44 provincial medical scholars of the Palawan government are now certified doctors through the help of I-HELP Education that seeks to grant medical scholarships to aspiring doctors in the province.
I-HELP Education program provides an opportunity for medical scholarship grants and return service for under privilege Palaweno students in academic schools or colleges from towns where there are no government physicians.
The program was initiated by Palawan Governor Jose Chaves Alvarez during his first term on 2014. It allocates slots to make sure that at least one or two doctor would serve in each government funded municipalities all over Palawan.
The mandatory return service upon integration into the medical service system also helps doctors to practice their profession and give back to the government by serving in provincial operated hospitals.
At present, most of these certified doctors are rendering their return of service in different local hospitals. Each will serve the hospitals equivalent to the years the provincial government have paid for their degree.
Some have also finished their return of service and are now under “residency” or Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program as preparation for their medical specialization.
As of now, there are still 696 medical scholars under the I-HELP Program.