A president of a medical college in Dagupan City on Wednesday expressed her elation with the amendment of the old Medical Act of 1959, saying this would attract more foreign students to study medicine in the Philippines.

“All of us representing the 21 medical schools that accept foreign medical students, especially from India, are elated that this amendment has been passed by the House of Representatives,” Dr. Luz T. Duque-Hammershaimb, president of Lyceum-Northwestern University told this reporter in a phone interview.

“We have been working on this for the last two years since the Indian Medical Council amended the medical act to require Indian students to obtain a medical license from the country they graduated,” Duque-Hammershaimb added.

She said that is a big change and they’ve been working with the Commission on Higher Education and the Professional Regulatory Commission.

“They’re very helpful to us, but I think the problem is that the medical act needed to be revised or amended,” the university president added.

Duque-Hammershaimb also said that it’s going to be a big setback for the Philippines as an education hub if it was not approved.

“Philippines is very desirable hub for medical education particularly because of the low tuition fees and the high quality of education, and the fact that the medium of instruction is English,” she said.