A pharmacy graduate raised in Siaton, Negros Oriental has done something that eludes even the most prepared medical school hopefuls in the country — she earned a perfect score of 800 on the National Medical Admission Test, and she did it on her very first try.
Queenie Roda Futalan, 24, completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy at Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) before sitting for the NMAT while simultaneously fulfilling hospital duty requirements and wrapping up the remaining coursework of her pharmacy degree. The result, verified through her Examinee Report Form issued by the Center for Educational Measurement, confirmed a General Performance Standard score of 800 and a percentile rank of 99 or above — the highest tier of performance attainable under the exam’s current scoring framework.
The NMAT is the standardized entrance test mandated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for aspiring medical students across all Philippine higher education institutions. According to CHED policy, no applicant may enroll in any medical program in the country without passing the examination. A perfect score, however, is considered exceptionally rare among any given cycle of test-takers, regardless of academic background.
Four Years of Academic Excellence at NORSU
Futalan’s perfect NMAT result is not an isolated achievement — it is the most recent milestone in a continuous record of high academic performance that stretched across her entire undergraduate career at NORSU’s College of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Allied Health Sciences.
She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the BS Pharmacy program, finishing just 0.02 grade points away from what would have been the first-ever Summa Cum Laude honor in the college’s recorded history. She ranked first in her graduating class and stood as the only student from her entire college batch to receive Latin honors.
A scholarship recipient under the Department of Science and Technology–Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), Futalan appeared on the Dean’s List in every academic year from 2022 through 2025, according to university records. She was also recognized as a Presidential Academic Awardee. During school year 2023–2024, she was reportedly the only Dean’s Lister from her batch. Her record of distinction traces back even further — she graduated with High Honors from Siaton Science High School before entering NORSU.
She Took the NMAT While on Hospital Duty
The context in which Futalan took the national exam adds weight to the outcome. At the time of the examination, she was carrying out active hospital duty obligations while simultaneously completing her remaining pharmacy program requirements — a combination of responsibilities that would test the focus and stamina of any serious exam candidate.
Her Examinee Report Form, dated May 6, 2026, confirmed the score of 800 and a percentile rank placing her at or above at least 99 percent of all examinees in her testing cohort, according to the Center for Educational Measurement’s scoring documentation. The 800 mark represents the maximum score achievable under the NMAT’s General Performance Standard scale.
Quiz Bowls, National Competition, and Community Involvement
Outside of her academic coursework, Futalan maintained an active record of competition and service during her time at NORSU. She won the championship at the College Day Quiz Bowl in 2025 and placed third at NORSU’s 117th and 118th Founding Anniversary Quiz Bowl competitions.
At the national level, she finished 10th at the FCJPPha National Pharmacy Quiz Bowl in 2024, going up against student teams from universities throughout the Philippines. She also served as Marketing Representative of the Junior Philippine Pharmacists Association–NORSU Chapter and contributed to the development of examination questions for the World Pharmacists Day 2025 Quiz Bowl held at NORSU.
Her involvement extended beyond the university campus. Earlier in 2026, she volunteered at the De Mira Memorial Medical-Dental Mission held in Dauin, Negros Oriental, where community members received free medical and dental services.
Scholarship Constraints Shape Her Medical School Shortlist
Despite a score that technically qualifies her for admission to any medical school in the country, Futalan has limited her applications to just two institutions — West Visayas State University and Cebu Normal University–Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Both schools are among those currently accredited under CHED’s Medical Scholarship and Return Service (MSRS) Program.
The MSRS Program, administered by CHED, covers tuition and related educational costs in exchange for a post-graduation commitment to serve in the public health system, typically in underserved or rural communities across the Philippines. For Futalan, the financial dimension of the choice was the determining factor.
“I am only applying to these two schools that are eligible for the CHED MSRS Program to lessen the financial strain on my family,” she said in a statement.
She noted that without this financial consideration, her shortlist would have also included St. Luke’s College of Medicine, the Cebu Institute of Medicine, and the University of the Philippines College of Medicine — three of the most competitive and highly regarded medical programs in the country.
A Structural Gap That Scholarship Programs Aim to Bridge
Futalan’s situation illustrates a longstanding tension in Philippine medical education. The full cost of completing a medical degree at a private institution can reach several million pesos over the course of a program, effectively placing the country’s most prestigious schools beyond the financial reach of high-performing students from middle- and lower-income households — regardless of how qualified they are academically.
Government programs such as the CHED MSRS are specifically structured to address this inequality. By linking full financial support to a return-service commitment, the program simultaneously funds qualified candidates and channels newly licensed physicians toward provincial hospitals and community health centers where physician shortages are most severe, according to CHED program guidelines.
For a student from Siaton, a municipality in southern Negros Oriental, the scholarship opens a path into medicine that would not have been practically available through private financing alone.
Targeting Anesthesiology and Surgery as Her Specializations
Futalan is currently in a gap year, using the time to prepare for the medical school admission process. She has identified anesthesiology and surgery as her target areas of specialization — disciplines she has described as well-matched to her methodical and precise approach to both academic and professional work.
Both specializations require extended residency and fellowship training following the completion of a medical degree, making them among the more demanding tracks in medicine. Anesthesiology, in particular, is a specialty where documented shortages exist in many provincial hospitals across the Philippines.
Public Service Built Into Her Career Path From the Start
Should Futalan complete her studies under the MSRS commitment, her early career will be spent rendering service in the public health system — exactly the kind of setting, provincial hospitals and community clinics, where trained physicians are both most needed and historically hardest to retain.
The return-service requirement embedded in the MSRS Program is designed to prevent scholarship-funded graduates from moving immediately into private or urban practice, a pattern that has historically deepened health worker shortages in rural areas, according to CHED program documentation.
For Futalan, a student whose undergraduate career at NORSU was defined by consistent top performance across academics, competitions, and community work, the MSRS commitment aligns the start of her medical career directly with public service — a direction shaped by both financial practicality and professional conviction.
The perfect score of 800, confirmed on her Examinee Report Form by the Center for Educational Measurement, stands as the most recent data point in an unbroken run of high achievement that began with High Honors at Siaton Science High School and shows no sign of leveling off.
Source: Breaking News Negros Oriental (breakingnewsnegrosoriental.com)
