By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr.

The lone medical school in Ilocos Norte is indeed on a roll. 

For the second time, MMSU College of Medicine (COM) has achieved another 100 percent passing rate in the March 2021 Physician Licensure Examination, with one of its pioneer graduates landing as a topnotcher. 

Dr. Jaymee B. Quindara, who was also the COM’s Class 2019 Valedictorian, landed ninth in the examination with a passing rate of 86.92 percent. Other passers were Dr. Aileen Concepcion M. Agustin, Dr. Charis Vina E. Keith, Dr. Elma Flor O. Delos Santos-Lucero, and Dr. Jonathan C. Lim. 

Also, Dr. Dane Mikhael S. Calica, an MMSU alumnus (BS Biology ’13) and a graduate of St. Luke’s Medical Center COM - William H. Quasha Memorial, emerged Top 7 in the said exam.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) released the test results last March 19 in various testing center in the country. A total of 1,234 passed the exam out of 1,927 examinees, posting a 64.03 percent national passing rate. 

MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis lauded this another achievement of the College, saying that the whole university community “celebrates with your success and is very proud of you.”

“We wish you all the best, our new medical doctors, as you join the roster of dignified practitioners,” she added.

COM Dean Ricardo S. Guanzon thanked the MMSU community, as well as the consultants of the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center and the Baguio City General Hospital and Medical Center for their overwhelming support to the graduates. 

Expressing its heartfelt commendations, the MMSU-COM Medical Students Association posted on Facebook, “Your triumph and success is most definitely not a sole function of baseline intelligence. It’s putting your untiring efforts and unending perseverance in getting that elusive license.”

In November 2020, all seven pioneer graduates of MMSU-COM also passed the examination. 

Established in 2015, the COM is the youngest college in the University and medical school in northern Luzon. (StratCom)