Inside Out: St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine - William H. Quasha Memorial (SLMCCM-WHQM)
I applied only to three medical
schools because the application fee per school is expensive. Out of all those
three, the application process in St. Luke’s was the easiest. (…like swear!) It
was the easiest application process I experienced in my entire life. (HAHA!) In other medical schools, every office was in
a different building so it was a mission to ultimately submit all the
requirements. It took me probably 30 minutes to an hour to finish the
application process. Don’t forget the fact that it was scorching hot while I
was trying to look for these different buildings. It was a very tiring process.
However, in St. Luke’s it took me probably
less than 10 minutes to finish the application process. Super duper convenient.
Probably it’s due to the fact that the school itself is just small. We just
have one building. It is not a university that is why we don’t need other
buildings and facilities for other courses. The admin office is literally
beside the finance office, so it made the process so much easier!
Rough Estimate of Tuition Fee (depending on SY):
The tuition fee
varies from year to year, but in general, it ranges from probably 145k to 160k.
Required NMAT Score:
The minimum NMAT score
needed is 90. I am not sure but they probably do not not allow you to apply if
your NMAT score is not 90 or above (based on what I heard from people!).
School Address
The address of the
school is 279 E Rodriguez Sr. Ave, Quezon City, 1112 Metro Manila. It's just
behind (or beside?) St. Luke’s hospital.
Scholarships available that you know of
St. Luke’s offer two
types of scholarship: Entry scholarship and Foundation scholarship.
1. Entry
scholarship are for students who have an NMAT score of 95 or above and are
Magna or Summa Cum Laude.
2. Foundation
scholarship are for students who are in need financially.
For more information,
please check the school’s website!
What is it like in your school? The culture, socials...
Our community itself is
very small relative to other medical schools. We only have around 500 students
from 1st year to 5th year, comparing to other
medical schools who have around 500 students in one-year level. Since our
community is very small, we tend to be really close with our batchmates (since
we only have one section) and we get to know a lot of our upperclassmen.
The support system of
different batches is great as well. I remember during our first major exams;
the higher years gave all of us highlighters and a piece of paper with
motivational quotes. After our first major exams, they gave us candies and
another note congratulating us. Every time we have a major exam, they always
approach our batch and ask us if we want them to give us a crash course on
certain subjects (we get to choose which subject and what topic). We can
basically just meet them in the hallway and ask them for tips on certain
subjects and they would gladly help us. I guess this is the perks of having a
relatively small but super tight community.
What’s the system of teaching in your school, your school's forte.
What's unique in your school?
As far as I know, St.
Luke’s probably has the most unique academic system. We don’t have quizzes. We
only have major exams which happens every six weeks or so. There are three
major exams per semester. I would say this system is a
double-edged sword. Every major exam could make or break you. If you get a high
score, good for you, but if you get a low score then you won’t have any quizzes
to help you boost your grade. We take our major exams very seriously because it
is literally our only grade. I remember one time seeing the breakdown of my
grades, I only saw the score of my major exam, its percentage equivalent then that
was already my actual grade. Lol. I guess this system is not for everyone. Some
students like the constant small pressures of quizzes while others prefer to
have a one-time big-time exam. Our system is basically about
discipline within you. You should be responsible on your own
even without the constant pressure of quizzes.
Our school’s teaching system is also OBE (outcome-based
education). It basically means that our school first thought of an outcome,
then constructed our entire curriculum based on that desired outcome. The
outcomes envisioned by St. Luke’s were professionalism and patient-driven. They
want us to learn how to be excellent with patients. It is not enough that you
are smart or the best if you do not know how to handle patients, if you do not
know how to explain to a patient their disease, or if your desire is more about
earning than patient care itself. All of our professors always emphasize that
the patient is our priority. Due to this envisioned outcome, St. Luke’s
pioneered a subject that only our school offers. It is called Foundations
of Medicine. Not to be biased, but this subject alone makes St. Luke’s
soooo worth it. It is an integration of all of our first year subjects and they
give us cases weekly where we are like actual doctors trying to solve a case in
front of other doctors. This subject is not something you just learn or study
in one day or week or so. This subject constantly develops your skills in
analyzing and critical thinking (which is my mode of learning in life), as well
as your confidence in presenting in front of other people. I can’t express
enough how amazing this subject is. Part of this subject is also the regular
hospital tour depending on the topic that we already discussed. For
example, we just finished discussing about the entire cardiovascular system, we
would then go to the cardiology department of St. Luke’s hospital and they
would tour us , showing us different equipment and the services they have. It
is really amazing because we can understand everything they say since we just
finished our cardio block, thus the knowledge is still retained. It is like
seeing what you actually learned being applied and used by different doctors.
It uplifts your spirit and makes you want to really know what you are studying
because you see it being used.
Our school is also very innovative. I saw how
well-respected St. Luke’s is in terms of facilities and international
recognitions. They keep innovating. They try different teaching methods. They
even consult doctors from other countries and inquire about their teaching
techniques in order to ensure that St. Luke’s is not lagging behind in terms of
international standards.
One great example would be online learning. We already tried
and “practiced” online classes way before this pandemic happened. They said
that they want to try if our school can adapt to online learning because they
feel that online learning is part of the future. That is why we had a trial of
online lessons. After the trial, they asked for our feedback on how to improve
it and then they integrated our suggestions, and tried online lessons again.
That is why when the pandemic happened, online classes weren’t something new
for us. We knew exactly what to do. That was only possible because St. Luke’s is always trying to innovate.
What
do you like most about your school?
The thing I like most about St. Luke’s is how considerate they are to their students. Hands down. They are so pro-student. During this pandemic, most of my friends from different schools had complaints on how their school handled the situation (though I don’t blame them, if I were in there situation I would probably act similarly.) But from my personal view St. Luke’s was one of the few schools where the students did not complain. If some did, it was probably more because of their frustration on the implications of the pandemic, but not because of how our school handled it. St. Luke’s was so considerate.
First of all, they let us
take our major exams without being graded in order to help the students assess how they
are doing in terms of academic learning. They did not want it to be graded
because they value our mental health more and because probably some of us couldn’t
study properly due to the pandemic. They knew that we might be facing serious
problems, so they did not want to burden us by thinking of our grades.
Second, they gave all of us a
chance to withdraw from the program without it being included in our records.
We won’t be marked that we failed or whatsoever. We can withdraw from the
program then probably stop for a year to take a break then apply again in St.
Luke’s without a mark if we wanted to.
Third, they set up a hotline exclusive for us students. The
hotline is for any mental health concern.
And lastly, St. Luke’s
gave us a refund because we weren’t able to use school facilities.
How is the lifestyle in
your school? Food, utilities, accessibility
This is
one of the biggest cons of studying in St. Luke’s. The food stalls of choice are
so limited. I was so used to the UST environment because there you have
unlimited choices. Four streets around UST each with tons of food stalls +
carpark. In St. Luke’s, we only have three choices; a small canteen inside the
building whose foods are so overpriced, around 15 food stalls right outside our
building, or a 10-minute walk into the canteen of the hospital. That doesn’t
seem so bad at first but after a few months I swear you would want something
new. The typical fast food chain is approximately 15 to 20-minute walk away. We
only have one-hour break so we always go to the nearest food stall.
I live in a dormitory which is a
5-minute walk away so accessibility is not a problem. There are also a lot
of condos near St. Luke’s but in my own opinion...they are not that good? (just
his opinion, okay? No offense! -Mil) The
condos are quite small compared to UST’s The One or UERM’s Mezza Residences.
Transportation itself is not that hard too since a lot of jeepneys and UVs pass
by E.Rod.
How bearable is your medical school?
I would say it is pretty bearable. It is not the unbearable type of hard but of course it is not easy as well. I found it overwhelming at first? The pacing was so fast. Like my four years in biology is being taught in one to two meetings. But after our first major exam I got the hang of it. I am not really grade conscious that is why I like the system of our school since I don’t have to constantly think of quizzes and stuff. I legitimately just enjoy learning, that is why I take my time to learn and enjoy what is being taught to us. I don’t feel the constant pressure that I need to study this and that. I still find time to play even though I am in med school. It is very much bearable, I just listen to class then go to my dorm and rest and play a bit then do some readings then back to sleep.
Do you regret choosing
your school?
Simple answer: not at all. Complicated answer: somehow.
Not at all, because I
like the system a lot, how I don’t feel that pressured. I just feel the
constant desire to learn. How the system develops us to be smart in critical
thinking - not just book-smart. We don’t memorize a lot of stuff but the way we
integrate information amazes me. I also like how the school actually cares for
us. It is an institution that embodies what it teaches: how to take care of
other people.
(Reality check ahead! -Mil)
The complicated answer is somehow I do because part of me knows how
expensive it is to be in this school. My other school choices were UP Manila
and PLM. I could’ve gotten in PLM if I really wanted to, but I chose St.
Luke’s. The tuition fee in PLM is definitely more affordable than St. Luke’s. With
this pandemic, it really hit us hard financially and it pains me that I am the
bulk of my parent’s expenses. If I were at PLM instead of St. Luke’s at least
their expenses won’t be this big. So yeah… although I definitely like St.
Luke’s, part of me still regrets that I chose St. Luke’s. But nonetheless, I
will continue fighting for my place to be here, whatever it takes.
Link to their
website: https://www.stlukesmedcollege.edu.ph/
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Medical School Series claims no credit for any images from the medical institution and management except those of the authors and writer's personal images featured on this site unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyright to its respectful owners.
Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies; we do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site’s content. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact me via e-mail, and they will be promptly removed.
The views expressed here are solely those of the authors in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of the medical institution and its management.
Furthermore, the assumptions, views, and opinions made by the writer of this blog does not reflect those of the medical institution and its management nor does it intend to degrade and offend the medical institution or medical student. It is only used for educational and recreational purposes.
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