AFTER suffering a major setback from the dismal result of the previous board examinations, the MMSU Pharmacy Department (PD) is back with a vengeance claiming the number two slot for the top performing pharmacy schools in the country.

“We are overwhelmed with the result,” said Prof. Aileen T. Camangeg, PD chair, during an interview with the MMSU Newsletter, as she handed a copy of the downloaded information from the PRC website which showed that out of the 88 MMSU graduates who took the examination this month, 71 passed garnering an 80.68 percentage passing rate – a record too high compared with the 56.29 percent national passing rate.

“Their success was attributed to the improved monitoring method that we employed to our students when they were having their review classes in Laoag City,” said Ms. Anebelle Bernardo, one of the two review coordinators, who guided the examinees in their review and during their board exam. The other coordinator was Ms. Maria Danica Ramil.

Bernardo and Ramil were referring to the close monitoring activities and the mock board examinations that the PD employed. In the first phase of the review, for instance, the reviewees were only given short break and rest periods, while in the second phase, there was an intensive monitoring of the students’ activities. The reviewees were strictly visited once a week and were asked of their problems concerning the review.

“We provided their needs especially in the psychological aspect of the review,” Bernardo said, adding that those who were screened to review and passed the mock board exams were the ones allowed to take the board examinations.

Meanwhile, of the 88 who took the test, 72 were first timers and 16 were repeaters. Sixty-three of the first timers passed, while 8 of the repeaters finally made it. The new MMSU pharmacists were among the 1,292 passers throughout the country culled from the 2,295 examinees that desired to obtain a PRC license this year.