THE establishment of the University of the Philippines' (UP) first school of medicine in Mindanao is currently underway, a high-ranking official from the university said.
“Yesterday (April 20) I spoke with Mayor (Sebastian) Baste Duterte, and I would like to announce that we are going to build in Mindanao your first [UP] School of Medicine,” UP President Angelo Jimenez said in a speech on April 21.
The School of Medicine is seen to complement the hospital that is currently being built inside the UP-Mindanao campus in Mintal, Davao City. In 2022, Davao City started construction of its public hospital that will rise on a 3.28 hectare plot of land inside the campus.
“We have the budget for the hospital, and I will produce the budget for the College of Medicine to match your dynamic leadership shown here on our beloved island,” Jimenez added.
He said putting up a UP-based medical school is one of the university’s efforts to provide complete course offerings like any regular full-service university in Mindanao.
“We, at the university, and I especially, as a son of this island, are committed to make UP a full spectrum university that offers some of the relevant skills of professional needs of our island. I’m talking specifically about putting up the College of Engineering, Medicine, and Sciences,” Jimenez said.
"We are very serious about making it matter to the lives of the people and that again, is what we are here today,” Jimenez added.
Currently, the UP-Mindanao campus in Mintal offers Bachelor of Science in Biology, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, Bachelor of Science in Food Technology, Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Economics, Bachelor of Science in Anthropology, and Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts. ICE