27 June 2024
Students in La Union and Bulacan will now have greater access to becoming doctors as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved the application for government authority to operate the Doctor of Medicine program of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU) and Bulacan State University (BulSu), effective Academic Year 2024-2025.
DMMMSU is the twenty-first public medical school approved by CHED and the 3rd SUC to offer in the region. To date, there are 3 higher education institutions offering the Doctor of Medicine program in Region I.
BulSu is the first state university to offer quality medical education in Region 3, being the twenty-second SUC which was approved by the Commission to offer a Doctor of Medicine program in the Philippines. Region 3 covers 7 provinces, namely, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales, thus, providing access to medical education to the aspiring doctors from these provinces to pursue Doctor of Medicine.
“Now we can produce more doctors through our top SUCs, who will go to underserved areas specifically in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas or in municipalities without government physicians in need of health personnel,” said CHED Secretary Popoy De Vera.
“Only two regions in the country – Cordillera Administrative Region and CARAGA – do not have a SUC offering a medicine degree. We are close to fully implementing the mandate of the Doktor Para sa Bayan law which seeks to develop a public medical school in all regions of the country,” he added.
“DMMMSU and BulSu’s determination to offer a quality medical education program was very evident in the university’s eagerness to comply with the minimum requirements to operate the Doctor of Medicine program,” as reported by the CHED Technical Panel for Medicine headed by Dr. Joselito Villaruz.
“This is the fulfillment of a cherished dream to be of service to the people of La Union and the desire to share with future physicians the best that La Union has been offering in the field of medicine,” said DMMMSU President Jaime Manuel Jr.
La Union 2nd District Representative Dante Garcia also expressed his support saying that “this will allow medical courses to be offered at the university for those who aspire to be medical physicians but lack the necessary resources to fulfill their dreams. This endeavor will be the beginning of a significant partnership with CHED for future undertakings to improve our educational landscape.”
“The grant of license to operate by CHED to BulSU’s Doctor of Medicine program is a God’s blessing for the university to be of better service to the Filipino people through quality medical education,” said BulSU President Teody San Andres.
(SIGNED)
J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III, DPA
Chairman
Commission on Higher Education