by Joellie Badon | October 19, 2021
Silliman University (SU) medical courses resume their face-to-face (F2F) classes and laboratory internships this academic year 2021-2022, following the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approval last April.
The Institute of Clinical Laboratory Sciences (ICLS), College of Nursing (CoN), Institute of Rehabilitative Sciences (IRS), and Medical School are currently the only departments in SU that are allowed to hold limited F2F sessions at the moment.
With this, some students enrolled in these courses have commented about their experiences during this period.
When asked about the face-to-face classes, Sharmyn Baguio, a Level II BS Nursing student said, “The overall experience is fun and very informative since we get to learn the proper skills expected to perform during duties. We also get the chance to meet with our classmates and CI’s that makes it extra exciting.”
Kiedis Trasmonte, another Level II BS Nursing student, also shared her observation. “There were not that many people around during our scheduled F2F class. All in all, I was very excited to see new faces personally,” she stated.
For the nursing program, only related learning experience (RLE) or skills laboratory classes have been offered face-to-face; for the Medical Technology and Physical Therapy programs, laboratory classes and face-to-face internships are being held.
ICLS students began their laboratory immersion on July 26, while those in IRS began their F2F classes in August. Nursing students started their F2F classes in September. These students follow a set schedule for classes in order to maintain safety and lessen the risk of infection between students.
Jansen Coronado, an ICLS student intern, stated: “Despite the difficulties the world has been facing since the start of the COVID-19 surge, I have been considering this limited F2F activities still a fortunate one. I am grateful that with all the uncertainties, my college is still able to stage an in-house training for us interns. Hopefully, in the second semester, we will be engaging with the real deal, which is a hospital-based internship.”
During the face-to-face classes of all the mentioned courses, proper protocols — physical distancing and wearing masks and face shields— were implemented.
SU’s medical and allied health science programs had gained authorization to hold limited face-to-face classes after having fulfilled all of the compliance requirements of the CHED-Department of Health (DOH) Joint Memorandum Circular 2020-001.
The CHED authorization is effective for two semesters, starting April 21 for Medical School, May 5 for BS Physical Therapy and Nursing programs, and June 4 for BS Medical Technology.
CHED has given authority to at least 73 higher education institutions throughout the country that provides medical and allied health programs and has been granted permission to run restricted face-to-face sessions.
