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The MARLON RAY G. LABAGNOY REVIEW CENTER is now globally recognized because of the latest honors given by one of the premier awards body in the Philippines the National Consumers Affairs Foundation (NCAF). The MRLRC was chosen once again as an Outstanding Review Center consecutively this year (2 in a raw) and Model Achievers Award for Education & Professional. Truly, a Tradition of Excellence for quality service in Nursing Education.

Mr. Marlon Ray G. Labagnoy himself, the President/ Review Director together with Mrs. Catherine L. Regacho, Vice. President and at the same time his sister, received the awards from Honorary awards chairman David Watson, Founding chairman Dr. Seiji Yii Kagawa and Project director Jonathan Navea during the awarding ceremonies for the "GLOBAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS" held at the Ambassador Hotel, Shenzhen, China last December 3, 2005.

The program merged various representatives from all over the Philippines and other foreign counterparts such as; academe, hospitals, industries, book author, review centers and other groups and organizations.

Elvin G. Bonifacio

MOST OUTSTANDING NURSING REVIEW CENTER IN THE PHILIPPINES

 The MARLON RAY G. LABAGNOY REVIEW CENTER Got it's Notional Consumers Quality Awards for being chosen as the 2005 Outstanding Nursing Review Center in the Philippines after years of dedicated service to nursing education.

  Mr. Marlon Ray G. Labagnoy (President/Review Director), received the award from honorary awards chairman Dean Amelia S. Mapagu, Awards officer Prof. Urbano S. Reyes and Overall Chairman Jnathan Navea During the awarding ceremonies dubbed as the "23rd Annual Consumers Quality People's Choice Awards." Held at the AFP Theater, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Last September 29. 

     The National Consumers Quality Awards is given yearly by the National Consumers Affairs Foundation and the National Consumers Quality Awards Committee to individuals or groups that has rendered outstanding service to the Filipino People.

Elvin G. Bonifacio

The Marlon Ray G. Labagnoy Review Center (MRLRC) - The unmatched name in nursing review, is now celebrating its 16th year Anniversary in this field where Filipino Nurses earn plaudits for their exemplary services in various hospitals in foreign countries.

Doctors in Nurses’ Caps
By Gemma B. Bagayaua
Newsbreak Staff writer

In the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) building, members of the board of nursing carefully interview applicants for the examination that would enable them to practice as registered nurses. Not every nursing graduate has to go through such an interview. But these are no ordinary applicants. Many of those waiting to be interviewed are doctors of medicine.

Normally, students take \the nursing course as a steppingstone to a medical degree. Last June, over a hundred doctors took the reverse route by taking the nursing board examinations. More are expected to take the exams this December and in the future.

Rosie de Leon of the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) estimates that around 2,000 doctors are now taking up nursing. A resident doctor in a major hospital in Bicol says at least 10 of some 150 resident doctors and consultants there are studying to be nurses. At least 32 doctors are enrolled in one nursing school in Laguna, and one of them is Manuel Yuhico, a resident urologist at the recently opened Asian Hospital.

Why do doctors, even specialists like Yuhico, take up nursing? Yuhico cites one reason: the poor conditions affecting medical practice in the country. To get to where he is now, he had to go through many years of expensive and rigorous postgraduate training: two and a half years training in Michigan, US, a year in France, and two years in the Philippines preparing for the diplomate examinations. This does not include the 10 years he spent to get his medical degree: four years in pre-med, four years in medical school, one year internship, and one year to prepare for the medical board exams.

Those years of training, Yuhico says, do not yet ensure a lucrative practice, unless one works in cities like Cebu and Metro Manila. And with the economy down, people tend to postpone seeking medical care.

Route to Better Future

Remedios Fernandez, a member of the nursing board, tells NEWSBREAK that one of those applying for the nursing licensure was a 55-year old doctor from Iligan City. He took up nursing after the collapse of the National Steel Corp., which resulted in fewer patients in Iligan seeking his services.

A doctor in the province can charge only so much. "Some complain even if the fee is just a hundred pesos," Yuhico says.

In the big cities, the level of competition for patients who can afford medical treatment is high, and a doctor, even a specialist, must get established first before he can attract patients.

Those who are not yet well known may have to pay their way in to practice in a major hospital and start building a professional reputation. That could cost an enormous sum, anywhere from 150,000 pesos for the lesser known hospitals to one million pesos to three million pesos in the bigger and more expensive ones. Bu Castro, secretary general of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), says the money is normally refundable once the doctor leaves. Raising that amount, however, can be difficult for one just starting his or her practice. This excludes the cost of the clinical and office equipment.

On the average, an established doctor earns around 50,000 pesos a month, says Castro. Few, perhaps only 10 percent of all medical practitioners in the country, earn more than 100,000 pesos a month, he adds.

While that amount may seem big compared to what the average Filipino earns, Yuhico says it is small compared to the amount his classmates, who are executives in their respective companies, are now earning.

It is also a mere fraction of the salary that nurses working abroad earn. A nurse in the US earns around 4,350 dollars per month (230,550 pesos at 53 pesos to the US dollar). A nurse there is also allowed to take on additional work at 9.30 dollars (492.90 pesos) per hour.

Money is not the only motivation. Some are after a US immigrant visa. Yuhico says many of his doctor-classmates are taking up nursing to build a better future for their families abroad. At the PRC, one of those waiting to interviewed by the nursing board and who asked Newsbreak to identify him only as "Dr. Jess," says he studied nursing because that is the easiest way for him to migrate to the US with his wife and kids.

Some sources say it is easier these days to migrate as a nurse than as a doctor. A doctor has to take a licensure exam in the host country and retrain there for three years. Even after that, the doctor will only be given a working visa. Nurses, on the other hand, are able to enter with immigrant visas. In many cases, sources say, they are allowed to bring their families along as immigrants.

High Demand

As the populations of countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and the US continue to age, their need for nurses is also likely to increase. The US is expected to open its doors to some 500,000 nurses from this year up to 2005.

Given all the favorable factors, Mila Delia Llanes, director of nursing and patient care services of the Asian Hospital, says more doctors are expected to be lured to the nursing profession.

The way is being made easier for them. Many nursing schools now offer shortened courses tailored for graduates of medical and allied professions. They are made to take only subjects that are unique to nursing. In some schools, sources say, the shortened courses can be finished within one year. This has alarmed many in the nursing community, who expressed concern over the quality of training being given to the prospective new nurses.

Dr. Kenneth Ronquillo, director of the human resources development bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), says the migration of Filipino doctors to other countries to practice nursing is not yet a big concern. What the health department is more concerned about is the number of nurses leaving the country because they constitute the bulk of the health care providers here.

Ronquillo says there are enough doctors to cater to the Filipinos’ needs, but they just have to be distributed better around the country. His office oversees the implementation of the DOH Doctors to the Barrio program, which sends doctors to fifth- and sixth-class municipalities that are considered "doctorless."

Castro thinks, however, that the exodus of doctors, particularly specialists, in nurses’ caps will gravely affect the delivery of health care services in the country. He says that of the country’s 60,000 or so doctors, only 10 to 15 percent are specialists. Already, he points out, the ratio of doctors to patients attended to in the country (1:25,000) falls way below the World Health Organization standard (1:600). Around four out of 10 Filipinos die without ever seeing a doctor. How will things be if doctors begin leaving the country by the thousands the way nurses do?

Despite his taking up nursing, Yuhico says he has not yet decided to leave. It is difficult to abandon something you have worked so hard for, he explains. What would persuade him to stay? "If things begin to change for the better," he replies wistfully

HIRING OF FILIPINO NURSES IN U.S. WILL RESUME

The resumption in hiring of Filipino nurses in the United States is now possible with the passage of a law incorporating an amendment that provides for the recall of employment immigrant visas, which were unused from 2001 to 2004 the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported last Friday.

A report reaching Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas said the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 has been amended to provide for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa numbers or employment-based immigrant visas, which were not used during the fiscal years 2001 to 2004.

Philippine labor attaché in Washington DC Arturo Sodusta apprised Sto. Tomas that the EB-3 amendment was incorporated into the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act 2005, which was signed by president Bush last May 11. Sodusta said the amendment providing for the recapture of 50, 000 EB-3 visa numbers will be used exclusively for the ‘Schedule A’ occupations such as registered nurses and physical therapists.

The EB-3 visa number is used mainly by US hospitals for hiring foreign-trained nurses, mostly from China, India and the Philippines. The EB-3 amendment is expected to considerably advance the cutoff priority dates for countries with pending EB-3 applications. At present, the cutoff date for China, India and the Philippines is April 2002.

Last December, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that China, India and the Philippines had already exhausted the visa numbers allocated to them. As a consequence, the processing of applications from the Philippines for nursing jobs in the US was halted.

Sto. Tomas disclosed that Sodusta intensely coordinated with other Philippine Embassy people in Washington DC in getting the concerted cooperation and support of the Philippine Nurses Association, the Filipino community and their allies in the US for the passage of the EB-3 amendment.

Citing the Washington-based labor attaché, Sto. Tomas said the amendment is a welcome development in the efforts to find better paying jobs for the Filipino workers. She said the Filipino nurses in the US are one of the OFW’s groups who enjoy high compensation abroad. With the EB-3 amendment, the hiring of Filipino nurses in US hospitals is expected to resume, Sto Tomas said.  

Source: DOLE – Information and Publication Service:

PALACE WELCOMES U.S. DECISION TO HIRE PINOY NURSES

Malacañang lauded yesterday the United States move to resume hiring Filipino nurses to alleviate a staffing shortage, but said the government will continue to work hard so that Filipinos don’t have to leave the country to find good jobs. 

Under a constitutional amendment approved by U.S. President George W. Bush, 50,000 employment-based immigrant visas (EB-3) that had been allotted to other countries from 2001 to 2004 but went unused could now be reassigned to the Philippines, India, and China. EB-3 visas are used mainly by US hospitals for hiring foreign-trained nurses.

“We welcome Bush’s action, which is renewed opportunity for our nurses to show the world the competence and excellence of the Filipino workforce,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement. 

He cited Filipino workers here and abroad for having been “steadfast in fueling the pace of the economy.”

Nonetheless, we look forward to the day when enough well-paying Philippine jobs can be had so that our qualified workers need not try their luck abroad, “Bunye said.

Ambassador to Washington Alberto del Rosario said Thursday that the amendment of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000” opens the door for the entry into the US of our nurses, who are well-known for their competence and compassion as health workers.”

In another statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo commended the American Hospital Association, US recruitment agencies, the Philippine Nurses Association and members of the Filipino community in the US for their support of the passage of the amendment.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) suspended last December the processing of EB-3 applications from the Philippines, India and China after the three countries exceeded their annual quotas.

The CIS said that in order to clear the backlog, it would process only visa and status-adjustment applications filed before January 1, 2002.

The amendment is expected to advance the priority dates for countries with pending EB-3 applications. At present, the cut-off date for China, India and the Philippines is April 2002.

Filipino nurses are the most sought-after foreign health care workers in the US and are likely to benefit most from the amendment, which was incorporated into the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief Act signed by Bush last Wednesday.

The Department of Health and Human Service estimates there are 130,000 vacancies for registered nurses throughout the US, a figure expected to double within the next five years.  

BY: AUREA CALICA   

• The Marlon Ray Labagnoy Review Center had an abrupt increase not only for CGFNS/NCLEX-RN CAT Exam but also for the Local Board reviewees  due to it's continuing legacy to all prospective nurses who believes in the MRLRC. 

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• 12/24/05 mrlrc.com web development has been temporarily stopped due to the Christmas break. Looking forward to continued development in 2006!

• 12/22/04 Thanks to the effort of key staff members, the Marlon Ray Labagnoy Review Center is proud to present our NEW INTERNET WEB SITE: mrlrc.com. This website will bring our content to the internet where budding nurses can view our review services.