I find the practice exam given during registration easier when compared to the actual exam but it is good practice. There are other past NMAT exams online and you can use those for practice too. I had the MSA reviewer for the NMAT but some of the things there are just ridiculously difficult for the actual exam. Although, I did use the MSA reviewer for sociology, bio, chem and the perceptual acuity.
 
Hello ~
Fil-am student that recently graduated from Penn State. Took NMAT October 2016 - scored in 93rd percentile. To review I used the practice exam they provided and Tingzon's reviewer for additional practice questions. I went through the whole practice exam and looked up topics I needed to brush up on, but for the most part it consisted of material from undergrad pre-med classes. Also googled tips/strategies to combat the NMAT which helped a lot.

I was recently accepted to St. Luke's and am waiting for UST and UERM - others did say the list will come out first week of March. Pinoymd was also very helpful and there is also a Facebook group as well where people are discussing admissions/acceptances/enrollment etc.

I am looking to practice in the U.S. - was looking for more information or anyone to speak with to learn more about the differences between UST, UERM and St. Luke's in terms of their clinical rotations, when students study/take the USMLE, success in practicing in the U.S etc.
 
I am still waiting for UST and UERM... I checked UERM's website and their Academic Calendar states that the first semester starts on April 1, 2016. I'm not sure if it's the same for the 2017-2018 school year, but if it is, man they're cutting it short in terms of accepting people into their school!
 
I am still waiting for UST and UERM... I checked UERM's website and their Academic Calendar states that the first semester starts on April 1, 2016. I'm not sure if it's the same for the 2017-2018 school year, but if it is, man they're cutting it short in terms of accepting people into their school!

Hi Thinah. UST has released the results last week.


As for UERM hopefully they will release it sometime this week based on last year's release.

I doubt if they start April 1. Classes over there usually starts at end of July or early August.

If you get accepted to both UST and UERM, where would you go?




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Search UST Medicine Council on Facebook.
 
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Hi Thinah. UST has released the results last week.


As for UERM hopefully they will release it sometime this week based on last year's release.

I doubt if they start April 1. Classes over there usually starts at end of July or early August.

If you get accepted to both UST and UERM, where would you go?




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You just made my entire night!! Thanks for sharing! I got accepted to UST! :D
And if I get accepted to UST and UERM, I am most likely going for UST mostly because of quality reasons even though UERM has better U.S. ties.
What about you?
 
I also have another question, I read on their website that a reservation fee of PhP30,000 must be paid within one week of the release of successful applicants. Have you already paid your reservation fee (that is if you are planning on going to UST)? They haven't emailed me at all, have they emailed you back on what you have to do next?
 
You just made my entire night!! Thanks for sharing! I got accepted to UST! :D
And if I get accepted to UST and UERM, I am most likely going for UST mostly because of quality reasons even though UERM has better U.S. ties.
What about you?

Hey congrats!!! I am just waiting on UERM to release their results and decide from there but I'm leaning towards UERM to be honest.

I also have another question, I read on their website that a reservation fee of PhP30,000 must be paid within one week of the release of successful applicants. Have you already paid your reservation fee (that is if you are planning on going to UST)? They haven't emailed me at all, have they emailed you back on what you have to do next?

They haven't emailed me anything but they did post on what to do next after the acceptance. You have from 02/27 - 03/17 to pay the Php 30,ooo reservation fee, otherwise, they will give your slot to someone else.

Check this link:
 
Hey congrats!!! I am just waiting on UERM to release their results and decide from there but I'm leaning towards UERM to be honest.



They haven't emailed me anything but they did post on what to do next after the acceptance. You have from 02/27 - 03/17 to pay the Php 30,ooo reservation fee, otherwise, they will give your slot to someone else.

Check this link:


Thank you for the link! I actually just received my acceptance letter via email from them this morning. It seems that I need to be there in person for enrollment. I might have to go to the Philippines sooner than I have anticipated as they stated that no proxies are allowed for enrollment. They also want the PhP 30,000 in cash.
 
Hello ~
Fil-am student that recently graduated from Penn State. Took NMAT October 2016 - scored in 93rd percentile. To review I used the practice exam they provided and Tingzon's reviewer for additional practice questions. I went through the whole practice exam and looked up topics I needed to brush up on, but for the most part it consisted of material from undergrad pre-med classes. Also googled tips/strategies to combat the NMAT which helped a lot.

I was recently accepted to St. Luke's and am waiting for UST and UERM - others did say the list will come out first week of March. Pinoymd was also very helpful and there is also a Facebook group as well where people are discussing admissions/acceptances/enrollment etc.

I am looking to practice in the U.S. - was looking for more information or anyone to speak with to learn more about the differences between UST, UERM and St. Luke's in terms of their clinical rotations, when students study/take the USMLE, success in practicing in the U.S etc.
Do u have pdf of tingzon reviewer
 
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