Pre-Requisites for Philippine Med Schools

[mconnell]

Just a couple of quick questions here. What are the basic pre-requisites for medical school in the Philippines for North American students? Is a Bachelors Degree required prior to application? Are there longer programs for those who do not have a Bachelors yet? What about GPA? Is it easier to get accepted to a school in the Philippines compared to schools in the US? Thank you for any information you can provide.

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[ams]

most philippine medical schools particularly UERM accept foreign students on the basis that they have an undergraduate bachelor's degree, have passed the NMAT or MCAT, and have acceptable GPAs. there are some schools, like UERM, that require you to have taken a certain number of units of chemistry, biology, and physics in your undergrad years.

if you're in a hurry and want to speed through your medical education, i know of only two schools that have accelerated medical programs (i.e. you finish your undergrad degree and med school in 6 years tops!). that is UP College of Medicine and La Salle College of Medicine. i have no idea, however, what their policies are regarding foreign students. i suspect that La Salle has easier requirements than UP does since UP as a state university tends to be tough on foreign students.

 

[tantrum]

The only pre-requisites in most schools is a Bachelors degree and taking an exam called NMAT. Due to lack of enough applicants, many schools are now waiving their "science requirements". Medicine is really very unpopular nowadays in the Philippines due to the bad financial prospect as a doctor (in the Philippines). They will not waive the requirement for the Bachelors degree. Most accelerated programs are for high school strudents (Intarmed in UP and DLSU). Many schools will not care about your GPA (except for a few). Inquire some schools like Fatima if they have a program for a combined Bachelors/MD but I don't know of any programs like that for those with college units.

 

[chocopinipig]

most of the foreign students i know had a bachelors program on their shoulders.
It would be best ask the matter to the school you are applying for. But as far as most foreign students are concerned, they already graduated from college in the US before coming to the philippines.

 

[Totallyspies]

I know that the accelerated programs (UP and Lasalle) requires a higher score on their entrance exam.

 

[incompleteindie]

hey.
i only have 2 more years left before med school. i'd like to ask which major subjects should i focus on more in preparation for the NMAT---how hard was it?

 

[ams]

hey.
i only have 2 more years left before med school. i'd like to ask which major subjects should i focus on more in preparation for the NMAT---how hard was it?

frankly, it's not that hard if you find basic biology, physics, and chemistry a breeze. it's actually quite easy, so the goal is to get the highest score possible (99+) so all the medical schools you're interested in going to would take notice. just study your undergrad subjects well, enroll in an NMAT review course, answer all the sample exams and you'll be fine. on a personal note, i got by just studying calculus and logic (my personal waterloos). would have done much better if i didn't fall asleep during the physics portion. 😛

 

[RaaMD]

The only pre-requisites in most schools is a Bachelors degree and taking an exam called NMAT. Due to lack of enough applicants, many schools are now waiving their "science requirements". Medicine is really very unpopular nowadays in the Philippines due to the bad financial prospect as a doctor (in the Philippines). They will not waive the requirement for the Bachelors degree. Most accelerated programs are for high school strudents (Intarmed in UP and DLSU). Many schools will not care about your GPA (except for a few). Inquire some schools like Fatima if they have a program for a combined Bachelors/MD but I don't know of any programs like that for those with college units.

Interesting.

 

[Juve]

Okey, I'm looking for a reviewer for NMAT or a review program which one do you suggest?

 

[chocopinipig]

there are a lot of review programs offered in the philippines. Some quite expensive though, if you know someone who has taken the nmat before and attended a review school, just borrow their reviewer. It'll give you a first hand look at how the questions are "asked", How "detailed" the questions are and this will help you "pattern" your study habits when reading any textbook on the subject matter.
The IQ test part is ridiculous though...

goodluck

 

[marblesmd]

I know of 2 NMAT review centers... one is called BRAINS (don't know if it's an acronym or something) and is located in Diliman, QC. When I was in my senior year of college, the NMAT review costs almost 10thou. They have professors from various universities who handle the different subjects. They even have a "promo" that said that if you enroll in their review class and get 99 on the NMAT, then they will refund your fees. Our batch had one classmate that reviewed there and got a 99, although I haven't asked if she got her money back. hehe

301 Bahay Ng Alumni Bldg.
UP-Diliman
Quezon City
Tel. 434-7423, 925-4702

The other review center is PICS. Back then, it was located in UE Recto campus. The fee was lower compared to BRAINS (less than 5thou I think). They also have very good lecturers and give handouts and sample exams.

 

[crossbow]

During our senior year, half of the class enrolled in PICS and the other half in BRAINs. Both have good sets of lecturers. PICS is cheaper and has good topics in abstract reasoning and test taking strategies. BRAINs is more detailed in terms of the theoretical aspect. Also, BRAINs likes to give plenty of mock exams, which is good in a way. 7 years ago, there were no commercially available reviewers (such as MSA, etc) so we really relied on the review center, stocked knowledge, and prayers. I remember, the day of the exam, there was an earthquake 6:00 in the morning...stressed na kami sa exam...stressed pa sa after shock!

 

[chocopinipig]

not so long ago BRAINS review cost only around 5thousand.. 😀

 

[Juve]

Thanks for the info about the review centers, I might just go with the book like you guys said, bec I'm cheap.

 

[leonz15]

where can one find practice exams for the NMAT?

 

[mutyaMD]

guys, lahat po ba ng med schools need na grad ka ng 4 yr course or dapat graduating ka? i'm neither kasi, and i'm planning to take NMAT this December.
thanks.