The University was the top-performing school in the August 2017 physical and occupational therapist licensure examinations, with nine Thomasians entering the top 10 in the occupational therapist (OT) boards.
UST registered a 94.37-percent passing rate in the OT board exams, with 67 passing the test out of 71 examinees, results from the Professional Regulations Commission showed.
Two Thomasians placed second in the OT licensure exams while seven others made it to the top 10.
Leading the new batch of Thomasian occupational therapists were Julian Elijah Deabanico and Eliza Camille Hugo, both scoring 82 percent.
Other Thomasians who made it to the top 10 were Joy Marie Balamban who placed fourth with 81.20 percent; Gianina Arnette Martin who placed sixth with 80.60 percent; seventh placers Mark Blanco and Glenn Labrado, 80.40 percent; eighth placer Gabrielle Yulo, 80.20 percent; and ninth placers Seiji Sim and Marius Siy, 80 percent.
Daisy Joyce Madali of De La Salle University ranked first in the OT exams with an 83.20-percent score.
The national passing rate for occupational therapists improved to 72.64 percent, with 215 examinees passing the exams out of 296, from last year’s 49.78 percent or 114 out of 229 examinees.
In the separate licensure exam for physical therapists (PT), UST obtained a 98.97-percent passing rate, with 96 out of 97 examinees making the cut.
No Thomasian made it to the top 10 of the PT examinations.
This year’s UST passing rate was higher than last year’s 96.34 percent (79 out of 82 examinees).
The national passing rate for physical therapists slipped to 62.80 percent, or 802 out of 1,277 examinees, from 68.06 percent or 846 out of 1,243 examinees in 2016.
