‘Cheat days’ aided Togonon to ace 2022 Physician Licensure Examination

MANILA, Philippines — University of the Philippines (UP) Manila’s Justin Adriel Zent Gautier Togonon nailed the top spot of the 2022 Physician Licensure Examination (PLE) with the help of “cheating” – that is binge-watching on his favorite shows, eating, spending time with family and friends.

Through these so-called cheat days, he said, he was able to relax and recharge and survive the hectic internship schedules and fierce test reviews.

Togonon admitted to squeezing in one to two hours of studying to prepare for the PLE while reporting for duty as an intern at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

“So that’s what we did during internship, and then I’ve had like a four or five-month period of really studying intently, during that period. And then, nearing the board exams na, so parang I tried to calm myself down because once you’ve already tried to store all the information in your head, it’s more of trying to actively recall and extract those information,” he said in an interview with INQUIRER.net’s video team on Thursday

“In the middle of (studying), take rest din and have few cheat days na watching Netflix, spending time with your family, and then going out then with your friends also,” he added.

Photo courtesy of Justin Togonon

As to what his mindset was coming into the examinations, Togonon recalled what his seniors told him about the four-day PLE – that it cannot be considered a sprint or a marathon, but a triathlon… four triathlons. And so he set his mind to compartmentalize the four-part tests and move on after each.

“It’s a four-day exam, as what our upperclassmen told us, you’re not doing a 100-meter sprint, don’t think that you’re Usain Bolt, think that you’re doing four triathlons,” he explained.

“So parang gano’n ‘yong mindset mo dapat, so take it one exam at a time, and then after that event, wala na, leave it behind na, and focus your attention on the remaining exam na,” he added.

(So your mindset should be like that, take it one exam at a time, and then after that event, leave it behind and just focus your attention on the remaining exams.)

Togonon scored the highest among the 3,826 examinees who passed the PLE this year with 89%. Behind him was another UP Manila graduate, Francesca Marie Aby Lagrosa, who scored 88.75%.

READ: UP Manila graduate tops October 2022 Physician Licensure Examination

Togonon said he did not expect to dominate the 2022 PLE. He said he and his peers were just wishing to pass the test.

“After day one, I was really down, my mom really tried to cheer me up, even my classmates know, we were all cheering each other up. At the end of the four days, parang all of us agreed na sige kung ano na lang ‘yong nand’yan (we’ll accept whatever the result is), what’s important naman is that we pass,” he said.

“If we just passed super happy na talaga kami (we’d be super happy already), it’s an achievement already for us,” he added.

According to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), a total of 5,958 took the PLE held in various locations in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Legazpi, Lucena, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last October.

The Board of Medicine, consisting of its Chairman Godofreda Dalmacion, and members Eleanor Almoro, Zenaida Antonio, Martha Nucum, Efren Laxamana and Joanna Remo, administered the examiantions.

Passing examinees are instructed by the PRC to register for their Professional Identification Card and Certificate of Registration online from December 22 to 23, December 26 to 29, and January 2 to 5.

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