Admission to Philippine Medical Schools

The requirements and procedures for admission to Philippine medical schools discussed below are applicable to both Filipino and foreign nationals aspiring to pursue medical education in any of the schools. Updates on the requirements are based on the “Updated Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Medical Education”, CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 10, series of 2006.

Prerequisite 1: Bachelor’s Degree, Students seeking admission to the medical education program must be a holder of any baccalaureate degree.

Prerequisite 2: National Medical Admission Test (NMAT), Applicants to medical schools in the Philippines are required to take the NMAT. The test is developed and administered by the Center for Educational Measurement, Inc. (CEM) as authorized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) per Memorandum of Agreement (1985) between the former Board of Medical Education, now Technical Committee for Medical Education, and CEM. The testing dates, local and abroad, are decided and announced by the CHED and CEM.

An NMAT applicant must be a graduate or a graduating student of any college degree course at the time of testing. 

The NMAT scores obtained by a medical school applicant at any given examination year are deemed sufficient and valid as basis for evaluating applicants for admission to a college of medicine. The applicant is encouraged to do well in the test and obtain his/her best scores in the NMAT to increase his/her chances of being accepted in the best medical schools in the Philippines.

Prerequisite 3: Certificate of Eligibility for Admission to a Medical Course (CEMed), The CEMed application form may be obtained from the regional offices of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Foreign students may apply at CHED Office of Student Services (OSS) located at the National Engineering Center Building, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. The requirements in securing the CEMed are as follows:

  1. Fully accomplished CEMed application form
  2. Transcript of Records
  3. Copy of Diploma or Certificate of Graduation authenticated by the Registrar of the school where he/she graduated (for graduates of government school)
  4. NMAT results (original or duplicate copy of Examinee Report Form) issued by CEM
  5. Birth Certificate
  6. Certificate of good moral character
Prerequisite 4: Applicant’s Acceptance in Medical School, The CEMed does not automatically assure the applicant of a slot in any of the medical schools in the country. A student who has been issued a CEMed is given full acceptance only upon meeting the other requirements of the admitting school, such as passing the interviews. It may be advisable, therefore, to seek preliminary acceptance from the medical school chosen by the applicant before obtaining the CEMed.