A graduate of the University of the Philippines-Manila, Maria Carla Buenaflor, topped the 2020 Physician Licensure Examinations held in March and September, the Professional Regulation Commission announced on Friday.
The PRC said Buenalor got 89.17 percent rating to lead the 800 passers out of the 1,424 PLE examinees.
Joining Buenaflor were two from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, three from Southwestern University in the Visayas, one from the Davao Medical School in Mindanao, two from the De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences, and one from St. Luke’s Medical School in Metro Manila.
Far Eastern University – Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation was the sole top-performing school.
The national passing rate slipped to 56.74 percent, or 800 out of 1,410 examinees from last year’s 76.71 percent in March and 84.96 percent in September.
The test results of 14 examinees have been withheld pending completion of the remaining subjects in the PLE, it added.
Other examinees who landed in the top five were John Marlon Lintan of the University of Santo Tomas (88 percent), Dhona Cambronero of Davao Medical School Foundation (87.92 percent), James Daniel Umalin of De La Salle Medical and Health Science Institute (87.75 percent), and Gremory Dennis Idago of St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine (87.58 percent).
The rest of the top 10 were Charles Vanhill Raksham of De La Salle Medical and Health Science Institute (87.17 percent), Erika Anne Pangan of the University of Santo Tomas (87.08 percent), April Jean Gapo of Southwestern University (87 percent), Jessah April Naingue of Southwestern University (86.83 percent), and Carren Emirose Solidor of Southwestern University (86.67 percent).
The PRC said registration for the issuance of a professional identification card and certificate of registration might be done online starting November 5.
Exam passers are instructed to go to www.prc.gov.ph and follow instructions for initial registration.
The date and venue for the oath taking ceremony of the new successful examinees will be announced at a later date.
The first part of the Physician Licensure Examination was held in March 2020. The second part was allowed to push through in September by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) due to the demand for additional physicians.