CHED keen on screening medical schools

With their “poor" collective performance in recent years, medical schools are encouraged to shape up. Catherine Castañeda of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), office for programs and standards, said there is a need for “intensive screening" of teachers. “We mobilize teams to evaluate (nursing and medical schools) on a regular basis," she said at a recent Senate hearing. Professional Regulations Commission board secretary Carlos Almerol said the PRC regularly publishes the number of students who passed the twice-a-year board examinations. Philippine Medical Association president Modesto Llamas said his group continues to coordinate with the PRC and CHED to prevent cheating in the examinations. Llamas said the examiners in the medical board examinations take questions from a central database, but print the test questions in random order for each examinee. This way, the examinees are asked the same set of questions but will find it hard to copy from their seatmates. “Topping the board examinations by guessing the answers is as easy as winning the lotto," he said. During a recent Senate hearing, Almelor said only 54 to 56 percent of examinees pass medical board examinations in recent years, as compared to 95 percent in the past. He said the most likely culprits were the establishment of several colleges of medicines in the provinces and the deteriorating quality of education in such schools. –GMANews.TV