3 Visayas grads among top medical board exam passers

LEFT TO RIGHT: Mark Arlo Segundo, Mark Johnuel Duavis, and Sonny Redula | Facebook photos and Uswag Ilonggo Party List

CEBU CITY—Mark Johnuel Duavis grew up seeing his mother work as a government nurse since she was the only health professional in their community in Bohol province.

“Many people went to our house to ask for help every day. Some of them had headaches, suffered strokes or even heart attacks. Many also asked for medicines,” said the 31-year-old native of Barangay Cangawa in Buenavista, Bohol, in an interview over radio dyLA on Thursday.This sealed his dream to become a doctor someday.

He, however, had to wait for six years before he could study medicine when the Department of Health finally gave him a scholarship.

On Thursday, Duavis, a graduate of the University of Cebu College of Medicine in Mandaue City, got the 10th highest score in the licensure exam for physicians with a rating of 87.08 percent.Two other graduates from the Visayas—Sonny Redula of the Cebu Institute of Medicine and Mark Arlo Segundo of West Visayas State University— ranked sixth (87.50 percent) and fifth (87.58 percent), respectively.The results of the medical board exams were released by the Professional Regulation Commission early on Thursday. Justin Adriel Zent Togonon of the University of the Philippines Manila topped the exams with a rating of 89 percent.Both Duavis and Segundo planned to serve as “doctor to the barrios” to help the poor while Redula wanted to specialize in internal medicine.

Giving back

Like his mother, Duavis said he wanted to help those in far-flung areas.

“I’m very much willing [to work in the villages] to help other people. I want to give back to the people, who, through their taxes, helped me study medicine for five years at school. It is just proper to apply what I learned to people, especially the poor,” Duavis said.

Segundo said he enrolled in an online review center and gathered notes from previous board exam takers to help him pass the exams.

“The main challenge I had was the difficulty in focusing. I am not used to studying for long hours and days at home. I tried not to get sick, too, since stress and fatigue can really break your momentum,” Segundo said.Redula, on the other hand, attributed his success to his girlfriend, Mara Bernadette Liston, who also passed the board exams with him. He said they studied together and got help from their classmates during the review.

While his father, a lawyer, was a bar topnotcher, Redula said he and his siblings were more influenced in their choice of career by their mother, Vicky, who has since retired as a doctor.His sister Kitty is also doctor while a brother, Billy, is a nurse in the United States.

Redula said he wanted to be a doctor so he could help other people. “I thank my parents and our entire family for supporting my studies in medical school. Of course, I dedicated everything to God who is instrumental in achieving my dream,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM JOEY MARZAN INQ