Batangas State University–The National Engineering University has produced 23 newly licensed physicians through a scholarship program designed to widen access to medical education while helping address the need for doctors in underserved communities.
Every member of the university’s pioneer Doctor of Medicine class passed the October 2026 Physicians Licensure Examination on the first attempt. All are beneficiaries of the Medical Scholarship and Return Service (MSRS) Program.
The result gave BatStateU a 100-percent passing rate, compared with the national rate of 93.66 percent. Nationwide, 4,165 of 4,447 examinees passed, according to the Professional Regulation Commission.
Created under Republic Act No. 11509, or the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act, the MSRS Program ties scholarship assistance to public service. Licensed scholars must render at least one year of service for every year of scholarship received, subject to the law’s provisions.
The program particularly seeks to support healthcare in geographically isolated, disadvantaged and underserved communities.
BatStateU president Tirso Ronquillo said the graduates demonstrate how access to medical education can create opportunities for deserving students while helping bring healthcare closer to those who need it most.
BatStateU began implementing the program in 2022. Its aspiration to establish medical education, however, dates back more than a decade.
During the administration of Dr. Ernesto De Chavez, the university opened its College of Nursing with the vision of eventually developing a College of Medicine. Successive administrations sustained that aspiration, while the creation of the MSRS Program provided a pathway for its realization.
For an institution that began as a vocational school and later became The National Engineering University, the medical class represents an extension of its educational mission into public healthcare.
“Their success is a testament to academic excellence, but their greater contribution will be measured in the lives they serve and the difference they make in the health of our nation,” Ronquillo said.
The university acknowledged the Commission on Higher Education’s role in administering the program and supporting access to medical education.| BNN Integrated News
