THOMASIANS registered noteworthy performances in the Chemist (Chem), Medical Technologist (Med Tech), and Physician licensure examinations last August and September.
Hannah Charlene Vergara placed second in the Chem board exams, registering a 91.25 per cent mark, while Felicidad Christina Ramirez tied with two others at sixth with an 88.75 per cent score.
In the Physician Licensure examinations, magna cum laude graduate Jeroselle Ramos ranked fourth with an 84.67 per cent score, while Noreen Manglicmot tied with two others at fifth with 84.42 per cent. Angela Yuchua, also a magna cum laude graduate, placed seventh (84.17 per cent), while Michael Raymund Gonzales, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery’s (Medicine) lone summa cum laude graduate in March 2005, placed eighth (84.00 per cent).
Meanwhile, Arlene Castro (86.80 per cent) and Catherine Clado (86.50 per cent) placed eighth and ninth in the Med Tech board exam.
The University’s medical board passing rate dropped from 86 per cent last year to 84 per cent this year (316 out of 377 examinees passed).
Medicine Dean Dr. Rolando Lopez said UST’s lower passing rate in the board exams could be attributed to having more examinees than most schools.
“More examinees mean more casualties,” Lopez said.
Lopez added that UST does not stop its students from taking the board exams unlike some medicine schools in Metro Manila.
“Other schools screen their board takers to check if they are prepared for the exams,” Lopez said. “The schools do this to improve their passing rate and make a good impression to school accrediting bodies.”
The national passing rate for the Physician Licensure exams was 51 per cent, with 1,471 of the 2,864 examinees passing.
Meanwhile, College of Science Chemistry Department Chair Joyce Tan also blamed the number of examinees for UST”s dismal finish in the licensure exams
The national passing rate for the Chemist exams was 46 per cent, as 264 out of the 568 examinees passed. The University registered a 75 per cent passing rate (24 out of 32 examinees passed).
On the other hand, in the Med Tech exams, UST landed in fourth place with University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, as Thomasian examinees made for an 83 per cent passing rate. The exact number of examinees was still unavailable as of press time. Last year, only 73 per cent of the Thomasian examinees passed the Med Tech board.
Faculty of Pharmacy Dean Priscilla Torres credited the satisfactory performance of the students this year to the good materials the faculty used for review.
Unlike Lopez and Tan, Torres said the big number of examinees could have boosted the University’s ranking in the board exams.
“Usually, most of our students do not take the board anymore because they go to medical school,” Torres said. “But this time, many took the exam that’s probably the reason why we are among the top performing schools.”
The national passing rate for the Med Tech board exams was 54 per cent (1,062 out of 1,981 of the examinees passed). April Dawn Jennifer C. Adriatico and Miko L. Morelos
