The Ateneo de Zamboanga
University School of Medicine scored a double victory in the recent March 2018
Physician Licensure Examination.
Raking in an 95.83% (46 out of 48) overall rating, 97.77% (44/45)
for the first time takers and 67% for second time takers, against a national
passing rate of 66.64%, the high marks also landed the SOM in the Top 3 Performing
School list.
AdZU President Fr Karel San Juan, SJ, in his post, congratulated
the men and women behind SOM, led by its Dean Dr Fortunato Cristobal. He praised the AdZU-SOM as it continues its mission in community-based medical education, serving the healthcare needs of
the country and the region by educating and forming doctors in the service of
God and country.
AdZU-SOM has come a long way. It will be recalled that in the beginning, the idea of putting up a medical school with a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum and instruction complemented by a community immersion component, was met with resistance.
“It simply wouldn’t
work”, they were told. It was way too unconventional. But over the years,
the School (of Medicine) has withstood all challenges and experienced a series
of success including impressive board performances and more recently, the
Charles Boelen International Social Accountability Award from the Association
of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC). All these, the School attributes to God’s grace, the benefactors’ generosity, the
pioneering team’s perseverance, and the Jesuit leadership’s unwavering support.
By going
against the norm, being ‘different’ AdZU-SOM’s students are proving themselves
to be just as good as other Med students. This difference which caused them to
be ostracized is, now, what makes them stand out.
In the end, taking
the risk was worth it. And because the AdZU-SOM dared to be different, there
are more doctors in the rural areas.
