University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery Information

The UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is the oldest medical school in the Philippines. The “Facultad de Medicina y Farmacia” – the beginnings of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery – was formally opened on May 28, 1871 by decree of the “Superior Gobierno de Filipinas”. At that time, there were only 12 practicing doctors in the Philippines, all trained in Europe. The first group of enrollees were 9 (3 Spaniards, 6 Filipinos) and all graduated on March 10, 1877 At that time, the medical curriculum was patterned after leading European medical school (6 years, 1 year preparatory instruction, 5 years proper), and the language of instruction was Spanish.