Study medicine at Philippines.....less expensive

For studying medicine, Philippines is more convenient than any other country like China, Russia or other. Proficiency in English language is enough and there is no need of learning any other language. So many students are going to Philippines every year to study medicine. In the country, there is much demand for the courses like MBBS, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, optometry, nursing and others. The educational institutions here are offering quality education in other courses too. Some courses like petroleum engineering, architecture, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automobile engineering, aeronautical engineering and marine engineering are also available here. In Philippines, there are 40 medical colleges and 2299 higher educational institutions.

Just like studying in USA

Philippines comprises of 7,000 islands. Of the total population of about 9 crores, 2 crore population lives in the capital Manila itself. About 93 percent population of the country are Christians. The country is the third largest English speaking country in the world. The educational institutions here are implementing American mode of education. Every year, about 20,000 students from other countries are reaching Philippines to study different courses and most of them are Indians. Philippines is giving most number of doctors and engineers to the world and the number is in thousands. One in ten doctors in USA are those who have studied in Philippines. This explains the level of education in the Asian country.

Philippines to India,USA

MD is the basic medical degree in Philippines and this is equal to MBBS in India. After completing the degree in Philippines, one has to clear Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, which is conducted by Medical Council of India (MCI), to practice in India. In the course, science subjects are taught for the first one and a half years and the medical subjects are taught in the remaining four years. At the end of the course, the students are attached to hospitals. During this period, the students have to give treatment to patients under the supervision of senior doctors. After the completion of five and a half year course, the students have to do internship for a year. If anyone can clear the screening test conducted by MCI, they can do internship at any place in India. Then, such candidates can register themselves as doctors and start practice. If anyone can clear United States Medical Licensing Examination, then they can either do PG medical degree or start their career as a doctor there.

Advantages

There are so many advantages of studying medicine in Philippines. They are no donation, low fees, low cost of living, 95 percent of people speaking English, American mode of education, admission even with 50 percent of marks in Intermediate, recognition in so many countries like India, USA and others. As the country has much coastline, weather conditions are almost similar to India. Indian food is available in the country. There is no much distance between India and Philippines. Wi-Fi is available in college campus and the libraries are opened till midnight. The medium of instruction of medicine course is English only and so Indian students can comfortably complete medicine here. The educational institutions here are implementing modern methods of teaching. As it is the American mode of education, the candidates can later do their PG degree or practice as a doctor in USA.

Fee and expenses

Tuition fee has to paid once in a year. For completing the five and a half year course, about Rs.15 lakhs is needed, One has to spend about Rs.12,000 per month in the form of hostel fee and mess fee. In all, an amount of Rs.25 lakhs is needed for completing the degree in Philippines. On the other hand, more than Rs.1 crore is needed to get a seat in management quota in India.

For example, the fees in University of Perpetual Help for completing MD course there are as follows in 2015. The first year tuition fee is 4,762 American dollars. Hostel fee is 2,223 American dollars and the total amount that is needed in first year is 6,985 American dollars. In second year, the fee is 5,398 American dollars and annual fee from third year to fifth year is 4,604 American dollars. For completing the five year course in Philippines, total amount needed is Rs.20 lakhs. Medical insurance is exclusive of this amount. In this way, the total expenditure differs from one university to another. The total expenditure ranges between Rs.25 lakhs to Rs.26 lakhs depending on the university there.

College recognition

Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines (CHED) gives recognition to government and private higher educational institutions in the country. The Indian students have to check a key fact like whether a particular educational institute has the recognition of Medical Council of India. Some medical colleges in the country have the recognition of World Health Organisation. They are AMA College of Medicine, Angeles University Foundation, Bicol Christian College of Medicine, Cagayan State University, Cebu Doctors' University, Cebu Institute of Medicine, Central Philippine University College of Medicine, Davao Medical School Foundation, De La Salle Health Sciences Institute, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Far Eastern University, Iloilo Doctors' College of Medicine, Lyceum-Northwestern College, Mindanao State University, Our Lady of Fatima University, San Beda College of Medicine, South Western University, University of Perpetual Help, University of Santo Tomas, University of the City of Manila, University of Philippines and others. For getting the latest information on rules, one can visit www.ched.gov.ph

CHED frequently releases the list of recognized colleges in Philippines. One can get the list from www.indembassymanila.in

The colleges in Philippines can allocate only one third of the total seats to foreigners. But, some colleges in the country are not following the rule and admitting more students than it.Some colleges tell that BS course can be completed in two semesters only. One has to check once whether a particular college is following the guidelines of CHED.

Admission process

For getting admission in any institution in Philippines, one need not write TOEFL or IELTS. One can't get admission into MD course directly. Candidates have to complete their 10+4 course successfully for admission into MD course. So, Indian students have to get admission into BS course initially after their 10+2 course. The course has the duration between one and a half years to two years. After the completion of the course, one has to write NMAT test and join MD course. Any degree is compulsory for admission into MD course. BS course makes you eligible for admission into MD course. A score of minimum 40  percentile is needed in NMAT. The opinion of several Indian students is the test is so tough. But, writing NMAT test is not compulsory for admission into several universities in Philippines. There is no ranking in NMAT and getting minimum marks is enough. There are two sections in the test. In Part 1, the subjects are verbal reasoning, quantitative aptitude and others. In Part 2, the subjects are Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Get all information

One has to be so careful while following the words of agents, who may give wrong information in the matters of admission, opportunities there and other facilities. Indian embassy there is getting so many complaints on these issues only. The agents generally do not give exact information on several key things like fee, duration of a particular course and visa. So, the students are advised to contact the officials of the university directly to get any information or clarify their doubts on any matter. There is a director in every university to help foreign students. One can contact him directly through e-mail. Before applying to any educational institution, one has to get enough information on admission process, fee, faculty details, duration of BS course, quota in MD seats, paying fee through a bank, hostel and mess facilities, law and order, bank facility and others.

Visa types

For admission into degree and higher education courses, one has to get student visa. Special student permit is issued for those students who are joining non degree courses and those who are below 18 years. The duration of student visa is one year and it can be extended till the completion of the course. Those students, who are going to study medicine course in Philippines, have to  submit a copy of Certificate of Eligibility for Admission (CEA) issued by CHED at the time of applying for visa. Foreign affairs department of Philippines sends the related documents to the foreign service post of the native country. After completion of verification, the students get a call for visa interview. One can get the necessary information from the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IndiaInPhilippines

Agents generally advise the students that one can go to Philippines on tourist visa and change it to student visa after landing there. It takes some time. But, it is better to go there on student visa itself. After completing the course, one has to cross check the certificates through CHED and consular wing of department of foreign affairs. This is called red ribbon process. After the completion of the process, original certificates have to be submitted to Indian embassy and get attested them. After reaching India, the photostat copies of the certificates have to be submitted to MCI, which sends them to Indian embassy to check whether they are original or fake.