Objectives and Implementing Agencies
- Section 1 establishes the Act’s objectives: education standardization and regulation, physician registration examinations, and regulation of medical practice.
- Section 2 creates the Board of Medical Education (Department of Education).
- Section 2 creates the Board of Medical Examiners (under the Commissioner of Civil Service).
Board of Medical Education Duties
- Section 3 forms the Board of Medical Education with:
- the Secretary of Education (or duly authorized representative) as chairman;
- the Secretary of Health (or duly authorized representative);
- the Director of the Bureau of Private Schools (or duly authorized representative);
- the chairman of the Board of Medical Examiners (or duly authorized representative);
- a representative of private practitioners upon recommendation of an acknowledged medical association; and
- a representative chosen by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities.
- Section 4 limits compensation: chairman and members are not entitled to compensation except traveling expenses connected with official duties.
- Section 4 places the Board’s office for administrative purposes in the office of its chairman, who may designate a ranking Department of Education official to serve as secretary of the Board.
- Section 5 charges the Board to:
- determine and prescribe minimum requirements for admission into a recognized college of medicine;
- determine and prescribe minimum physical facilities for colleges of medicine, including buildings (including hospitals), equipment and supplies, apparatus, instruments, appliances, laboratories, bed capacity for instruction, and operating and delivery rooms facilities for out-patient services, among others used for didactic and practical instructions;
- determine and prescribe minimum numbers and qualifications of teaching personnel, including student-teacher ratio and curriculum;
- determine and prescribe the number of students allowed to take the preparatory course based on capacity of recognized colleges of medicine;
- select, determine, and approve hospitals (or hospital departments) for training that comply with minimum physical facilities requirements; and
- promulgate, prescribe, and enforce necessary rules and regulations for proper implementation of these functions.
Medical Education Requirements
- Section 6 requires students seeking admission to the medical course to have a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degree (or equivalent) and to complete in four years the listed subjects with specified unit counts:
- English (12); Latin (3);
- Mathematics, including Accounting and Statistics (9);
- Philosophy, including Psychology and Logic (12);
- Zoology and Botany (15);
- Physics (8);
- Chemistry (21);
- Library Science (1);
- Humanities and Social Sciences (12).
- Section 6 mandates Spanish units pursuant to Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred nine, and then changes the requirement starting academic year nineteen hundred sixty to nineteen hundred sixty-one pursuant to Republic Act Numbered Eighteen hundred and eighty-one, requiring Spanish as cultural, social and nationalistic studies.
- Section 6 allows shorter completion of the preparatory medical course for:
- students with a general average below eighty-five per cent but without any grade of failure or condition, who may finish in three academic years plus intervening summer sessions; and
- students with a general average eighty-five per cent or over, who may finish in three academic years by taking each semester the overload permitted to bright students under existing Bureau of Private Schools regulations.
- Section 6 provides reversion rules:
- students who fail to maintain a general average of eighty-five per cent revert to the four-year category;
- students under the accelerated category revert if they have any grade of failure or condition, and students under the other category revert upon any grade of failure or condition.
- Section 6 requires the medical course to be at least five years, including not less than eleven rotating internship in an approved capital, and to include the listed medical subjects:
- Anatomy; Physiology; Biochemistry and Nutrition; Pharmacology; Microbiology; Parasitology; Medicine and Therapeutics; Genycology; Opthalmology, Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology; Pediatrics; Obstetrics; Surgery; Preventive Medicine and Public Health; Legal Medicine, including Medical Jurisprudence and Ethics.
- Section 7 prohibits admission to medical college first-year classes for anyone convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude by a court of competent jurisdiction.
- Section 7 requires admission applicants to present:
- a certificate of completion of a standard high school course;
- a record showing completion of a standard preparatory medical course;
- a certificate of registration as medical student;
- a certificate of good moral character issued by two former professors in the pre-medicine course; and
- a birth certificate and marriage certificate, if any.
- Section 7 requires every college of medicine to:
- keep a complete record of enrollment, grades, and turnover; and
- publish each year a catalogue containing: date of publication; calendar for the academic year; faculty roll indicating full-time/part-time; requirements of admission; grading system; requirements for promotion; requirements for graduation; medical hours per academic year by departing; schedule hours per academic year by departure; and number of students enrolled in each class.
- Section 7 defines “College of Medicine” to include faculty of medicine, institute of medicine, school of medicine, or other similar institution offering a complete medical course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine or its equivalent.
Board of Medical Examiners: Registration System
- Section 8 makes physician licensure a prerequisite: no person may engage in the practice of medicine in the Philippines unless the person is at least twenty-one years of age, has passed the corresponding Board Examination, and holds a valid Certificate of Registration issued by the Board of Medical Examiners.
- Section 9 requires Board examination candidates to be:
- citizens of the Philippines or foreign citizens who submit documentary evidence confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs that their country’s laws permit Filipinos to practice medicine under the same rules governing the foreign citizens;
- of good moral character shown by certificate of civil status;
- of sound mind;
- not convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude; and
- holders of the degree of Doctor of Medicine or its equivalent from a Department of Education recognized college of medicine.
- Section 10 defines “practice of medicine” to include, for compensation or reward (directly or through another, or even without the same), physically examining and diagnosing, treating, operating, or prescribing remedies for any human disease, injury, deformity, physical/mental condition, or ailment, real or imaginary, regardless of remedy or treatment. It also includes offering or undertaking by signs, cards, advertisements, written/printed matter, or radio/television/other communication to diagnose, treat, operate, or prescribe remedies, and it includes using the title “M.D.” after one’s name.
- Section 11 exempts specified persons from the operation of the practice definition, including: medical students duly enrolled and serving without professional fee under direct supervision and control of a registered physician; legally registered dentists practicing dentistry; duly registered masseurs/physiotherapists applying massage/physical means only upon written order or prescription of a registered physician (and limited to physical or muscular development); duly registered optometrists who mechanically fit/sell lenses or appliances or mechanically examine eyes for constructing/adjusting eye glasses/spectacles/lenses; persons rendering services gratuitously in emergencies or where a duly registered physician/nurse/midwife is not available; persons administering or recommending household remedies per existing pharmacy laws classification; and psychologists/mental hygienists performing duties in conjunction with a duly registered physician.
- Section 12 allows limited practice without certificates of registration for:
- foreign physicians called in consultation in specific and definite cases, or attached to international bodies assigned to perform definite work in the Philippines, limited to that assigned work and subject to previous authorization by the Board of Medical Examiners;
- commissioned medical officers of the United States armed forces while rendering service for armed forces members only, and within their territorial jurisdiction;
- foreign physicians employed as exchange professors in special branches of medicine or surgery where the Board of Medical Education deems their service necessary; and
- medical students who completed the first four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, and registered nurses who may be given limited and special authorization by the Secretary of Health to render medical services during epidemics or national emergencies when services of duly registered physicians are not available, with authorization automatically ceasing when the Secretary of Health declares the epidemic or national emergency terminated.
- Section 13 provides Board composition and examination logistics:
- the Board has six members appointed by the President of the Philippines from a confidential list of not more than twelve names approved and submitted by the executive council of the Philippine Medical Association after due consultation with other medical associations;
- appointments occur during April and October each year;
- the chairman is elected among members;
- the President fills any vacancy during an examination from the Philippine Medical Association list in accordance with the Act;
- no examiner handles more than four subjects or groups; and subject distribution is agreed at a meeting called by the chairman;
- examination papers are under the custody of the Commissioner of Civil Service (or representative), and are distributed to members for correction/grading/signature and submission within one hundred twenty days from termination of examinations;
- a final meeting for grade approval is called by the Commissioner immediately after receiving records; and
- successful candidates are submitted to the President of the Philippines for approval in alphabetical order without ratings.
- Section 14 sets examiner qualifications: each Board member must be (1) a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, (2) a duly registered physician in the Philippines, (3) in practice for at least ten years, (4) of good moral character and recognized standing, and (5) not a faculty member of any medical school and having no pecuniary interest directly or indirectly in any college of medicine or an institution where any branch of medicine is taught at the time of appointment; it also limits appointments so that not more than two are graduates of the same institution and not more than three are government physicians.
- Section 15 states tenure and pay: members hold office for one year, may be reappointed for not more than one year, and receive compensation of ten pesos for each candidate examined for registration as physician and five pesos for each candidate examined in the preliminary or final physician examination. The President may remove a member for neglect of duty, incompetency, or unprofessional or dishonorable conduct upon recommendation of the Commissioner of Civil Service after due investigation.
- Section 16 makes the Board secretary responsible for records and reporting: the secretary of Boards of Examiners appointed under Act Numbered Four thousand seven, as amended, becomes the secretary of the Board of Medical Examiners, keeping examination records and papers; maintaining a register of registered persons with detailed personal and education data; maintaining an up-to-date registration book of duly registered physicians; furnishing copies of examination questions and ratings to deans of colleges of medicine one month after release of the list of successful examinees; treating that report as restricted formation with privilege deprivation for schools that violate the rule; keeping a record of all registered medical students; keeping records and proceedings; and issuing and receiving papers connected with complaints to the Board.
- Section 17 authorizes rules: the Board of Medical Examiners promulgates rules and regulations necessary for examinations, correction, and registration, with approval of the Commissioner of Civil Service. These rules take effect fifteen days after publication in the Official Gazette and cannot be changed within sixty days immediately before any examination. Rules must be printed and distributed for guidance.
- Section 18 sets examination dates and notice: examinations for physician registration occur one in May and one in November each year in the City of Manila or any of its suburbs after giving not less than ten days notice to each candidate who filed name and address with the Board secretary.
- Section 19 fixes examination and registration fees collectible by the Board secretary under Commissioner supervision: P5.00 for registration as medical student; P75.00 for complete physician examination; P40.00 for preliminary or final examination; and P20.00 for registration as physician. Fees accrue to the Board of Medical Examiners’ funds and are expended to pay Board members’ compensation, and no other fees may be paid to the Board.
- Section 20 requires joint issuance of Certificates of Registration by the Commissioner of Civil Service and the Board secretary, and prohibits issuance to candidates convicted of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, found guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct after due investigation by the Board, or declared of unsound mind.
- Section 21 prescribes the scope and passing requirements of examinations:
- physician registration examination includes the listed subjects: (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 Opthalmology, Otolaryngology and Rhinology, (11) Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and (12) Legal Medicine, Ethics and Medical Jurisprudence;
- each subject or group has at least ten questions;
- Medicine includes at least three branches from the listed branches (Infectious diseases, Neurology, Dermatology, Allergy, Endocrinology and Cardio-Vascular diseases);
- Surgery includes at least four questions from the listed surgery branches (Opthalmology, Otology, Rhinology, Laryngology, Orthopedic Surgery and Anesthesiology);
- questions are the same for all applicants; answers must be written in English or Spanish; examinee names do not appear and applicants are identified by number;
- passage requires general average of seventy-five per cent, without a grade lower than sixty-five per cent in Medicine, Pediatrics and Nutrition, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and no grade lower than fifty per cent in the rest of the subjects; and
- preliminary examinations comprise Gross Anatomy and Histology, Physiology, Biochemistry, and Microbiology and Parasitology.
- Section 22 authorizes administrative investigations by the Board to administer oath to qualified physicians, study practice conditions across the Philippines, maintain ethical and professional standards, subpoena witnesses (or subpoena duces tecum), and promulgate rules (with Commissioner approval) for performance of duties in harmony with the Act and for proper practice. Administrative investigations may be conducted by not less than four Board members or proceedings are void, and existing rules of evidence apply. The Board may disapprove applications for examination or registration, reprimand physicians, or suspend or revoke registration certificates after due investigation.
- Section 23 mandates charge/investigation timelines: within five days after filing written charges under oath, the respondent physician must be furnished a copy without requiring an answer; the investigation must be conducted within five days after receipt by the respondent; and the investigation must be completed as soon as practicable.
- Section 24 sets grounds for reprimand, suspension, or revocation of registration certificates, including: conviction for moral turpitude offenses; immoral or dishonorable conduct; insanity; fraud in acquiring the certificate; gross negligence, ignorance, or incompetence causing injury or death; addiction to alcoholic beverages or habit-forming drugs rendering incompetence to practice, or gambling; false or extravagant or unethical advertisements beyond name, profession, limitation of practice, clinic hours, office and home address; performance of or aiding in criminal abortion; knowingly issuing false medical certificates; spreading derogatory rumors/news about another physician without justifiable motive; aiding or acting as dummy for an unqualified or unregistered person to practice medicine; and violation of the Philippine Medical Association-approved Code of Ethics. Refusal to attend a patient in danger of death is not a sufficient ground for revocation or suspension if there is risk to the physician’s life.
- Section 25 grants respondent procedural rights: representation by counsel or hearing by oneself; speedy and public hearing; to confront and cross-examine witnesses against the respondent; and to all rights guaranteed by the Constitution and provided in the Rules of Court.
- Section 26 provides appeal mechanics: the Board’s decision automatically becomes thirty days after promulgation unless the respondent appeals within the same period to the Commissioner of Civil Service and then to the officer of the President of the Philippines. If the final decision is unsatisfactory, the respondent may request review or file a petition for certiorari in court.
- Section 27 allows reinstatement: after two years, the Board may order reinstatement of any physician whose certificate was revoked if the physician has acted in an exemplary manner in the community of residence and has not committed any illegal, immoral, or dishonorable act.
Prohibitions, Injunctions, and Penalties
- Section 28 penalizes illegal practice of medicine with a fine of not less than one thousand pesos nor more than ten thousand pesos, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, or imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fine and imprisonment at the court’s discretion.
- Section 29 authorizes the Board of Medical Examiners to file an action to enjoin persons illegally practicing medicine from performing acts constituting practice until the necessary certificate is secured.
- Section 29 provides that a person who continues illegal practice after being enjoined is punished for contempt of court.
- Section 29 requires that an injunction does not relieve the unlicensed person from criminal prosecution and punishment under Section 28.
Funding, Repeal, and Effectivity
- Section 30 appropriates twenty thousand pesos out of National Treasury funds not otherwise appropriated to carry out the Act.
- Section 31 repeals or modifies all acts, executive orders, administrative orders, rules, regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Act.
- Section 32 provides effectivity upon approval, with transitory rules:
- if approved during the time when physician examinations are held, it takes effect immediately after those examinations;
- Section 6 takes effect at the beginning of the academic year nineteen hundred sixty to nineteen hundred sixty-one; and
- the first paragraph of Section 7 takes effect four years thereafter.