Doktor Para sa Bayan: Good news, bad news

The passage of the Doktor Para sa Bayan Law (RA 11509) is one of the most enduring legacies of the Duterte administration.

Enacted in 2019, this law expands access to medical education and provides scholarships and grants to medical students and schools. The rationale for this law is simple. We face a severe shortage of physicians, particularly in remote areas, where many people are born, grow up and die without ever seeing a doctor.

There have been previous attempts to address the shortage, such as the DOH Doctor to the Barrios program, scholarships from DOH and CHED and UP Manila’s return service system, which required its medical school graduates to stay in the country for three years after graduation. But there was no systematic national policy that connects public universities, CHED, DOH and local governments through a structured approach to produce a continuous stream of medical doctors who will serve in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

Credit must be given to the legislators who pushed for this measure and continue to advocate for funding to implement it, particularly Sens. Pia Cayetano and Joel Villanueva.

What is the good news?

First, the number of public universities offering medical degrees has risen from eight when the law was passed to 32, with programs now available in every region. The law’s promise to establish a medical program in at least one public university in each region has been fulfilled.

Second, SUCs have received state-of-the-art simulation-based equipment – including plastinated cadavers, anatomy tables, mannekins and task trainers – enabling technology-mediated classroom learning comparable to that offered by top private schools and institutions in other countries.

Third, the latest PRC medical licensure results indicate that the inputs – a strong curriculum, faculty recruitment, simulation-based equipment and additional infrastructure – have produced the expected outcomes.

Ten SUCs – UP, West Visayas State U, Cagayan State U, MMSU, Bicol University, University of Southeastern Philippines, Western Mindanao State U, Batangas State U, University of Southern Mindanao and MSU General Santos – achieved 100 percent passing rates. The medical programs at USEP, WMSU, MSU-Gen San, BatSU and USM were established under RA 11509, and each graduated its first cohort of medical students. The remaining SUC medical programs will graduate their first students starting next year.

The 100 percent pass rates at USEP, WMSU and USM are especially significant, given the dire shortage of medical professionals in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Central Mindanao and Southern Mindanao.

Fourth, more than 300 additional doctors from these SUCs will begin their return service in GIDAs this year. As SUCs graduate more doctors in the coming years, the number of doctors completing return service will increase proportionally.

Now the bad news.

First, funding has not kept pace with the growth of medical schools and student enrollment. Funding was sufficient under the Duterte administration (2019-2022) even as the number of SUC medical schools increased. All financially needy medical students qualified for the Medical Scholarship and Return Service (MSRS) program.

It has been downhill from then. The number of MSRS slots per school is now less than ten. CHED’s plea for additional MSRS funding has fallen on deaf ears in DBM and Congress.

This has led to significant dropout rates among financially challenged students. Many LGUs help bridge the funding gap. If left unaddressed, we will continue to waste public funds by subsidizing students who drop out. Worse, public medical schools will admit wealthier students who should be attending private schools.

Government funding for advanced medical simulation equipment is very limited. The 2027 NEP allocates just P150 million to newly opened medical schools, leaving existing schools unable to procure more sophisticated equipment or build surgical skills laboratories.

Second, capacity building and university-to-university linkages to raise the quality of medical education to a level comparable to that of leading foreign universities are non-existent.

Producing more doctors is only the first step. Given the dramatic advances in technology, we must equip them with skills comparable to those of doctors in developed countries.

In 2022, CHED established a partnership among UP, WVSU and MSU-GenSan and the University of Adelaide, sending scores of faculty members for training in simulation-based medical education. Rather than expand the project to include more public and private universities, CHED discontinued it in 2025.

Third, public universities have introduced different compensation packages to attract doctors to teach in newly opened programs. SUCs, CHED and the DBM have yet to establish standardized, competitive compensation packages and tenure tracks for physician-educators across universities.

We cannot produce world-class doctors without world-class educators. Securing world-class mentors to train students is a top priority. Without a dedicated faculty, we risk “diploma mills” rather than centers of medical excellence.

Fourth, SUCs with medical schools still have a long way to go before they become research universities like UP Manila.

Where do we go from here?

The EDCOM II did not discuss the successful initial implementation of the Doktor Para sa Bayan law or call for increased funding for the program. Apart from Pia Cayetano and Joel Villanueva, the so-called “education champions” in Congress have not helped secure additional funding. The DBM has remained deaf to CHED’s calls for a significant increase in funding.

Yes, we are producing doctors to serve in GIDA areas. But we need to do more to produce world-class doctors and make this a real legacy of the Marcos administration.