Topnotchers in the recent Physician’s Licensure Exams, Daniel Panaglima (Rank 3) (left) and Jessa Elaine Fronda (Rank 5) (right) are interviewed by CDN Digital’s Gresheen Gift Libby | Gresheen Gift Libby
CEBU City, Philippines — For the fifth time in a row, the Mathias H. Aznar Memorial College of Medicine, Inc. hosted the oathtaking for the new physicians in Waterfront Cebu Hotel and Casino.
At least 228 physicians graced the event with their families and loved ones, with 15 medical schools from around the Philippines.
Two topnotchers from MHAM, Jesse Elaine Fronda and Daniel Panaglima, were among this batch of new physicians, who would take their oath.
“First of all, I’m happy, blessed, and thankful for the blessings that God has given us, being in the Top 10,” Jessa Fronda said.
Fronda said that she planned to travel first before starting her residency at Adventist Medical Center, where she would pursue Internal Medicine.
A long-time dream of hers is to open a nephrology centre in her hometown in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro.
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Daniel Panaglima, on the other hand, encourages the next batch of exam takers to start studying even in their first day of medical school.
“My advice to them is that everything is possible, everything is feasible,” Panaglima said.
“You just have to dream big and aim high, and work hard for it,” he said.
Panaglima’s future plans included going back to his hometown in Lubang, Occidental Mindoro to work for the Department of Health and its program, Doctors to the Barrios.
Read more: Paying it forward: Cebu graduate, Physicians Board topnotcher, plans to serve community for 2 years
Both Fronda and Panaglima are products of MHAM’s scholarship program. Unlike the other medical schools in the province that offer a limited number of slots in their scholarship programs, MHAM boasts of its “no-limit” scholarship program.
College graduates with latin honors can qualify for a 100 percent free tuition.
Dr. Luditha Lumapat-Pe, MHAM’s college registrar and the chairman of the Committee on Scholarships, said that she was proud and elated to have members of the honor society on the topnotchers’ list.
Last March, MHAM celebrated two victories: Two topnotchers from their school, and also placing third on PRC’s top performing schools in the Philippines with a percentage of 81.08 percent.
“We are proud and happy to have reached the top 3 performing schools all over the Philippines,” Dr. Lumapat-Pe said. “We hope we can sustain this in the succeeding years. (This is) Such pride and joy for this particular position.”
Dr. Marilou Viray, MHAM chairperson of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and overall chairperson of oathtaking ceremonies, has a piece of advice for the new physicians.
“They should always see others with a heart, with compassion, kay it’s our social responsibility not being as a student, but as a doctor,” Viray said.
“We also have a responsibility to our patients. But our patients are foremost in our dealings everyday. So we should have a [kind of] attitude towards them that is always like a family regardless of status,” she said./dbs