St. Luke’s medical college offers unique scholarships

Students have to be bright, and if their parents have resources,  to be admitted, and stay on in colleges of medicine. Many are bright, but wither in the vine due to lack of financial support. A year’s study may cost P1 milion.  Providentially, there is St. Luke’s College of Medicine- William H. Quasha Memorial (SCLM-WHQM)  which provides full scholarships for bright and financially challenged students that cover tuition, laboratory and miscellaneous fees and books. The college is the first in the country to offer such an unprecedented feat of generosity.

The medical school was established in 1994, and opened its scholarship program in 2005.  One hundred twenty applicants for admission to the school are accepted each year, and 50 percent, or 60 applicants, are given the scholarships provided they pass the National Medical Admission Test with ratings of 90 percent or above, and are in need of funds. Partial scholarships are also given, at 75 percent of the cost of full scholarships. The grants are continued throughout the five-year medical course, provided the students maintain required grades .

The applicants for admission for 2014-2015 have gone up to 480, many of them bachelor of science degree holders from the top universities in the country, three of them graduated summa cum laude, 29, magna cum laude, and 16, cum laude. Only 120 of them will be admitted, and 60  of them given full and partial scholarships.

The surge in applicants makes the St. Luke’s College president and dean, Dr. Brigido L. Carandang Jr. quite happy. “This is proof that SLCM WHQM is one of the finest and leading medical institutions in the country today,” he says.

The pleasant-natured dean adds that as the college is “committed to providing paramount quality medical education, it is not surprising that in this year’s Physicians’ Board exams, the Professional Regulation Commission rated SLCM WHQM with a 100 percent passing mark for all the first time takers, for the 11th consecutive year.” 

Dr. Carandang is grateful for the  support of  the SLMC  board of trustees, led by its chair Dr. Joven R. Cuanang, who recently finished his term as  the  chief medical officer of St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City and Global City, and  is excited about returning to academe as a teacher of undergraduates, residents and fellows.  He expects the college to rise to the ranks of Johns Hopkins University in the future.

Dr. Carandang is an alumnus (batch 1968) of the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center College of Medicine. He pursued his residency training in neurology at the University of California  Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. (An interesting bit about the dean is that he is currently doing investigative study of the “Bangungot “ Syndrome as it inflicts young Filipino males.)

He was reluctant to accept the invitation to run the medical college. “My order was to change the image of the college,” he recalls. “I said it will require a lot of money to make the school attractive to the best students.” He took on the job though, and in his first year, agreed with the board of trustees that the college graduates’ performance left much to be desired, as compared with St. Luke’s Medical Center “which was performing remarkably well.”    

SLMC, the college’s base hospital, is the first hospital in the Philippines and the  second  in  Asia  that  is accredited by the Joint Commission for International  Accreditation,  and, together with St. Luke’s  Medical  Center  Global  City,  is considered  among 20 of the “best hospitals in the world” by the Diplomatic Council, a non -government think thank that adheres to the principles of the United Nations charter.

 Dr. Carandang is grateful for having the  support of  the SLMC  board of trustees, led by its chair Dr. Joven R. Cuanang,  who recently finished his term as  the  chief medical officer of St. Luke’s Medical Center —  Quezon City and Global City.  What Carandang

raised the faculty’s  wages  by 400 per cent, changed the curriculum for a more integrated approach in teaching subjects, launched the scholarship program,  and put up a good library  (managed by  the best librarians in the country) that contains all textbooks in medicine and 5,000 medical journals. With a click at the computer, students and teachers have access to any and all information.

Unlike in other schools,   students at SLMC WHQM earn their medical degree in five years, with the fifth year automatically spent on  internship at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City –a block away from the 14 -story medical college.  Students in other schools have to apply for internship in hospitals of their choice in their fifth year.

Aside from providing students the facilities and practical experience in health services delivery, the hospital, through its St. Luke’s Medical Center Foundation Inc., helps raise support and funding  from companies and individuals for the college’ s scholarship program.  

The  medical graduates and scholars do not always choose to practice medicine at St. Luke’ s Medical Center. A good number of them work in government hospitals. One of  the full scholars was a former rebel who  decided to come down from the hills,  won a full scholarship at  SLMC and graduated valedictorian, and is now working in a government hospital for children. “This is where I can serve more people, especially indigent patients,” she says.  

A bright and deserving scholar is Dyl Mesina, a native of Iligan City who graduated cum laude with a BS biology degree from the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of  Technology. She won a scholarship  at St. Luke’s, lost it after the first year for low grades, the reason being inability to adjust to life in Manila. Then when disaster struck her hometown in December 2011, which left more than 1200 dead, her parents could not support her through medical school.  She regained a partial scholarship at St. Luke’s, and with Jollibee Foundation providing more assistance, she is back in school—on the road to becoming a surgical oncologist one day.

Dr. Carandang says he is “extremely happy, I would consider this my best job so far.”  He is a unique administrator himself, insisting commitment and excellence from the faculty and staff, and a positive attitude among the students. “My happiness comes from seeing the students, some of the most brilliant in the country ,  driven, possessed with excellence. I think we’ve created an atmosphere of being very competitive, of being proud to be in the college.”

Dr. Carandang surprises listeners when he talks about his conversations with students. He tells them, “You have to be a happy student. Medicine is tough, but be happy, enjoy your school, your classmates, your obsession to be good.”

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Lopez Museum invites all writers, designers and musicians to “Writer’s Right,” a forum on their natural and negotiable  rights . The forum will be held on April 26 from 1– 4 pm at the Lopez Museum and Library on Meralco avenue, Pasig City.

 Topics include drafting of a contract for freelancers and specific aspects such as shared copyright, work-for-hire, royalties, right of first refusal, ownership of originals, derivative work, copyright infringement, fair use, etc.

Main speakers are author Beverly Siy, columnist and publisher Katrina Stuart Santiago, book blogger and publisher Honeylein de Peralta, and author and publisher Mina Esguerra.     

The forum, offered free  of charge, is part of the Lopez Museum and Library and BLTX’s public service program for the creative industry and is support in part by Gourmet Farms, Inc. For more information, call Tina at 631-2417.

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