To address the worsening shortage and “maldistribution” of physicians in the country, Senator Vicente Sotto III has filed a bill that will provide scholarships in state colleges and universities for deserving medical students.
Sotto said under Senate Bill No. 1232, a specific condition states that immediately after graduating from the program, the scholar must work in the country for five years, of which two years must be rendered in a government hospital or office where he or she resides.
“This would hopefully put a sense of balance in the distribution of doctors particularly in the government sector, which takes care of nearly 70 percent of the health care demand of the population,” Sotto said.
“The cause of uneven distribution of physicians in the Philippines is because most of the doctors prefer to practice in urban areas than in the rural,” the senator added.
In 2014, the Philippine Medical Association projected that the shortage of physicians may reach 930,000 when the country’s population reaches 100 million, considering that the “internationally-suggested” ratio is one doctor per 100 population.
Sotto said the Philippines has already hit the 100-million population, thus making PMA’s estimate no longer a forecast but a reality that has to be solved head on.
Under the bill, an aspiring medical student who wishes to apply for the scholarship is required to meet several conditions: he/she must belong to the top 20 percent of the graduating batch; and that the personal and/or family’s income must not be sufficient to support his or her education.
The scholarship grant shall include expenses for tuition; laboratory and miscellaneous fees; required textbooks, school supplies and equipment; clothing and uniform allowances; traveling expenses; board and lodging expenses; and subsistence and living allowances, among others.