During World War II it is said[by whom?] that the College of Medicine was the only unit of the University of the Philippines System that continued its operations. Thus the Dean of the college then concurrently served as the President of the system.
The Calderon Hall is currently the main building of UP College of Medicine students.Lobby of Calderon Hall
The Philippine Medical School was built in 1905 at the former Malecon Drive (now Bonifacio Drive). In 1910, it was integrated as one of the colleges into the University of the Philippines and was renamed to U.P. College of Medicine and Surgery. The name was later shortened to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. Its first Dean was Dr. Paul Freer, while Dr. Fernando Calderon, an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, became the first Filipino Dean of the college.[citation needed]
The Fernando Calderon Hall is the main building of UP College of Medicine students. Named after the first Filipino dean of the college, the building was transferred from Bonifacio Drive to its current location in Pedro Gil Street, Manila in 1910.[2]
The Calderon Hall and the University of the Philippines College of Medicine was the only UP unit that was open and functional during the height of the Second World War, to provide medical services needed during that time.[citation needed] After the War, the building was rehabilitated in 1951 under the leadership of Dr. Agerico Sison.
The University of the Philippines Health Sciences Center was established in 1967.[3] The center was established by law to provide training and research in the various health sciences. It became an autonomous member of the University of the Philippines System in 1979.[4] The center was further renamed University of the Philippines Manila in 1982.[5] In 1983, U.P. Manila was reorganized to conform to the other autonomous universities of the U.P. System.
The college is proclaimed as a "Center of Excellence"[6] in the field of Medical Education by the Commission on Higher Education.
It has produced several topnotchers[7] in the National Licensure Examination (Medical Board Examination) for Filipino physicians.
The U.P. College of Medicine has a seven-year medical curriculum, the Integrated Liberal Arts and Medicine (INTARMED) Program, ultimately leading to the degree of doctor of medicine (M.D.). Its medicine proper (Learning Units III to VII) is designed with an Organ Systems Integration (OSI) curriculum beginning in 2009.[citation needed]
There are two entry points to the College of Medicine: "Learning Unit I" after earning a high school diploma, and "Learning Unit III" (First Year Medicine Proper) after obtaining a baccalaureate degree. Effective school year 2009–2010, all applicants are required to sign a Return Service Agreement.[citation needed]
High school graduates who have met the requirements for admission to the University of the Philippines System are eligible for admission to "LU I". Applications are coursed through the University of the Philippines System General Admission Process. The "LU I Intarmed" students are selected from the top 50 male and top 50 female college freshmen qualifiers (ranked according to their University Predicted Grade (UPG) who indicated in the U.P. College Admission Test (UPCAT) application form their interest in Intarmed. Only 40 applicants/Direct Entrants (20 males and 20 females) will finally be admitted into the program following a selection process which includes an interview.[citation needed]
Learning Unit III (First Year Medicine Proper)[edit]
Only applicants who have obtained their baccalaureate degree (Bachelor in Science or Arts) by the end of a Philippine school year are eligible. The applicant must have a valid National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) score not lower than 90 percentile. The applicants would then be trimmed down by a rigorous selection process to the final 120 Lateral Entrants for LU III.[citation needed]
Due to the program's two entry points, Direct Entrants are joined by the Lateral Entrants as both groups enter LU III. This results in one class of about 160 students in medicine proper.[citation needed]
Fe del Mundo – First female student admitted at Harvard University Medical School; founded and owned the 1st private pediatric hospital in the Philippines
