by JM Deblois
St. Luke's College of Medicine, Quezon City - Four hundred sixty-four (464) students together with most of the faculty and the staff filled up the Angelo King Auditorium in the Opening Ceremonies held earlier as another school year begins in the St. Luke’s College of Medicine
Dean Brigido Carandang opened the curtains for another year of academic life with his trademark inspirational words and a brief glimpse on the history of St. Luke’s College of Medicine.
Seeing an auditorium filled up led him to describe the years when major revamps in admission policies and curriculum adjustments led to a drastic reduction of the number of students in the College. In the process, the Dean also mused on the work they have begun in 2005, calling it many times as an “experiment.”
Today, the memory of the time when only fourteen students were accepted in the College is fading as a large group of nervous but excited faces gave life to the auditorium.
An ongoing experiment
The St. Luke’s College of Medicine has accepted a total of one hundred and twenty-four students as freshmen this year.
Majority of the freshmen came from UP Campuses, with forty-five (45). Second came UST with thirty-two (32). Other schools like DLSU and ADMU are also represented by eight (8) and four (4) students respectively.
Aside from the “Big Four”, the college also boasts a freshman roster from the best of the best of other schools like FEU and San Pedro College from Davao. Other schools from provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are also well-represented.
Among this group sixty-seven (67) graduated with a degree of B.S. Biology. Seven (7) came from B.S. Nursing, and six (6) came from B.S. Medical Technology. Other science-related courses for this year’s freshmen batch include B.S. Biochemistry (4) , B.S. Chemistry (5) , B.S. MBB (1) , B.S. Pharmacy (5) , B.S. Physical Therapy (2) , B.S. Psychology (5), and B.S. Public Health (2).
Seventeen (17) of these group graduated as magna cum laudes, while forty (40) are cum laudes for this new batch of doctors-in-the-making.
Scholarships
All in all, according to Dean Carandang, the college gives a training ground to the upper 4% of the best students in the country, with an average NMAT score of 96 percentile.
Also responding to the issues concerning the removal of the partial scholarship, he mentioned the need to “temper” the numbers of students qualified for scholarships.
“We noticed that if we retain the partial scholarship, it will cost us a lot.” He said.
The former scholarship program of SLCM covers a full and a partial scholarship. The full scholarship is granted to those who have attained an average of 85 with no grade at any subject at below 80, or for freshmen, an NMAT of above 90 with latin honors. For partial scholarship, a GWA of above 80 with no subjects having a grade of below 80 OR simply a grade of above 85, while for freshmen, simply an NMAT percentile rank of above 90 will automatically qualify for a 75% partial scholarship.
“There was a time that 61% of the student populations were scholars, and that cost us a lot of money.” He said, also citing the statistic that if the partial scholarship is retained “almost 70%” will retain their scholarship the following year which can incur major losses for the school.
The administration is now trying to peg the number of scholars at 40% to sustain the college.
“I predict that if the number of students continues to increase. We will [finally] make a little profit.” Acknowledging the tremendous cost of sustaining a generous scholarship program in SLCM through the previous years.
“Financially, we’re getting there. We’re stable.” He ensured.
Other means
For financially deprived students however, Dean suggested different means to continue in their studies, acknowledging willing and anonymous benefactors to answer for the costs of medical education of deserving students.
“I have friends whom I have asked to hand over some money.” He jokingly stated much to the crowd’s appreciation.
Another alternative way is the St. Luke’s Foundation who will screen deserving students who are financially in need.
He also clarified that these alternative scholarships are subject to thorough investigation before it can be granted, with careful consideration of financial need and the overall performance of the student in the College as well.
“Total” Scholarships
With the partial scholarship getting the red light, three new “total” scholars were granted a lifetime scholarship. The total scholarships or more aptly named the following, The Jose Ledesma Scholarship for Academic Excellence, the Robert Kuan Scholarship for Leadership, and the Manuel Lumpias Scholarship for Community Service, are given to incoming 3rd year students who are part of the batch’s top ten and are active in developing Lukan ideals.
These scholarships grant free medical education for the rest of their stay in the college with a cash grant of thirty thousand pesos.
The total scholars from batch 2017 include Steffanie Tamayo as the Jose Ledesma Scholar for Academic Excellence, Patricia Pintac as the Robert Kuan Scholar for Leadership, and Darwin Dela Cruz as the Manuel Lumpias Scholar for Community Service.
The top five students from each batch were also acknowledged and asked to come up to the stage.
Towards Leadership and Excellence
The oath-taking of this year's Student Council also took place, with the elected officers being joined by their appointed committee heads on the stage to pledge their full service to the school and the student body.
The incumbent SC President, Armand Joseph De Castro, led the oath-taking.
The welcoming ceremonies were also graced with the presence of other prominent figures from the St. Luke's Medical Center, and was hosted by the College Secretary Dr. Joanne Sebastiana M. De Ramos.
The final part of the program consisted of the awarding of free iPad minis to the top three among the second year and the third year, with four being raffled to deserving faculty members who were present.
In a closing message to his speech, dean reiterated the goal of SLCM to make doctors who are able to "practice with dignity, humility, and respect."
In his challenge to the SC and to the whole student body, he cited the need to work on punctuality, as it is the common symptom of the lack of professionalism among doctors today.
"We're starting a revolution here." He said. [x]
St. Luke's College of Medicine, Quezon City - Four hundred sixty-four (464) students together with most of the faculty and the staff filled up the Angelo King Auditorium in the Opening Ceremonies held earlier as another school year begins in the St. Luke’s College of Medicine
Dean Brigido Carandang opened the curtains for another year of academic life with his trademark inspirational words and a brief glimpse on the history of St. Luke’s College of Medicine.
Seeing an auditorium filled up led him to describe the years when major revamps in admission policies and curriculum adjustments led to a drastic reduction of the number of students in the College. In the process, the Dean also mused on the work they have begun in 2005, calling it many times as an “experiment.”
Today, the memory of the time when only fourteen students were accepted in the College is fading as a large group of nervous but excited faces gave life to the auditorium.
An ongoing experiment
The St. Luke’s College of Medicine has accepted a total of one hundred and twenty-four students as freshmen this year.
Majority of the freshmen came from UP Campuses, with forty-five (45). Second came UST with thirty-two (32). Other schools like DLSU and ADMU are also represented by eight (8) and four (4) students respectively.
Aside from the “Big Four”, the college also boasts a freshman roster from the best of the best of other schools like FEU and San Pedro College from Davao. Other schools from provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are also well-represented.
Among this group sixty-seven (67) graduated with a degree of B.S. Biology. Seven (7) came from B.S. Nursing, and six (6) came from B.S. Medical Technology. Other science-related courses for this year’s freshmen batch include B.S. Biochemistry (4) , B.S. Chemistry (5) , B.S. MBB (1) , B.S. Pharmacy (5) , B.S. Physical Therapy (2) , B.S. Psychology (5), and B.S. Public Health (2).
Seventeen (17) of these group graduated as magna cum laudes, while forty (40) are cum laudes for this new batch of doctors-in-the-making.
Scholarships
All in all, according to Dean Carandang, the college gives a training ground to the upper 4% of the best students in the country, with an average NMAT score of 96 percentile.
Also responding to the issues concerning the removal of the partial scholarship, he mentioned the need to “temper” the numbers of students qualified for scholarships.
“We noticed that if we retain the partial scholarship, it will cost us a lot.” He said.
The former scholarship program of SLCM covers a full and a partial scholarship. The full scholarship is granted to those who have attained an average of 85 with no grade at any subject at below 80, or for freshmen, an NMAT of above 90 with latin honors. For partial scholarship, a GWA of above 80 with no subjects having a grade of below 80 OR simply a grade of above 85, while for freshmen, simply an NMAT percentile rank of above 90 will automatically qualify for a 75% partial scholarship.
“There was a time that 61% of the student populations were scholars, and that cost us a lot of money.” He said, also citing the statistic that if the partial scholarship is retained “almost 70%” will retain their scholarship the following year which can incur major losses for the school.
The administration is now trying to peg the number of scholars at 40% to sustain the college.
“I predict that if the number of students continues to increase. We will [finally] make a little profit.” Acknowledging the tremendous cost of sustaining a generous scholarship program in SLCM through the previous years.
“Financially, we’re getting there. We’re stable.” He ensured.
Other means
For financially deprived students however, Dean suggested different means to continue in their studies, acknowledging willing and anonymous benefactors to answer for the costs of medical education of deserving students.
“I have friends whom I have asked to hand over some money.” He jokingly stated much to the crowd’s appreciation.
Another alternative way is the St. Luke’s Foundation who will screen deserving students who are financially in need.
He also clarified that these alternative scholarships are subject to thorough investigation before it can be granted, with careful consideration of financial need and the overall performance of the student in the College as well.
“Total” Scholarships
With the partial scholarship getting the red light, three new “total” scholars were granted a lifetime scholarship. The total scholarships or more aptly named the following, The Jose Ledesma Scholarship for Academic Excellence, the Robert Kuan Scholarship for Leadership, and the Manuel Lumpias Scholarship for Community Service, are given to incoming 3rd year students who are part of the batch’s top ten and are active in developing Lukan ideals.
These scholarships grant free medical education for the rest of their stay in the college with a cash grant of thirty thousand pesos.
The total scholars from batch 2017 include Steffanie Tamayo as the Jose Ledesma Scholar for Academic Excellence, Patricia Pintac as the Robert Kuan Scholar for Leadership, and Darwin Dela Cruz as the Manuel Lumpias Scholar for Community Service.
The top five students from each batch were also acknowledged and asked to come up to the stage.
Towards Leadership and Excellence
The oath-taking of this year's Student Council also took place, with the elected officers being joined by their appointed committee heads on the stage to pledge their full service to the school and the student body.
The incumbent SC President, Armand Joseph De Castro, led the oath-taking.
The welcoming ceremonies were also graced with the presence of other prominent figures from the St. Luke's Medical Center, and was hosted by the College Secretary Dr. Joanne Sebastiana M. De Ramos.
The final part of the program consisted of the awarding of free iPad minis to the top three among the second year and the third year, with four being raffled to deserving faculty members who were present.
In a closing message to his speech, dean reiterated the goal of SLCM to make doctors who are able to "practice with dignity, humility, and respect."
In his challenge to the SC and to the whole student body, he cited the need to work on punctuality, as it is the common symptom of the lack of professionalism among doctors today.
"We're starting a revolution here." He said. [x]