The School of Medicine at Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) in western Mindanao in the Philippines was established in 1994. The primary purpose of the school is to train physicians to provide urgently needed medical care. The school itself is a joint project between the Zamboanga Medical School Foundation and ADZU, which is a Jesuit university.
In the last 32 years, the School of Medicine has established an excellent reputation for community-based medical education and has helped address brain drain in local healthcare. Out of 803 board-certified graduates, 96% practice within the Philippines, with 68% staying in the region, 40% in rural/remote areas, and 10% in conflict zones.
The school adopts a community-based medical curriculum with emphasis on family and rural medical practice. Half of the curriculum is based in a rural community. The students learn first hand about health in a very different setting than they find in a hospital. In the process there is also transformation among the people they serve as people are empowered to address their health requirements and the social inequalities in their community.
The local government is also responding now in very positive ways. They have increased local budgets for health, introduced proper garbage disposal, built more pit latrines, supported immunization campaigns, and so on. Graduates of the School of Medicine have been part of some of these initiatives.
Ateneo de Zamboanga University has presented a new scholarship plan aimed at supporting seven students (five women, two men) over five years to July 2029. Priority will be given to scholarship applicants from rural communities who possess a firsthand understanding of the unique socio-cultural and healthcare needs of their communities.
The scholarship program will continue to operate under the direction of Dr Jaybee D. Bazan, Dean of the University’s School of Medicine. The goal is $113,200. Ateneo de Zamboanga University has asked Canadian Jesuits International to raise funds among its donors toward these seven scholarships.
A generous donor has pledged to match contributions to student scholarships to the end of 2026. Canadian physicians Dr. Clarence Guenter and Mrs. Marie Guenter were deeply committed to community medicine and played foundational advisory and curriculum-development roles for the Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine in the Philippines. This scholarship fund honours their memory.
Please join us to fund these scholarships, which will enable economic and technical support for students during their Health Intervention Projects and their Inter-sectoral Community Participation Programs . Whole communities will benefit from better access to health care and prevention programs. Change a life today.
Visit the ADZU School of Medicine website here.
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