Medical technologist and physician licensure examinations results

By: Dr. Rex Casiple

4,743 out of 6,453 examinees nationwide, or 73.5%, passed the Medical Technologist Licensure Examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Board of Medical Technology in nine testing centers nationwide in September 2019.

The Colegio San Agustin – Bacolod (CSA-B) in Western Visayas Region ranked No. 5 in the national level among schools with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing percentage. Two successful examinees from the Region landed in the 10 highest places at the national level: Reiven John Borbon Bernales of the University of San Agustin (Rank #1) and Alfred Ceasar Deza Carado of Central Philippine University (Rank #9). The number of first takers surpassed the number of repeaters or only 1 out of 10 examinees are repeaters. The high performance of first takers lifted the examination’s overall passing percentage.

In the Regional level, 5 schools in Western Visayas out of 7, or 71%, performed high or with a passing percentage higher than that of the national level. The high performing schools with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing percentage are Colegio San Agustin – Bacolod (98.04%), University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos (93.4%), University of San Agustin (91.61%) and Central Philippine University (86.36%).

The Region produced 523 passers out of 642 takers, or 81.46% passing percentage. This is higher than the national passing percentage. There were 57 repeaters who took the said examination and 585 first takers. Repeaters passing percentage is 26.32%, while the first takers passing percentage is 86.84%. Nine (9) out of 10 examinees from the Region were first takers. Congratulations!

On the other hand, 4,006 out of 4,716 examinees nationwide, or 84.9%, passed the Physician Licensure Examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Board of Medicine in Manila, Baguio, Cebu and Davao in September 2019.

With fewer takers, nine among high performing medical schools in Western Visayas Region were included in the top-performing schools in the national level with 100 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing percentage.

Among the examinees coming from 46 medical schools nationwide, the number of first takers surpassed the number of repeaters or only 1 out of 10 examinees are repeaters. The high performance of first takers lifted the examination’s overall passing percentage.

In the Regional level, 4 schools in Western Visayas out of 4, or 100%, performed high or with a passing percentage higher than that of the national level. The high performing schools with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing percentage are West Visayas State University  (100% passing), University of Saint La Salle (98.08% passing), Central Philippine University(95.52% passing) and Iloilo Doctors College of Medicine (85.9% passing).

The Region produced 275 passers out of 290 takers, or 94.83% passing percentage. This is higher than the national passing percentage. There were 8 repeaters who took the said examination and 282first takers. The repeaters’ passing percentage is 50%, while the first takers passing percentage is 96.1%. This greater number of first takers in the Region, who performed high in the examination, lifted the Region’s overall performance. Congratulations!

The government exerted more efforts to address the needs of medical doctors in the country. There are lots of students applying for admission to Philippine medical schools but failed to obtain the required National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) cut-off score. The percentile scoring system used in NMAT selected the highly intelligent ones regardless of the course graduated or aptitude to become a doctor of medicine.

How about those who are deserving or who took BS Biology major in Pre-Med or other Medicine related courses who passed the NMAT in general but failed to obtain cut off score determined by the Board of Medical Education?

This is a case that needs to be reviewed and considered by the Board of Medical Education in admitting students in a Medical Profession.