THOMASIANs placed first and second in the Physical Therapist (PT) licensure exams, fourth and fifth in Occupational Therapist (OT) and second in Architechture, proving once more that UST gets top billing as far as licensure exams are concerned.
Thalia Angkok dela Merced (82.25 per cent) ranked first in the PT examinations last July. Kimberlyn Sy ranked second (84.90 per cent).
Meanwhile, John Lucas (80.80 per cent), and Michelle Borneo (80.60 per cent) placed fourth and fifth in the OT board exams last July.
In the Architecture board last June, Geomilie Sarden Tumamao (83.40 per cent), Gemil Aguillon Daina (81.30 per cent) and Jefferson Bayani Protomartir (81.10 per cent) placed second, ninth and tenth, respectively.
In addition, UST led the roster of schools when all of its 46 PT board takers passed, thus garnering an average of 100 per cent for PT in a tie with UP, and an 85 per cent for OT.
“Usually, we get a 100-per cent passing rate together with a third or a fourth place, but not the topnotcher,” College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) Dean Consuelo Suarez said.
According to Suarez, all the PT and the OT students of the batch 2004-2005 passed the board. The national passing rate was 32 per cent.
“Only two Thomasian OT examinees failed to make it, and these two came from the higher batches,” Suarez said.
The successful results were due to the College’s newly adopted teaching strategy, Suarez explained.
When the curriculum was revised last year, the College included subjects that would prepare the students for the board exams, which included problem-based learning in the fourth year and regular review sessions through presentation and discussion of the cases of patients they handled in the internship period, which is the fifth year.
In contrast, Architecture suffered a slight dip in its overall passing rate as only 52 per cent passed last July compared to 56 per cent last January.
According to Acting Architecture Dean Chona Ponce, a number of Thomasian examinees had unfinished designs in the practical application part. Ponce explained that it was caused by the technological advances of the College’s curriculum.
“The students had unfinished designs because they are not used to the manual drafting during the licensure examinations,” Ponce said. “Our curriculum is based on computer designing because companies are now using that instead of manual drafting.”
Ponce added that the only problem students have is their slow freehand drawing. To address this, the College implemented shorter deadlines on manual drafting assignments so that students could get used to it.
“Even though we have these minor problems, I am still confident with the talent of the students,” Ponce said. “The University still has the most competent Architecture college in the country provided that we keep up with the technological advances.”
This year’s graduating batch will have a correlation course and an exit exam, a “preboard exam” for the College to assess the course’s weaknesses.
