CHED opens application for Medical Scholarship and Return Service (MSRS) Program for the Academic Years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is now accepting applications for the Medical Scholarship and Return Service (MSRS) program for the second semester, AY 2021-2022, and first semester, AY 2022-2023, according to a memorandum dated March 4, 2022.

As a result, the relevant provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 7722, also known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994,” as well as the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 11509, also known as the “Doctor Para Sa Bayan” Act, are followed.

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The initiative will support deserving students in accessing medical training and education so that they can continue working in government hospitals in their hometowns or in any municipality in their own province.

Moreover, the program will guarantee the availability of doctors by delivering high-quality basic, preventive, and curative health care services in every municipality across the country, with such a priority on underserved and geographically disadvantaged areas.

1. Free tuition and other school fees

2. Allowance for prescribed books, supplies and equipment

3. Clothing or uniform allowance

4. Allowance for dormitory or boarding house accommodation

5. Transportation allowance

6. Internship fees

7. Medical board review fees

8. Licensure fees

9. Annual medical insurance

10. Other education-related miscellaneous subsistence or living expenses

The applicants for the MSRS Program shall possess the following qualifications:

1. A Filipino citizen living in the Philippines;

2. Graduating student or a graduate of an appropriate undergraduate program identified as a prerequisite for a Doctor of Medicine degree and currently enrolled in Doctor of Medicine degree, from any HEIs duly recognized by the CHED, including a direct entrant to the integrated liberal arts and medicine (INTARMED) program who satisfactorily completes the first two (2) years of the program: provided, that deserving incoming second-year medical students and those in the higher year levels of the Doctor of Medicine program shall also be covered, as long as they have complied with the academic requirements and retention policies of the school in the past terms preceding their scholarship application;

3. Passed the entrance examinations and complied with other related requirements for admission into a Doctor of Medicine degree in the chosen SUCs/PHEIs where the scholar intends to enroll or is currently enrolled.

4.  Obtained a National Medical Admission test score mandated by CHED and required by the educational institution where the student intends to enroll in.

The student will lose the scholarship under the following circumstances:

1. Accepts another scholarship from another government or private entity;

2. Fails to meet the academic requirements or to complete the course within the period prescribed by the school he is enrolled in without valid cause;

3. Fails to obtain a passing grade in the physician licensure examination within five years from the time he has completed the mandatory internship program;

4. Commits gross misconduct.

The scholar is expected to join the public health and medical care system after completing the physician licensing exams and receiving a license to practice, corresponding the stated conditions:

1. Serve in a government public health office, government hospital, or any accredited government health facility in his hometown or in any underserved municipality closest to his hometown for at least one year for every scholarship year availed of;

2. Render the mandatory return service within six years from the time of passing the licensure examination for those who have availed of a four-year program and seven years for those who have availed of a five-year program.

3. A physician who participates in the program but fails or refuses to complete the mandated return service and integration will be charged two times the scholarship amount. A physician’s license will not be renewed if he does not pay the charges, however, this rule does not apply to individuals who have missed the compulsory return service due to a serious sickness.

The deadline for State Universities and Colleges (SUC)/ Partner Higher Educational Institutions (PHEI) to submit the list of scholarship candidates and supporting documentation to the relevant CHEDRO for review and validation is as follows:

April 30, 2022 – for the second semester of the academic year 2021-2022.

August 31, 2022 – for the first semester of the academic year 2022-2023.

Source: CHED