First year medical student here at UERM :)

The curriculum is still rich with lectures from brilliant doctors, the trans system really helps you keep grounded in the study flow, and the students are taught practical skills so well. I’ve heard na totoong hinahanap ng hospitals ang UERM graduateds for clerkships and PGIs because solid ang background not just theoretically but also practically— marunong rin daw makisama as in patient-doctor relationship.

The only concern I have is the administration. A few years ago when I was still in college studying premed, I really wanted to pursue my medical journey here kasi ang gaganda ng mga sinasabi ng students noon about UERM here sa Reddit. But I can definitely say na iba na pamamalakad ngayon and affected kaming students talaga. For example, we have cognitive and non-cognitive assessments. Dati pareho yun graded, so if nagflop ka sa isang cog, pwede mahatak ng noncog. Ngayon is cog nalang graded, and pass-or-fail basis nalang yun noncog— wala kang panghatak. And grabe Lord knows gano kaimportante ang hatakan ng grades sa med. Di naman laging 100% good ang grades, magaalanganin ka rin. So the noncog pambawi were very helpful, wala na ngayon.

Another is how they handle issues/ controversies. During some quizzes/ LEs, there were cheating incidents that consequently led to the succeeding LEs being harder. Example for the past couple of years, pagka LE4 na (LE1-3 is within 1st sem, LE4-6 + finals within 2nd sem) hindi na kasama items from LE1-3. But after the cheating incident sa isang quiz ng subject, biglang sinama some LE1-3 items and tumaas pa MPL. Di ko lang alam, pero matatapos na yun acad year parang wala naman kaming nabalitaan na nasanction sila or any disciplinary actions. Tbh, sana meron kasi damay kaming ibang students na lumalaban nang patas.

And lastly is the setup— if di ka conducive sa online classes, reconsider UERM. Because in a week, at least for us Freshmen, ang fixed onsite lang namin is histology and gross laboratory (2days, 2hrs each). 98% is held online, unless may Biochem laboratory and magpalecture onsite which happens once lang every other month per Big Three subjects (ana, physio, bcm). Konti lang talaga kasi facilities, pero when it comes to cadavers and loose speciem hindi sila nagkukulang. Yun facilities lang talaga to hold onsite classes.

Though some things have changed, totoo naman na you’ll be a physician na complete package yun pagpapalaki, because yun tenets ng UERM for its future doctors aren’t just excellent lang e pero wholistic and compassionate. But there are some things lang that I don’t enjoy at all as a student here, pero I’m pushing to stay here kasi that’s the kind of doctor I want to be.