TACLOBAN CITY – Three state universities in Eastern Visayas are set to open their respective College of Medicine programs this school year, putting to six the number of schools offering medical courses in the region.

The University of the Philippines in Catarman, Northern Samar, Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City and Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) in Borongan City announced that they are now accepting applications for the first batch of enrollees for school year 2026-2027 in their newly-opened College of Medicine Program.

The Samar State University – Samar Island Institute of Medicine (SIIM), opened in December 2024, started accepting enrollees for its medical program last year.

Before the signing of laws establishing a College of Medicine in these schools, only the Doña Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation, based in Tacloban City, and University of the Philippines Manila – School of Health Sciences, based in Palo, had medical programs.

Only two out of the seven provinces in Eastern Visayas are without a school offering medical course – Southern Leyte and Biliran – where most of their students go either Tacloban or Cebu City to enroll.

Northern Samar Second District Rep. Edwin Ongchuan said UEP recently passed the assessment and evaluation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Executive Board on its application for permit to operate the UEP College of Medicine.

Ongchuan said that with the shortage of medical practitioners in the province and in the country, this recent development is a “most welcome opportunity for Northern Samar.”

“This will encourage more Nortehanons to study medicine within the province, help produce more doctors and pave way for improved health service delivery,” he said.

In Eastern Samar, the university administration said the pioneering batch of the ESSU College of Medicine will be composed of 40 students, as approved by the Board of Regents. The selection of the first batch is through a competitive process based on the applicant’s National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) result and college academic performance.

Eastern Samar Governor Ralph Vincent Evardone has earlier committed to open 10 scholarship slots courtesy of the provincial government.

The university is in discussion with other local government units in the province to increase the scholarship slots in order to bring down the tuition fee, which will not exceed P40,000, making it among the most affordable medical programs offered by state universities and colleges.