PHILIPPINE MEDICAL SCHOOLS

I compiled this list of Philippine Medical Schools in the weeks I was researching Caribbean medical schools. I used International Medical Education Directory <http://imed.ecfmg.org/search.asp> (IMED) to make sure that these schools are WHO-recognized and ECFMG-certified. I also provided a California list taken from the California State Medical Board <http://www.medbd.ca.gov/Approved_Schools.htm#P> website. I hope that you use this list as a base and not as a bible. Please contact all the necessary school officials for admissions requirements. Now that, that's settled, here are a couple of reasons why one should or should not go to the Philippines for medical school.

Why would anyone want to go to the Philippines for medical school?

The Philippines has had a long history of sending its citizens to the U.S. as foreign medical graduates s(FMG). According to the American Medical Association <http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1550.html>, the Philippines is the second leading nation in sending its citizens to the U.S., only India sends more. A little over 9 percent of all FMGs or about 19,500 physicians were trained in the Philippines. Just to compare, Grenada, the island where St. George's University is located (the supposed #1 Caribbean medical university), is number 13 on the list, or only 4,200 physicians trained in Grenada practice in the U.S. St. George's University students are mostly American citizens or permanent residents and may have an easier time in coming back to the U.S. While you are in the Philippines, you must do all of your medical education including rotations in the Philippines, except for the occasional 12 week rotation in the U.S. (but this is unlikely). This is a disadvantage when you compare Caribbean medical schools who require you to live on the island for only two years for your Basic Sciences and let you go back to the U.S. for your rotations, or last two years of medical school. In other words, if you go the Philippines for medical school, you will have to stay for the entire FOUR years!!! If in the Caribbean, you only have to stay for TWO years and get to go back to the U.S. for the remaining two years in an affiliated hospital.
The Philippines was an American colony from 1898-1946. English and Filipino (Tagalog) are the national languages. English is taught in all school levels from elementary, high school, and college. Not many people know this but the Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country, only after the U.S. and Great Britain. Canada and Australia are numbers four and five! Americans will have no problem communicating with Filipinos, whether those Filipinos are rich businessmen or poor fishermen, all Filipinos are able to speak at least conversational English. Just try to speak a little slower than usual! It's sort of like when British people who speak way too fast and even Americans can't understand it!
All Philippine medical schools instruct in English. The only reason a non-Filipino speaker would want to learn Tagalog is if they want to speak with their patients more fluently and effectively. But this is not necessary because all Filipinos can speak basic English. Many non-Americans are also going to the Philippines. There are many Chinese (also Taiwanese) and other students who go to the Philippines because of its English-based programs, where they could only get limited English instruction in their home country. I hear the Filipino-Chinese community in Manila is very strong.
Ninety-five percent of Filipinos are Christian, with 88% Roman Catholic and 7% Protestant. The Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia. This is due to over 300 years of Spanish Catholic colonial rule and almost 50 years of American Protestant colonial rule. A very popular saying is that the Philippines is like a nun who was in a convent for 300 years and left and went to Hollywood for fifty! Americans will have no problem when it comes to religion as an issue.
Just an important fact: The largest U.S. military bases in Asia: Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Air Base was controlled by American forces until 1992 when Mt. Pinatubo erupted.
Most of the time, all you hear about the Philippines is about the Muslim rebels in the South. Therefore, everyone thinks that either the country is full of Muslims or a very violent country. Generally, the far South has been violent with the rebels but has dramatically decreased in the past few years with the help of the American military. In 2001, the Philippine government allowed the U.S. military to send troops to the Philippines for bilateral anti-terrorism training excercises. Throughout the rest of the country, it is very peaceful. Nobody will bother you, if you don't bother them. Of course, you have to take the same security measures as if you were in the states. For instance, you wouldn't leave your purse hanging out, walking alone in the middle of the night, in downtown Los Angeles. You're just asking to be mugged! But anyway, you get my point.
Going to medical school in the Philippines is extremely cheap compared to American schools. On average, a student would pay about U.S. $5,000-10,000 dollars for a whole year. Of course, you have to include living expenses such as apartment rent, books, supplies, and transportation. It would be about less than twenty thousand dollars a year total. In the U.S., a typical year at a private medical school would be $30,000 tuition and $15,000 living expenses. This is a savings of more than $25,000. Of course, public medical schools are cheaper than private but that is beyond the scope of this list. Do your own research!
Philippine medical schools do not allow students to go back to the U.S. to take the USMLE (U.S. Medical Licensing Exam). This would mean that you would have to take all three exams after you graduate from medical school. This can be tough because USMLE Step I tests you on the first two years of medical school, the Basic Sciences. Who knows? You might have forgotten all of that by graduation time. Step II tests you on your clinical skills after the third year. Step III tests you on the clinical skills after you graduate. The only remedy for this would be if you study really hard to pass these three tests very close in duration with each other. I would suggest a Kaplan <http://www.kaplantest.com/> (Click on Medicine under Medicine/Health Sciences) course geared towards FMGs. My cousin graduated from De La Salle University in the Philippines (2003) and just passed her Step I exam this year. She is preparing for her Step II exam now. So it can be done, you just need to have perseverance and patience.
In order to go to a Philippine medical school, you must take the National Medical Admission Test <http://www.apmc.org.ph/NMAT/> (NMAT), a test similar to the American MCAT or Medical College Admission Test. Although I've heard the NMAT is easier than the MCAT. You can take the NMAT in the U.S. The NMAT is administered in New York and Los Angeles near the Philippine embassy. Here is the contact info for both offices:

New York -- Mr. Jose A. Ramos, Jr.
444 East, 20th St., Apt.6A
New York, NY 10009 USA
Tel. no. (212) 252-0904

California -- Ms. Marilyn C. Reyes
Chancellor Hotel, 3191 West, 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90005 USA
Tel. no. (213) 487-8736

California -- Ms. Anacleta J. Barrietta
155 N. Edgemont, Los Angeles, CA 90004 USA
Tel. no. (213) 382-8488
Test Centers:
a.) Philippine Center, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036 USA
b.) Philippine Center, 3460 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1200, Los Angeles, CA 90020 USA

Please look at the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges: http://www.apmc.org.ph



PHILIPPINE MEDICAL SCHOOLS (Alphabetical List)
For those of you not familiar with Philippine geography, I've added North, Central, & South designations so that you have a general idea of where the college is located: NORTH = Luzon (the capital city of Manila is in Luzon), CENTRAL = Visayas, SOUTH = Mindanao
Note: There are a total of 34 medical schools who allow foreign nationals into their programs, 24 of them are approved by California
(Ca) = California approval

1. Angeles University Foundation (Ca)
Angeles City, Pampanga (North)
Est. 1983
Email - babinski@angeles.auf.com.ph
Website - http://www.auf.edu.ph/med.html

2. Ateneo de Zamboanga College of Medicine
Zamboanga City, Mindanao (South)
Est. 2000
Email - zmsf@aguila.adzu.edu.ph
Website - http://www.adzu.edu.ph/medschool

3. Bicol Christian College of Medicine (Ca)
Legaspi City, Luzon (North)
Est. 1980
Email - rjoson@pacific.net.ph
Website - http://members.tripod.com/rjoson/bicol/bccm.htm

4. Cagayan State University
Tuguegarao City
Est. 1995
Email - floyg@yahoo.com
Website -

5. Cebu Doctor’s College of Medicine (Ca)
Cebu City, Cebu (Central)
Est. 1977
Emails - cdcm@cdc-cdh.edu, ebgruet@cdc-cdh.edu
Website - http://www.cdc-cdh.edu

6. Cebu Institute of Medicine (Ca)
Cebu City, Cebu (Central)
Est. 1957
Email - cimesola@col.net.ph
Website - http://www.cim.edu.ph/, http://www.cim.edu.ph/admission2.php

7. Central Philippine University
Iloilo City, Visayas (Central)
Est. 2003
Email - medicine@cpu.edu.ph
Website - http://www.cpu.edu.ph/dep/med/

8. Davao Medical School Foundation (Ca)
Davao, Mindanao (South)
Est. 1977
Email - drvic@dmsf.edu.ph
Website - http://www.dmsf.edu.ph/

9. De La Salle University Health Sciences (Ca)
Cavite, Luzon (North)
Est. 1979
Email - admission@hsc.dlsu.edu.ph
Website - http://www.hsc.dlsu.edu.ph/

10. Emilio Aguinaldo College of Medicine
Manila, Luzon (North)
Est. 2001
Email - webmaster@eac.edu.ph, admission@eac.edu.ph
Website - http://www.eac.edu.ph/college_medicine.html

11. Far Eastern University (Ca)
Quezon City, Luzon (North)
Est. 1952
Email - info@feu-nrmf.ph
Website - http://www.feu-nrmf.ph/

12. Iloilo Doctor's College of Medicine (Ca)
Iloilo, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1981
Phone - 63-33-337-7755

13. Lyceum Northwestern University (Ca)
Pangasinan, Luzon (North)
Est. 1975
Email - info@lyceum.edu.ph, medicine@lyceum.edu.ph
Website - http://www.lyceum.edu.ph/MEDICINE/indexMedicine.htm

14. Manila Central University (Ca)
Rizal, Luzon (North)
Est. 1947
Email - mcu@health.pchrd.dost.gov.ph
Website - http://www.mcufdtmf.edu.ph/

15. Mindanao State University (Ca)
Est. 1984
Email - admissions@sulat.msuiit.edu.ph
Website - http://www.msuiit.edu.ph/

16. Our Lady of Fatima University (Ca)
Manila, Luzon (North)
Est. 1979
Email - registrar@fatima.edu.ph
Website - http://www.fatima.edu.ph/
Illinois state approval!

17. Remedios T. Romualdez Medical Foundation (Ca)
Leyte, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1980
Email - rtrmsro@info.com.ph
Website - http://www.info.com.ph/~rtrmsmmc/index.html

18. San Beda College of Medicine
Mandaluyong City, Luzon (North)
Est. 2002
Email - cas_admissions@sanbeda.edu.ph
Website - http://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/

19. Southwestern University, Matias Aznar Memorial College of Medicine (Ca)
Cebu, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1946
Email - admissions@swu.edu.ph
Website - http://mham.swu.edu.ph/

20. St. Louis University (Ca)
Baguio City, Luzon (North)
Est. 1976
Email - cndean@slu.edu.ph
Website - http://www.slu.edu.ph/

21. St. Luke's College of Medicine
Quezon City, Luzon (North)
Est. 1994
Email - registrar_slcm@stluke.com.ph
Website - http://www.stlukesmedcollege.edu.ph/

22. Universidad de Santa Isabel
Naga City, Luzon (North)
Est. 2002
Email - Usimedschool@yahoo.com
Website - http://www.usi.edu.ph/

23. University of Northern Philippines
Ilocos Sur, Luzon (North)
Est. 2000
Email - unp_op@yahoo.com
Website - http://www.geocities.com/unpsite/index.htm

24. University of Perpetual Help System, Rizal
Las Pinas, Luzon (North)
Est. 1996
Email -
Website - http://www.uphr.edu.ph/medicine/index.php

25. University of Santo Tomas (Ca)
Manila, Luzon (North)
Est. 1871
Email - admi@ustlru.com
Website - http://www.ust.edu.ph/sitelinks/acad....asp?progid=07

26. University of Perpetual Help System, College of Medicine (Ca)
Laguna, Luzon (North)
Est. 1977
Email - nikytamayo@perpetualhelp.net
Website - http://www.uphr.edu.ph/, http://www.perpetualhelp.net/

27. University of the City of Manila, Pamantasan Ng Lungsod Ng Maynila (Ca)
Manila, Luzon (North)
Est. 1983
Email -
Website - www.plm.edu.ph, http://www.geocities.com/llinco/plm.html

28. University of the East, Ramon Magsaysay (Ca)Quezon City, Luzon (North)
Est. 1956
Email - uerm@eastmail.com
Website - http://www.ue.edu.ph, http://www.uerm.edu/

29. University of the Philippines, School of Health Sciences
Leyte, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1976
Email -
Website - http://www.up.edu.ph/

30. University of the Philippines, College of Medicine (Ca)
Manila, Luzon (North)
Est. 1908
Email - deanupcm@cm.upm.edu.ph
Website - http://cm.upm.edu.ph/

31. University of Visayas, Gullas College of Medicine (Ca)
Cebu, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1977
Email - Contact school directly by phone, see website
Website - http://www2.uv.edu/departments/medicine/index.htm

32. Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation (Ca)
Pangasinan, Luzon (North)
Est. 1975
Email - vmuf@mozcom.com
Website - http://www.vmuf.edu.ph/

33. West Visayas State University (Ca)
Iloilo City, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1975
Email - myrna@ililo.net
Website -

34. Xavier Univeristy (Ca)
Cagayan De Oro City, Visayas (Central)
Est. 1983
Email -jprcm@xu.edu.ph
Website - http://www.xu.edu.ph/acadunits/jprcm/main.html

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Hello i am interested in attending cebu doc or southwester in cebu phillipines.My question is do you have to have a 4 year degree to aplly or can you do so with just the basic science classes and a good nmat score. I am 33 and currently work in a hospital emergency dept Would this help me ?Thank you

not sure but you can check thier site for more info:
Cebu Doc: http://orion.cdc-cdh.edu/%7Emedicine/

SWU: http://mham.swu.edu.ph/

All med schools there require a bachelor degree (A.B., BA or **). Some school may help you get into an accelerated Bachelor's program then go to med school but you have to inquire with individual schools.

May you explain what is the accelerated Bachelor degree?
Do they have it at UST, FEU, Da Le Salle or UE?

UP PGH have a straight course for medicine, but you have to have exeptional scores in their entrance exam

how much are the tution fees at UST, FEU, Da Le Salle or UE?
any donation fee needed?

also, what is the website of the schools that dont require a Bachelor Deg? tution?

thanks everyone

All schools require a bachelors degree. The donation fee (they call it foreign fee) is a one-time fee ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. You can inquire about tuition from each school and all have their own web site. The most expensive one is UST with $10,000 donation fee but tuition is only about $1,450 per semester.

nicely put