Prof. Fortunato Dela Peña, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary for Scientific and Technological Services, lauded the MD-PhD Molecular Medicine Scholarship Program as a good model for human resource development programs in science and technology during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine on October 8, 2014.

The MD-PhD in Molecular Medicine Scholarship Program is a joint initiative of UPM and the DOST, through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), that aims to train aspiring physician-scientists for careers in basic and applied biomedical research towards the advancement of health from individual to global levels. It is the first and pioneering degree program in the Philippines that combines the MD and PhD courses in one.

Usec. Dela Peña explained that the MD-PhD Program is part of an ongoing effort of the DOST to capacitate the S&T sector with highly trained and skilled human resource by providing scholarship grants in almost all educational levels and all fields of expertise. Aside from scholars at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) System, the Department also currently supports more than 4,000 undergraduate and more than 1,000 MS and PhD scholars.

Describing the program as “very innovative” and a “breakthrough in graduate education,” Usec. Dela Peña said that the DOST may follow the dual-career concept of the MD-PhD in  Molecular Science program in developing  future scholarship grants in other fields of science and technology.