University of the Philippines – Mindanao (UPMin) facade. PHOTO from the UPMin official website.
The University of the Philippines-Mindanao will be opening its College of Medicine in 2025 in a bid to address the critical shortage of doctors and other health care professionals in the southern part of the country, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“UP Mindanao will introduce programs in Doctor of Medicine beginning the Academic Year 2025-2026 in cooperation with the College of Medicine of UP Manila,” the university statement said. This will make UP-Mindanao the first state university in Davao City to offer an MD program.
UP President Angelo Jimenez said that the establishment of a college of medicine is part of the “Road to 5,000 Students” agenda of UP-Mindanao, which aims to add more programs or courses offered in the campus.
The initiative aims to increase the student enrolment of UP Mindanao to 5,000 by year 2029. The current student population of UP Mindanao is around 1,400.
The announcement comes in light of the nationwide doctor shortage, with the Philippines having a ratio of 0.8 physicians per 1,000 people in 2021, according to the data from the World Bank.
This translates to 8 doctors per 10,000 population, which falls short of the World Health Organization’s recommended standard of 1 doctor per 1,000 population or 10 doctors per 10,000 population.
The situation in Mindanao is “even more concerning,” according to a report from Davao Today, with some areas like Davao City having a ratio as low as 1 doctor per 50,000 patients in 2023.
UP Mindanao will also introduce new undergraduate programs next academic year, including an Associate in Entrepreneurship and a Master of Science in Biology with four specializations.
The following year, they plan to offer a Civil Engineering undergraduate program and a Master of Science in Quantitative Methods and Modeling.
