Cebuano tops MedTech board

A SON of a medical doctor and a nurse from Mandaue City emerged as the topnotcher in the Medical Technologist Licensure Examination administered nationwide over the weekend, the Professional Regulations Commission announced yesterday.

Ray Zanoria Perez II, 21, from Banilad, Mandaue City, who was graduated from Velez College, got a  92.10 percent rating to top the examination given by the Board of Medical Technology from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 in testing centers in Manila, Baguio, Cebu and Davao.

A total of 2,276 out of 2,716 examinees passed the examination.

“Nalipay kaayo ko kay nakapalipay ko sa akong school, sa akong family ug sa akong mga classmates. Usahay di pa ko makatuo, tinuod ba kaha ni?” he said.

(I’m happy because I also made my school, my family and my classmates happy. Sometimes, I still can’t believe and I’d ask myself: ‘Is this for real?’”

Perez, who graduated cum laude at the Velez College last May, is the only son of Dr. Ray Perez who has a clinic in Mandaue City. His mother, Nerissa Zanoria Perez, works as a nurse abroad. The young Perez was valedictorian and salutatorian in elementary and high school respectively at the Center for International Education in barangay Mabolo in Cebu City.

Despite being an academic achiever, he said he was not expecting to top in the board examinations, saying the test was tough. He added that he was very nervous when rumors spread that the results were to be announced Wednesday, prompting him to switch off his mobile phone and disconnect from the Internet. Perez came to know about the results when his friends exerted all efforts to reach him to break the news.

Perez said he plans to teach in his alma mater, Velez College, in the second semester. He likewise plans to pursue Medicine and follow in his father’s footsteps.

“Akong Papa, doctor man sir. Nakakita ko sa iyang trabaho, makaingon  ko nga nakatabang siyag daghang tawo, fulfilling siya nga trabaho,” he said.

(I’ve seen my father work and I could say that he has helped a lot of people. It’s a very fulfilling profession.)

Perla Viñarta, assistant dean of the Velez College of Medical Technology, said they had expected Perez to top the exam. She said his batch included a magna cum laude and 15 cum laude graduates, but most of them proceeded to Medicine.

Of the 148 examinees from Velez, only one failed to make the grade. /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan