Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 5946)
The Board of Medical Education is composed of the Secretary of Education or his duly authorized representative as chairman; the Secretary of Health or his representative; the Director of the Bureau of Private Schools or representative; the chairman of the Board of Medical Examiners or representative; a representative of the Philippine Medical Association; the Dean of the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines; a representative of the Council of Deans of Philippine Medical Schools; and a representative of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges.
The Chairman, members, and Secretary of the Board of Medical Education are entitled to twenty-five pesos per diem for every meeting, not to exceed four meetings per month, as well as traveling expenses related to their official duties.
The Board's functions include determining admission requirements for medical schools, prescribing minimum physical facilities, setting qualifications for teaching personnel, mandating the medical curriculum, authorizing experimental curricula, accepting applications for admission certification, approving hospitals for training, and promulgating rules for implementation.
Applicants must have a bachelor's degree in science or arts before seeking admission to the medical course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
The curriculum includes Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry and Nutrition, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Parasitology, Medicine and Therapeutics, Pathology, Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Surgery, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and Legal Medicine including Jurisprudence, Medical Economics, and Ethics.
Applicants must not have been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude, must present a bachelor's degree in science or arts, have a certificate of eligibility from the Board of Medical Education, a certificate of good moral character from two former liberal arts professors, and a birth certificate. Other requirements may be established by the college.
The term 'College of Medicine' includes faculties, institutes, schools of medicine or similar institutions that offer a complete medical course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine or its equivalent.
Colleges must keep complete records of enrollment, grades, and graduates, and publish annually a catalogue detailing publication date, academic calendar, faculty roll, admission requirements, grading system, criteria for promotion and graduation, curriculum details, and student enrollment numbers per class from the preceding year.
Candidates must be Philippine citizens or foreigners whose countries allow Filipino doctors to practice; be of good moral character and sound mind; not convicted of offenses involving moral turpitude; hold a Doctor of Medicine degree from a government-recognized college; and have completed a one-year internship in approved hospitals or health centers.
Experimental curricula may prescribe different admission and graduation requirements than those prescribed in the Act, but only exceptional students may be enrolled, and the school must have exceptional faculty and instrumental facilities.