BACOLOD City — Patrick Joseph Amunategui Mabugat and Dyan Dimalaluan proved they are indeed in “relationship goals.”
Patrick and Dyan, both graduates of the University of St. La Salle (USLS), passed the November 2020 physician licensure examination administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on Nov. 10, 11, 15, and 16.
Of the 55 USLS students who took the exam, 45 passed, giving the university an 81.82 percent passing rate, said Dr. Ricky Gallaga, USLS College of Medicine dean.
Patrick of Barangay Alijis said much of the help he had to get through the licensure exam – and ranked second with a rating of 88.58 percent – was from his fiancée Dyan.
He was at Dyan’s house in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental when he learned that he got the second-highest score in the licensure exams.
“My goal was just to pass the board and be a doctor. Having the second-highest score is a huge bonus,” Patrick said.
This is not the first time that Patrick, a son of a police officer, topped a board exam. In 2014, he topped the Medical Technology Board Examination with a rating of 90.90 percent.
The couple, who have been together for eight years, graduated B.S. Medical Technology in the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos. They got engaged early June last year.
Dyan, who currently works as a medical technology instructor at the Recoletos de Bacolod Graduate School, also wrote a heartwarming message to Patrick.
“From classmates, to friends, to frenemies, to lunch mates, to boyfriend/girlfriend, to fiancé/fiancée. From medical technologists to medical doctors. Eight years of having each other’s backs through the highs and lows. To more years of achieving our goals. I love you very much!” Dyan posted on Facebook.
On Thursday, PRC announced that 3,538 out of 4,704 examiners passed this month’s licensure exam for doctors.
Jomel Garcia Lapides of the University of the Philippines in Manila topped the exams with a rating of 88.67 percent.
Patrick and Adrian Emmanuel Diago Teves of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) came in second with 88.58 percent.
They were followed by Henrick Ryan Chua Fong of UST and Raphael Cecilio Salazar Rodolfo of UP Manila with 88.33 percent.
The Cebu Institute of Medicine is this year’s top performing school with a passing rate of 100 percent./PN