Cebu Graduate tops licensure exam

CEBU, Philippines — Justin Riley Yap Lam, a product of Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM), prevented a total shut off for Cebu schools in the top rankings of the October 2023 Physicians Licensure Exams.

And he did it in style by taking the number one spot.

Topping licensure exams is not foreign to him, though, as he ranked ninth in the September 2018 Medical Technologist (Medtech) Licensure Examinations.

In an interview with The FREEMAN, Lam, who is originally from Cagayan de Oro City and moved to Cebu for his pre-medical and medical courses, said he wasn’t able to give full attention to the Medtech exams as he was already in medical school at that time.

“Kato pag-take nako sa Medtech exam, nag-take na man ko og medicine so mura'g nag-overlap and wa kaayo ko naka-focus og study,” he said.

In ranking ninth in the Medtech licensure exams, he garnered a score of 89.80 percent along with three others from Manila.

Lam studied high school at Kong Hua School, a Chinese school in Cagayan de Oro, and pursued a Medtech course in Velez College before enrolling at CIM.

Last Friday, he was among the 4,083 out of 6,456 aspiring doctors that the Professional Regulations Commission announced as having passed the Oct. 2023 licensure exams.

Lam got a score of 89 percent, which is just less than a point ahead of second placer Miguel Enrique Roa (88.58 percent) of the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.

“I took it as a challenge nga if mag-focus gyud ko og study sa board, who knows, basin maka-top,” Lam said.

Now, with a doctor’s license at hand, he said he is looking at taking up a residency in internal medicine, although he was not sure yet at which hospital.

In terms of number of passers, CIM ranked fourth with 95.73 percent (157 of 164 hopefuls).

Another Cebu medical school, the University of Cebu-College of Medicine Foundation Inc., in Mandaue City, is 10th, with a passing percentage of 89.41 percent (76 of 85 examinees).

University of the Philippines-Manila topped the school ranking with a rate of 97.62 percent (164 of 168 examinees).  — (FREEMAN)