CALASIAO, Pangasinan — A 20-year-old graduate of the Philippine Investment Management Consultants, Inc. – University of Pangasinan (PHINMA-UPang), who hails from Barangay San Vicente here, got the highest rating in the Nursing Licensure Examination held this month.
Mark Tristan Pangilinan Robosa bested 9,873 examinees nationwide when he garnered an 87.6-percent rating based on the released data of the Professional Regulation Commission on Tuesday.
Robosa, in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday, acknowledged that he was studious ever since he started schooling.
“I was aiming for at least being part of the Top 10, but I did not expect to be the highest,” he said.
Robosa said he also did a self-review, reading and answering questionnaires, on top of his enrollment in a review center in Baguio City.
He further said that being in the medical field runs in their family as his older sister is also a nurse, while some of his cousins are in related professions.
Robosa is the second of four siblings.
After topping the board, he considers working at his collegiate alma mater, where he was offered a teaching job. However, his bigger plan is to take up Medicine.
“I like being a nurse, but I really want to become a doctor, specifically a surgeon,” he added.
Meanwhile, Robosa urged the government to prioritize giving proper compensation to nurses in the country.
“It is in the law that nurses should have salary grade 15 basic pay, around PHP30,000 a month but what nurses receive in our country in reality is only around PHP10,000 basic pay,” he pointed out.
Robosa disclosed that he also wants to work abroad if he is unable to study Medicine.
“PHP10, 000 a month is not a livable salary, so nurses are forced to work abroad,” he said.
Other top ranking examinees from PHINMA-UPang were Chielon Velasco Abalos at No. 7 with an 86 percent rating, and Daisy Albright Fernandez Fernandez at No. 10 with an 85.40 percent rating.
Of the total number of examinees, only 4,326 takers passed this year’s nursing licensure exam. (Hilda Austria/PNA)
