Compensation and Travel Expenses
- Chairman, members, and secretary entitled to 25 pesos per diem per meeting
- Maximum four meetings per month qualify for per diem
- Traveling expenses covered for official duties
- Government salaried officials excluded from per diem
Functions of the Board of Medical Education
- Set minimum admission requirements for medical colleges
- Prescribe minimum physical facilities including hospitals, labs, equipment
- Determine minimum teaching personnel qualifications and student-teacher ratios
- Recommend minimum curricula
- Regulate preparatory course student numbers
- Register medical students and collect a 5 peso fee for Board funds
- Approve hospitals for clinical training
- Enforce rules for these functions
Minimum Required Courses and Curriculum
- Admission requires bachelor’s degree or equivalent spanning specified subjects with units (e.g., English 18 units, Chemistry 21 units, Humanities 12 units)
- Medical course is at least five years including eleven months rotating internship
- Subjects include Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Surgery, Obstetrics, Preventive Medicine, Legal Medicine, and Medical Ethics
Admission Requirements for Medical Colleges
- Must not have conviction involving moral turpitude
- Must present bachelor's degree, certificate of eligibility from Board, two certificates of good moral character from former Liberal Arts professors, and birth certificate
- Colleges may impose additional entrance requirements
- Definition of "College of Medicine" includes various medical schools offering the Doctor of Medicine degree
- Colleges must keep detailed records and publish an annual catalog with academic and faculty information
Qualifications for Board Examinations
- Filipino citizen or foreigner with reciprocity confirmation
- Good moral character
- Sound mind
- No conviction involving moral turpitude
- Holder of Doctor of Medicine degree from government-recognized medical school
Acts Constituting the Practice of Medicine
- Examining, diagnosing, treating, operating, or prescribing remedies for human conditions for compensation or otherwise
- Offering or advertising medical services by any communication means
- Falsely using the title M.D.
Exemptions from Practice Restrictions
- Medical students under supervised training without professional fee
- Registered dentists practicing dentistry exclusively
- Registered masseurs/physiotherapists applying massage on physician's order or for physical development
- Registered optometrists working mechanically with lenses and spectacles
- Gratuitous emergency service providers
- Persons administering household remedies under pharmacy classification
- Clinical psychologists or mental hygienists under physician supervision
- Prosthetists fitting artificial limbs under physician supervision
Limited Practice Without Registration Certificates
- Foreign physicians called for consultation with Board approval
- Commissioned U.S. Armed Forces medical officers serving only armed forces personnel
- Exchange professors in medicine with Board approval
- Medical students completing four years, graduate medicine, or registered nurses given temporary authorization during epidemics or emergencies
Board of Medical Examiners Composition and Duties
- Six members appointed by President from a list by Philippine Medical Association
- Chairman elected among members
- Members assigned examination subjects
- Examination papers handled by Civil Service Commissioner
- Grades deliberated after exam grading; publication of passers' names without scores
Qualifications for Board Members
- Natural-born Filipino citizen
- Registered physician with at least 10 years practice
- Good moral character certified by Philippine Medical Association
- No faculty or financial interest in medical schools during appointment
Tenure and Compensation of Board Members
- Three-year term without immediate reappointment
- Staggered initial terms: 1, 2, and 3 years
- Compensation: 10 pesos per candidate examined for registration, and 5 pesos per preliminary/final examinee
- Annual compensation cap of 18,000 pesos
- Removal by President on recommendation for neglect, incompetency, or misconduct
Secretary of the Board
- Also Secretary of Boards of Examiners
- Keeps records, examination papers, minutes
- Maintains detailed registry of registered physicians
- Dispatches examination questions and ratings confidentially to medical schools
- Handles complaints and proceedings
Examination Dates
- Twice yearly, six months apart
- Held in Manila or suburbs with minimum 10 days' notice
Fees
- Complete physician examination: 75 pesos
- Preliminary or final examination: 40 pesos
- Registration: 20 pesos
- Fees fund Board operations; no other fees allowed
Issuance and Refusal of Certificates of Registration
- Signed by Commissioner of Civil Service and Board members
- Denied for convictions involving moral turpitude, immoral or dishonorable conduct after investigation, or unsound mind
Examination Scope and Passing Requirements
- Preliminary subjects: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Parasitology
- Final subjects: Pharmacology, Pathology, Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Surgery, Preventive Medicine, Legal Medicine, Ethics
- Complete examination covers all subjects
- Uniform questions, answers in English, anonymous exam papers
- Passing requires general average of 75% and no subject below 50%
- Third failure mandates one-year refresher course before retake
- Preliminary pass exempts subjects from final exam; failure requires completion of medical study and internship before retake
Administrative Investigations
- Board may administer oaths, study medical practice conditions, maintain professional ethics
- Can subpoena witnesses
- Promulgates necessary rules with Civil Service approval
- Investigations require minimum two Board members and legal officer; failure invalidates proceedings
- May reprimand, suspend, revoke registration after due process
Rights of Respondent Physicians
- Right to counsel and self-representation
- Speedy and public hearing
- Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses
- All constitutional and procedural rights provided in Rules of Court