MikeLigalig.com

MANILA, Dec. 20— The Philippines is about as far as a New Yorker can go to attend medical school. Still, hundreds of Americans, mostly from the East Coast, apply to medical schools here every year when they fail to gain acceptance to any in the United States.

Mary-Joan Marron, a 26-year-old registered nurse and the daughter of a New York City fireman, was one of nearly 2,000 Americans who applied last year for the 15 openings for foreign students at Far Eastern University here.

Compared with the number of Americans attending medical schools in Mexico, the number who come halfway around the world to the Philippines for medical education is low. Only about 50 first-year American medical students are accepted each year. By Philippine law, just 5 percent of the first-year medical school students can be foreigners, and foreigners are not accepted after the first year. The total number of American medical students in the Philippines is probably less than 200.

''And we may be among the last,'' said Irl S. Rosner, a third-year student from Maywood, N.J., who believes that the American Medical Association is trying to control the number of foreign-trained doctors by raising test and entrace requirements for returning Americans. Usually Come for 2 or 3 Years

''The entrance is very competitive,'' said Ricardo L. Alfonso, dean of Far Eastern University's medical school, which has an active alumni association in Newark, N.J.

''Most of them failed to get into American medical schools,'' Mr. Alfonso said, ''but the ones we take are very good students.'' Americans usually come to the Philippines for two or three years of study, then complete their medical studies at American hospitals. If American students transfer home after their second year, they can earn an American degree. If they spend three years overseas, they earn a foreign degree and must take special examinations.

''There are people who worry about being foreign graduates,'' Mr. Rosner said, ''but Philippine medical school graduates have a good reputation. Both Filipino doctors and Americans who graduated from here are doing well in the United States.''

Like other medical students, Mr. Rosner considered other medical schools first. ''I looked into Mexico, Italy and then the Philippines,'' he said.

''I figured this was my chance to live in a foreign country. I'd never get this chance again,'' said Mr. Rosner, who has been accepted to complete his fourth year of medical training at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. Would Rather Be in U.S. Schools

''We would all rather be in school in the United States,'' said Jeffrey S. Yuskevich, a second-year medical student from Farmingdale, L.I. ''But for a number of reasons each of us didn't get in at home.'' Mr. Yuskevich believes that students with other careers, particularly if they are in medicine, are not looked upon favorably by American medical schools. ''But if you want to be a doctor bad enough,'' he said, ''you find someplace where they appreciate your skills.''

Miss Marron was a nurse for six years and taught nursing. ''American medical schools,'' she said, ''seem to think people are born doctors. When they asked me, I told the truth. I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor until I realized the limitations of being a nurse. I mean, after all, if your father's a doctor you know what doctors do. My father's a fireman. What did I know about doctors. I did know I didn't want to be a fireman.''

Medical schools here cost less than $1,500 a year. Philippine schools use American texts and teaching techniques, and many of the instructors are trained in the United States.

And, unlike Mexican medical school graduates, Americans returning to the United States from Philippine schools accredited by the World Health Organization do not have to take a fifth year, called the ''pathway year,'' which amounts to a pre-internship transition year. In addition, English is the language of instruction. Older Than Filipino Classmates

''I thought about Mexico, but I didn't want to learn another language,'' said Robert B. Edlemann, the son of a New Jersey surgeon. ''It's hard enough trying to learn medicine without having to learn another language.''

Because many of the American medical students studying in the Philippines waited for a spot to open at American medical schools or had other careers before deciding to become doctors, they are older than their Filipino classmates. The oldest, Steve Lissau, a professional photographer and former high school teacher from Honolulu, is a first-year medical student at age 36.

''Probably because we are older and really serious about becoming doctors, many of the Americans do very well here,'' said Mr. Yuskevich, who at 28 years old is in his second year of medical school at Far Eastern University. ''I guess if you want to be a doctor bad enough to come half way around the world, you are serious.''


http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/21/world/us-students-turn-to-the-philippines.html

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