DESERVING students who want to become doctors, especially those in the Visayas region, will get the chance to pursue their dream under the Doktor Para sa Bayan law, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Monday.

Sotto gave the assurance after the launch of the Doctor of Medicine program at the Cebu Normal University-Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

The principal author of the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act said the Commission on Higher Education has allowed the CNU-VSMMC College of Medicine Consortium to begin accepting students for the coming school year.

“Being the principal author of the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act, I am both elated and excited that my efforts and those of my colleagues in the Senate to increase the number of doctors in underserved areas are already bearing fruit. Nakakataba po ng puso na isipin na tayo ay nakatulong na mabigyan ng pagkakataon ang ating mga aspiring doctors na matupad na ang kanilang mga pangarap,” Sotto said.

He added that the Covid19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the country’s healthcare system, particularly the shortage of doctors in remote areas.

“Nakakalungkot pong isipin na marami pa ring lugar sa ating bansa ang walang mga doktor na titingin sa kalusugan ng ating mga kababayang may sakit. Sa pagsasabatas ng Doktor Para sa Bayan Act at sa pagbukas ng medical program sa CNU-VSMMC, umaasa po tayo na mas madali nating makakamit ang ideal ratio na one doctor per barangay,” Sotto said.

The Doktor Para sa Bayan Act or the Republic Act 11509 establishes a Medical Scholarship and Return Service program for deserving students in state universities and colleges, or in partner private higher education institutes in regions where no SUCs offer a medical course.