by Lysander Kendrick J. Tiu
Medical Technology students are expected to survive rigorous examinations. They study clinical chemistry, hematology, and microbiology, among others, which are in-depth courses that require essential laboratories and classrooms.
This semester, however, students faced an examination that had nothing to do with their rigorous curriculum: dealing with the shortage and absence of adequate classrooms.
For years, MedTech students relied on the Nursing building to hold major examinations. Those spaces eventually became less available with the growing population of Nursing students requiring more classrooms. This year’s batch of Nursing students have a population of over 100 with three sections, doubling last year’s 53 and one section.
With only one lecture room in the Angelo King Center capable of holding an entire section, examinations were displaced across the Ausejo Hall, Multi-purpose Room, and Nutrition and Dietetics department.
These examinations also comprise both lecture and laboratory classes. Unlike previous years, the two components for the same subject were no longer scheduled in one day. Rather, they were dispersed throughout the week due to the lack of accommodable classrooms.
For second- and third-year students balancing up to five major subjects, this meant taking a heavier mental load studying two separate lecture or laboratory courses back-to-back. Each subject often requires different methods of thinking that make splitting time overwhelm a student’s brainpower. They cannot be simply reviewed interchangeably.
Instead of reinforcing and mastering one before moving to another, they are forced to endure this unsustainable schedule. The result is more than academic fatigue but a mental overload, where the greater challenge students face is an erratic schedule that works against effective learning.
Worse still, their temporary relocation to Roble Hall is not a permanent solution. While, at the very least, it provides for actual facilities for laboratory examinations, it does little to address the root of the problem.
Temporary fixes may keep classes running, but they also normalize a system where students are expected to adjust to insufficient resources. As enrollment continues to grow, relying on borrowed spaces and unusual schedules only postpones the need for lasting solutions.
The SU Board of Trustees Chairperson Ricardo Balbido Jr. also previously announced a groundbreaking ceremony for a new MedTech building during the upcoming Hibalag Booth Festival. For students who have long endured the current conditions of facilities, however, the building may come too late, with many likely graduating before they can benefit from it.
The Weekly Sillimanian calls on the SU administration to maximize these venues for learning and meet students halfway in revisiting their schedules for examinations. SU may address immediate shortages, but should not become permanent practice once they affect students’ ability to learn and perform.
As more students enter healthcare programs, the University must also ensure that the number of facilities match academic demand. It is an investment in the quality education and students who will one day serve in laboratories, hospitals, and communities beyond the campus.
Medical Technology students understand that striving for excellence requires sacrifice. They expect difficult lessons, demanding laboratory work, and challenging examinations that prepare them for a profession where lives are at stake. What they should never have to overcome are the artificial obstacles created outside the classroom.
