Limited face-to-face classes for medical and allied health programs may resume following the green light given by President Duterte so the country won't run out of doctors, Malacañang announced Tuesday.
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the in-person medical classes will be allowed in higher educational institutions located located in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) as well as some schools in places under general community quarantine (GCQ).
"Ito po ay para sa medical and allied programs. Ito po ay sa mga med schools at mga medical allied programs sa mga higher educational institutions sa MGCQ at para po sa mga higher educational institutions in GCQ areas with base hospitals that cater to COVID-19 patients (These are for medical and allied programs. These are the medical schools, higher equational institutions in MGCQ and the higher educational institutions in GCQ areas with base hospitals that cater to COVID-19 patients),” Roque said during a televised press briefing Tuesday.
"Ito po ay para hindi tayo maubusan ng mga doktor kung hindi magpapatuloy 'yung mga face-to-face ng mga doctors at allied medical professional (This is to ensure we will not run out of doctors if we won't resume face-to-face classes for doctors and allied medical professionals)," he said.
Roque noted that the government pandemic task force earlier allowed University of the Philippines-College of Medicine to resume its face-to-face clinical internship program.
In October 2020, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued a resolution allowing UPCM's face-to-face internship program at the Philippine General Hospital. The government hospital, located in Manila, is among the major health facilities providing care for coronavirus patients.
To ensure the safety and welling of students amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government earlier suspended face-to-face or in-person classes and instead promoted alternative learning methods. Instead of physically going to schools, the students attend classes through distance learning methods such as online, printed modules, or radio and television-based instruction.
President Duterte has ruled out the traditional face-to-face classes until the coronavirus vaccine is developed to protect the students.
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