QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 2382)
The Act provides for the standardization and regulation of education, the examination for registration of physicians, and the supervision, control, and regulation of the practice of medicine in the Philippines.
It creates (1) the Board of Medical Education under the Department of Education and (2) the Board of Medical Examiners under the Commissioner of Civil Service.
The chairman is the Secretary of Education or authorized representative. Other members include the Secretary of Health representative, Director of Bureau of Private Schools representative, chairman of the Board of Medical Examiners representative, a representative of private practitioners recommended by an acknowledged medical association, and a representative chosen by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities.
It determines admission requirements, minimum facilities for colleges of medicine, minimum qualifications and student-teacher ratio/curriculum, the number of students allowed to take the preparatory course based on capacity, selects/approves hospitals or departments for training that meet facility standards, and promulgates/enforces rules for implementing these functions.
Students must have a BS/BA or equivalent and complete, in four years, subjects: English (12), Latin (3), Math incl. Accounting and Statistics (9), Philosophy incl. Psychology and Logic (12), Zoology and Botany (15), Physics (8), Chemistry (21), Library Science (1), Humanities and Social Sciences (12), and Spanish units required under the cited Republic Acts (with a specific shift from RA 709 to RA 1881 starting AY 1960–1961).
Students with general average below 85% but without failure/condition may finish in three academic years plus intervening summer sessions; those with general average of 85% or over may finish in three academic years by taking permitted overload per Bureau of Private Schools regulations. If a student under the shorter-period categories fails to maintain the 85% general average or has any failure/condition, they revert to the four-year category.
At least five years, including not less than eleven rotating internships in an approved capital. It also consists of the enumerated subjects (e.g., Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Medicine, Obstetrics, Surgery, Preventive Medicine, and Legal Medicine including Ethics).
Under Section 8, they must be at least 21 years old, have passed the Board Examination, and hold a valid Certificate of Registration issued by the Board of Medical Examiners.
A person is engaged in practice if, for compensation (or even without it), they physically examine and diagnose/treat/operate/prescribe remedies for human diseases/conditions; or if they, by ads/signs/cards/printed matter/radio/TV/other communication, offer/undertake to diagnose/treat/operate/prescribe remedies; or if they use the title “M.D.” after their name.
Exempted include: medical students in approved training serving without professional fee under direct supervision; legally registered dentists practicing dentistry; duly registered masseurs/physiotherapists acting only under a physician’s written order or limited to physical/muscular development; duly registered optometrists mechanically fitting/selling lenses or mechanical eye examination for glasses; persons rendering gratuitous emergency services where professionals are unavailable; persons recommending household remedies per pharmacy laws; and psychologists/mental hygienists when performed in conjunction with a duly registered physician.
It allows limited practice for: foreign physicians in consultation or specific assigned work with prior authorization; commissioned U.S. armed forces medical officers while serving their forces and within territorial jurisdiction; foreign physicians as exchange professors in special branches (as the Board of Medical Education may deem necessary); and medical students (after completing the first four years), medicine graduates, and registered nurses granted limited authorization by the Secretary of Health to render medical services during epidemics/national emergencies when physicians are unavailable, with authorization automatically ceasing when the declaration ends.
Candidates must be (1) Philippine citizen or foreign citizen with DFA-confirmed proof that their country allows Philippine citizens to practice under similar rules; (2) of good moral character (certificate of civil status); (3) of sound mind; (4) not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude; and (5) holder of the Doctor of Medicine degree or equivalent from a recognized college of medicine.
The exam covers: (1) Anatomy and Histology, (2) Physiology, (3) Biochemistry, (4) Microbiology and Parasitology, (5) Pharmacology and Therapeutics, (6) Pathology, (7) Medicine, (8) Obstetrics and Gynecology, (9) Pediatrics and Nutrition, (10) Surgery and Ophthalmology/Otolaryngology/Rhinology, (11) Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and (12) Legal Medicine, Ethics and Medical Jurisprudence.
A candidate passes if they obtain a general average of 75% with no grade lower than 65% in Medicine, Pediatrics and Nutrition, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and no grade lower than 50% in the remaining subjects.
Grounds include conviction for moral turpitude crimes, immoral/dishonorable conduct, insanity, fraud in acquisition of the certificate, gross negligence/ignorance/incompetence causing injury or death, addiction to alcohol or habit-forming drugs or gambling, false/unethical advertisements, aiding in criminal abortion, knowingly issuing false medical certificates, making derogatory statements about another physician without justifiable motive, acting as a “dummy” for an unqualified/unregistered person, and violation of the Code of Ethics. Refusal to attend a patient in danger of death is not sufficient for revocation/suspension if there is risk to the physician’s life.
It is punished by a fine of not less than ₱1,000 nor more than ₱10,000 with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, or imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or both, at the court’s discretion.