The Ateneo de Zamboanga University is all set to open the BS
Biomedical Engineering (BSBME) program, the First and Only in the Philippines,
starting June this school-year 2018-2019. This was announced by Fr Karel San
Juan, SJ, president of AdZU.
“The BSBME is AdZU’s response to the challenge in the
delivery of healthcare services in Western Mindanao, particularly the shortage
of medical equipment,” explains Fr San Juan. He said that the lack of equipment
such as MRIs, CT scans, and ECG machines, has contributed greatly to the poor
health condition in Zamboanga and other places in Region IX where
mortality rate is high and resources are meager. Medical equipment are either
in poor condition or in disrepair due to overuse or lack of maintenance, and this
problem is further compounded by the dearth of qualified technicians and
biomedical engineers capable of innovating new biomedical equipment, or
maintaining and managing existing ones, he adds.
Envisioned to bring healthcare to where patients are, the BSBME
course is aligned with AdZU’s mission of educating and forming students who
will work for social transformation by addressing needs in various areas,
including health. BSBME, a four-year tertiary baccalaureate program, will train
students to become biomedical engineers who will develop, handle, and manage
electronics and computer-controlled medical equipment and systems.
In preparation for the new program, AdZU sent Engineering department
faculty members Engrs Eugene Kanindot and Louie Virgil Gallardo, and Dr Samuel
Cristobal of the AdZU School of Medicine (SOM), for exploratory visits and
benchmarking at the University of Calgary (UOFC) in Canada last year. There,
they met with UOFC administrators and faculty led by Dr Israel Belenkie of
UOFC’s Cumming School of Medicine. Belenkie has also been instrumental in the
furtherance of the mission of the SOM
by bringing some faculty to Canada for short-term clinical training in
Neurology, Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Oncology, Ambulatory
Pediatrics & Child Psychology since 2012.
This year, another batch of Engineering faculty Engr
Zaeefa Pandangan, Engr Niño Christon Lazarte, and Geoffrey Fabian, recently enrolled in
UOFC’s audit biomedical courses, and will later
proceed to an internship training program.
Having partnered with the healthcare sector in developing the
BSBME curriculum, AdZU expects its BSBME graduates to be job-market-ready.
Graduates from the first batch of the Senior High School’s Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) track are expected to be among the
pioneering class of BSBME. Graduates of other tracks may also enroll after
undergoing a bridging program. SHS graduates who are TESDA-trained Biomedical
Equipment Services National Certificate II holders and professionals of allied
courses, may also enroll in BSBME.
Interested parties may inquire from the Admissions and Aid Office
at G/f Bellarmine Hall, BC Bldg., Salvador Campus, La Purisima St, or
call telephone no 9910871 local 2211.
