BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
ILOCOS NORTE (March 30, 2023)—”I WANT to teach at the Mariano Marcos State University College of Medicine (MMSU-COM) to train the younger generation of Ilocano doctors.”
Dr. Aira Cassandra Castro, the March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination (PLE) topnotcher, said as she expressed her willingness to be part of the academic community.
Castro made history as the first graduate of MMSU who ranked first in the medical board examination with a rating of 89 percent, bringing the university and Ilocos Norte province into the limelight.
The 25-year-old medical doctor said her plan to teach at MMSU-COM is also her way of giving back to the university and the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) for granting her a scholarship during her medical studies.
She said she also plans to take up residency in pathology and internal medicine at the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (MMMH-MC).
Other medical board exam passers from MMSU were Christian Alvin Arca, Marianne Shem Caraang, Neil Justine de la Cruz and Mida Dorothy Manayon, resulting in a 100-percent passing rate for MMSU, which is also its seventh consecutive perfect record in the board examination for medical doctors since it started fielding examinees in 2020.
In 2015, the MMSU-COM was established to address the shortage of medical practitioners in Ilocos Norte. It has already produced 64 licensed physicians, including three in the top 10.
During the MMSU virtual press conference on March 17, Castro thanked her family, her mentors in the university, the MMMH-MC, the PGIN, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) “for their unfailing support and inspiration.”
She also expressed her gratitude to MMSU President Shirley Agrupis “for inculcating in me the value of serving other people.” Agrupis was her thesis adviser when she was pursuing her BS Biology program at the MMSU College of Arts and Sciences and graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of MMSU Class 2017.
In 2021, Castro finished her Doctor of Medicine course and graduated cum laude and valedictorian. She is known for being a consistent academic achiever from grade school years to medical school.
She noted that there is no hindrance to becoming a medical doctor because of the assistance provided by the government.
“If you want to be a doctor, you can do so, as long as you have the passion for it,” said Castro, who grew up in Laoag City and completed her elementary at Laoag Central Elementary School and secondary at Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Trades.
During the press conference, Agrupis said the consistent and laudable performance of MMSU-COM is its “best return of investment to the trust and funding it received from the national government.”
Thanking Senators Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, and other benefactors, the MMSU president said the senators have always included MMSU on the roster of state universities and colleges to get funds to upgrade infrastructures and facilities for the COM and other allied health sciences.
The MMSU president also congratulated the COM faculty, headed by Dr. Policarpio Joves for their dedication to nurturing medical doctors in the province.