CIM is No.1 in physicians exam

PLAYING computer games during the exam review helped relax 25-year-old Blake Warren Coloma Ang.

He topped the August 2013 Physician Licensure Examination with a score of 89.42 percent.

Ang, who graduated cum laude at the Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM), bested 1,834 passers.

CIM, one of the country’s top performing schools, produced another topnotcher, 7th placer Alvin Christian Caminade Borbon with 88.17 percent.

Both young men are classmates.

Since Ang graduated at the top of his class, the pressure to excel was there, but he said he put that out of his mind.

During his board review in Manila, he said he played computer games like DOTA 2 and Starcraft to relax.

“Dili man ko kulbaan kaayo bisan hapit na ang board. Ako kay kung unsa ray makaya, mao ray tun-an nimo kay di man pugson imong kaugalingon kay ma-exhausted ka ba,” he said. (I wasn’t that nervous even when the board exam drew near. I believe that you should study only up to your capacity. If you force yourself, you only end up exhausted.)

Ang, whose  family is from Surigao City, said he was fond of children and plans to specialize in pediatric surgery but has no plans of working abroad.

“I prefer staying in the Philippines because I want to serve other Filipinos.

I’m a Christian and I love our country. Daghan gud ang nagkinahanglan, so akong gi-set aside ang monetary side”, Ang said.(There are many things needed here, so I set aside the financial consideration for now.)

Ang, who resides in Arlington Pond, barangay Cogon Ramos, has been living in Cebu City for nine years.

His father, Benito Ang, is Chinese and his mother Lucy is Filipino-Chinese “so I’m 75 percent Chinese”.

Their family runs an electronic business and bakery in Surigao City and Butuan City. Ang is the third of five children. He is the first doctor in the family.

As a high school student, Ang said he wanted to be an accountant but later realized the course was not suited for him. He enrolled in a nursing degree in Cebu Doctors University where he placed ninth in the 2008 board examination.

He went on to complete a degree in medicine in CIM. He was top of the class and graduated cum laude on April 2012. (Borbon, the 7th placer in this year’s physician licensure exam, was number 2 in class.)

Ang had his internship at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila from 2012  to April 2013.

Work in PGH, a government hospital, was hectic but fulfilling.

“Kapoy kaayo siya pero taudtaud ini’g uli sa balay, makaingon ka nga nakatabang gyud kog mga pasyente karong adlawa, bisan unsa kalapoy ang lawas,” he said. ( It’s exhausting work but when I get home later, I can say I was really able to help patients that day.)

Friends sent him text messages late yesterday afternoon. That’s how Ang learned that he topped the exam.

Ang said he didn’t believe it at first because the exam was so difficult, so he checked the website on his iPhone.

Ang said he cried out of joy. After praying each night for the grace to accept whatever was the outcome of the exam, he said the result was a gift.  /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan