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ICLS Internship to start in June 2021, MedTech students concerned about safety

By Prince Leander Palalon | April 8, 2021

Silliman University’s Institute of Clinical Laboratory Sciences (ICLS) is expected to start its internship programs in June 2021, according to ICLS Governor Jansen Coronado. The internship is planned to be conducted within the Silliman University Medical Center, Angelo King and Ethel Chapman Buildings, and through ‘virtual means.’

The ICLS department has already submitted a safety plan to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a requirement to hold internship programs. The students of ICLS were informed in a consultative meeting last March 25 that the internship would start in June and would require them to travel to Dumaguete. 

Students needed to pass several requirements by the LGU such as securing a negative swab test result and applying for Philhealth insurance. These are at the expense of the students. 

The students would then undergo in-house training for 6 months and would follow a 4/10 schedule; which means they would work in the hospital for 4 days straight, and the following 10 days would serve as quarantine and as a time for virtual lessons. The students would then follow a ratio of 1:5 or 1 Clinical Instructor for every 5 students. This is done to minimize the risk of infection. 

According to ICLS Governor Jansen Coronado in regards to the students’ accommodation, “Silliman highly encourages students to stay within the SU dorms to avoid exposure, however, many students do not want to utilize SU dorms because of the price. Silliman needs to produce a concrete plan of action for this.”  

However, if the students opted to stay outside Silliman, they would need to provide the contact information of their landlord/landlady, the transportation and routes they will use to reach Silliman, and the location of their accommodation. 

The university is also in talks with several other hospitals where they could deploy these MedTech interns. Most of these hospitals would either be located in Cebu City or Bohol.

However, the ICLS students are still concerned primarily with their safety and the time that they were given. Coronado stated that the internship plans “should have been released earlier, to allow students to prepare for this internship properly.” They are also worried about the short time for intensive training since the internship hours have been halved. He then added that “our course is a laboratory-focused course, we are only worried about how they could provide quality teaching in such a short period of time.” 

Coronado then stated that “Silliman should prepare a concrete plan for this, for the safety of those who are doing internships within Silliman. They must prepare for this. For the safety of the students and the faculty. Despite all of this, we are still happy, as this internship symbolizes a light at the end of a tunnel for us.”

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