Lawmaker pushes exams for medical graduates

MANILA, Philippines — Medical graduates should be allowed to take their licensure exams as soon as possible to allow them to serve on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

San Jose Del Monte Rep. Florida Robes, chair of the House people participation committee, urged the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to take immediate steps to administer the physician licensure examinations to new or recent graduates of medicine.

‘Required credentials’

In a statement, Robes pointed out that medical graduates are now being sought to boost assistance in hospitals.

“However, the postponements have affected the response of hospitals to the COVID-19 pandemic because aside from the shortage of doctors, the graduates could not be deployed full time without the required credentials,” she said.

The Philippines has a shortage of some 63,000 medical doctors, Robes said.

She pointed out “the anxiety of medical graduates and interns who were scheduled to take the March examinations but have been required to help in the anti-COVID-19 efforts of the government without the required eligibility.”

‘Full confidence’

“The conduct of the examinations and the subsequent passing of the medical interns and graduates will enable them to join the front-liners in full confidence and without the fear of discrimination.” Robes added.

She recalled that medical graduates were supposed to take their examinations in March but were unable to do so because of the lockdown beginning that month, with the PRC suspending examinations.

“Announcements were later made by the PRC Board of Medicine that the board examinations for doctors will push through in September this year,” she said.

“However, there were several reports that the examinations may again [be moved] to November because there is still no definite software platform in the conduct of computer-based examinations,” Robes said.

She asked the PRC to hasten the creation of an electronic media platform to administer the exams.

Once graduates take and pass their exams, their presence “will augment the already depleted and overworked medical frontliners battling the virus in various hospitals and other medical institutions all over the country,” Robes said.