Study in the Philippines or U.S.A?

Lilmissmayshine · Jun 19, 2011

It's 3 years because the only way you can enter the program if you have most of your general education classes finished. I already had all my GE classes and nursing prerequisites finished in the states before I came to the Philippines. St. Luke's Medical Center is a private international approved JCAHO commissioned hospital fulling furnished with pyxis and computer systems. The school also has 2 stimulation labs that are pretty technological advanced.

I worked 5 years as a scrub technician before I came to the Philippines to finish a degree. All the fill-am students who graduated from SLCN actually passed the NCLEX on the first try and have had no problems finding jobs once they got back to the states.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Jun 19, 2011

It's 3 years because the only way you can enter the program if you have most of your general education classes finished. I already had all my GE classes and nursing prerequisites finished in the states before I came to the Philippines. St. Luke's Medical Center is a private international approved JCAHO commissioned hospital fulling furnished with pyxis and computer systems. The school also has 2 stimulation labs that are pretty technological advanced.
I worked 5 years as a scrub technician before I came to the Philippines to finish a degree. All the fill-am students who graduated from SLCN actually passed the NCLEX on the first try and have had no problems finding jobs once they got back to the states.

Sounds like a good program, my concern is that the only 17.9% of the faculty have an advanced degree, in the US a MSN is required for the majority of the faculty in nursing program. WIth a medical school, I have heard many of the good clinical experiences go to the medical students, but overall the hospital sounds like a winner.

As I have always said, best to go to nursing school in the country you wish to practice, with a tuition of $8K per year, cost of plane fare, and extra cost of applying as an international student, I don't see any cost savings. But since you are current student there, I wish you the best of luck.

kathleenmae · Aug 12, 2011

Hi, my name is Kathleen Mae Claro, i'm 100% pinay but was born in america. I'm a senior in high school in america and i am graduating this may. I plan to study in the philippines but my parents say the only way for me to study in the philippines is if i take up nursing because they said it's the only credited thing that will enable me to work anywhere especially in the US. is this true? is there anything else that i can study there that will be credited here?

also, would i have to take undergraduate classes like basic math and science before i actually start studying for nursing? how long would that take? also would i be able to change my mind about my career during that time?

what university would you recommend to me?

would i be able to take my undergraduate classes there and then come back to the US? would that be smart?

because i know my parents want nursing for me but i'm confused right now and i could end up doing anything really..

BUT i really want to study in the philippines!!!

thanks for your time,

sincerely kathleen mae claro, a confused high schooler

msunday16 · Aug 16, 2011

Sounds like a good program, my concern is that the only 17.9% of the faculty have an advanced degree, in the US a MSN is required for the majority of the faculty in nursing program. WIth a medical school, I have heard many of the good clinical experiences go to the medical students, but overall the hospital sounds like a winner.
As I have always said, best to go to nursing school in the country you wish to practice, with a tuition of $8K per year, cost of plane fare, and extra cost of applying as an international student, I don't see any cost savings. But since you are current student there, I wish you the best of luck.

I graduated in the Philippines and went straight here. I believe you have some point there regarding where you wish to practice. Being a foreign graduate, the class and the way they perceive nursing there is somewhat different from the practice here in the US. I just want to clarify, US did allow the Nursing degree in the Philippines to be honored here in the US. That means the education obtained there is the same (not equally), as what we have here in the US. The situation here is much more advance from the nurses in the Philippines but they compensate it there by trying to show students what and how the technology differs from here.

The NCLEX would really challenge you in terms of the way the test is made in the Philippines. Here we are use to having PCA's and LVN's so we are focusing in delegation and prioritization. The Philippines do not have any of those and the exams are not that analytical as they have in the NCLEX here.

I know some people who do not pass the NCLEX who graduated here in the US that means the way you review also affects the way you pass the NCLEX exam not the place you graduated at.

vegas2009 · Aug 16, 2011

what university would you recommend to me?
There's five that I would recommend. They're all around Quezon City/Manila area. They are: University of the Phillippines, (Manila), University of Santo Thomas, De LaSalle University and San Beda College. The last one is, Ateneo de Manila. Actually, the schools there tend to be accomodating to Filipinos who are/were educated in the United States and other 'western' schools. I noticed that, when I went there for a visit. I think I should've stayed -- well, for at least, another four years anyway. My life probably would've turned out differently? lol.

sfpinay · Aug 17, 2011

hi everyone! i just wanted to hear some of your speech or advices. please do.

how do i start?

well, i have been here in california, usa for about 8 years and currently a part of us citizen. finished my high school here and had a associate degree in a nearby college. during my college times, i have taken all of my prerequisites and requirements for nursing, oh dear, it was a struggle. the result was astonishing, i have received a gpa of 2.3 for the 3 major prerequisites. indeed, in order for a student to get into the program "finish anatomy,physiology, and micriobio and the gpa must be above 2.5"

oh no, right?

but there is only one community college i was qualified to apply for the nursing program -- they added one prerequisite, which is the english composition -- thus, where i got a gpa for 2.5. so i applied to that school immediately and my application has been on a lottery for 2 years now. during 2 years of waiting, i am working as a cna, so i'm doing something productively while waiting to be accepted into the nursing program.

there is a private school that offers bachelor degree for nursing around my area. believe it or not, the price is :eek: , $100k above.

my heart sank into my stomach. i will never give up for majoring in nursing. my dearest mother told me to switch to another career such as accounting, business, or not related to medical. i said, "no, this is where i wanna be". :rolleyes:

i was wondering if it is a good idea to go to the philippines to study nursing. please express some pros and cons regarding on studying in the philippines. and also how much is the tuition/financial where you have attended or graduated, does your school gives credit to some of the subjects that i have taken, how many years is the program, dual citizenship, etc..

for someone who are filipino that were us citizen and graduated in the philippines for their nursing career, please share your ideas or story here.

i'd be happily appreciate your help. thank you very much! :redpinkhe

my reply:

well im a us citizen and i came to the philippines to study nursing, yeah its cheap and all but it felt like i didnt really learned as much.. i graduated last year 2010 and now im struggling on what to do next? i just feel like im not that confidence enough to take the nclex couz i didnt really learned anything at the school that i went to..im having one of those "career's block" should i continue nursing or what..ya know .because i feel like i dont know what to do next..i mean,i guess i wanna be a nurse but i just feel like i need more training..i went to 3 different colleges in the philippines and i notice some of the clinical instructors "dont know what they're teaching".. so now im all confuse because im not sure if im getting the right education. if i were you, just stay in the states. anyone know new grad trainings in sf ?? help!

-sfpinay.

mrmiyagi · Aug 18, 2011

i think it's better to study where you want to work.

you'll save money at some point but if you consider all the license and verifications of credentials and how other countries consider the quality of schools in the philippines to be not up to par. i think it would all balance out in the end. in short, it's just a trade-off.

gibsonperez · Aug 20, 2012

hello Lilmissmayshine. I am planning to attend Trinity University of Asia. If I graduate from this school for my BSN do you know if I will be able to take the NCLEX in California and work in California. Thank you.

steppybay · Aug 20, 2012

hello Lilmissmayshine. I am planning to attend Trinity University of Asia. If I graduate from this school for my BSN do you know if I will be able to take the NCLEX in California and work in California. Thank you.

Times have really changed for the worst for us PH grads, as you can plainly see from the plentiful of threads here, NO one is getting their ATT or if they are, it's but a handful and got very lucky or those who applied before the April 2010 deadline. So I put the odds at 00.5% to get approved, meaning in CA it's nearly impossible.

CA BON is strictly enforcing a 25 year old ruling, that the CHED, PRC and PNA have not complied with to meet USA standards and especially those of CA requirements, they didn't bother to make any needed changes.

But there's been a couple of people here who says they (CHED, PRC and PNA) have recently "adjusted the curriculum" to meet the CA minimum requirements. I would quickly ASK to get confirmation from previous batches if they were able to get their CA application approved. If they were unable to get their ATT, then there's your answer, it's going to still be a waste of money and 4 years of your time.

You need to double-check from the school, if there are truly successflu in their own students able to get approved by the CA BON, you should actually get to e-mail or talk to them as an alumni of the school. ASK, ASK, CONFIRM yourself, do not depend on she said, he said, it's no problem. You have the chance NOW to make sure you're on the right path.

You better verify this as soon as possible, as thousand's of PH grads are truly stranded getting into CA, where 33% of all PH grads want to go. But also realize that even amongst the regular CA new grads there's almost a 50% unemployment rate and if you cruise the CA forums, I think you'll see the CA hospitals are hiring mostly the ones that did their clinicals in that hospital or hiring outside but still graduating from a CA school or from out of state, leaving many internationals out.

Don't bother asking about getting a hospital sponsor, there's NO need to ask with the thousands of unemployed USA nurses being able to fill the little available openings, so no USA hospital is going to wait 6 long years for you.

It was reported that PH grads from the 2005 year are now being informed of these CA BON changes and are already recommending they will need to make up for the deficient courses BEFORE even applying to the CA BON. Again, maybe the "new" courses will be okay, but I think it remains to be seen with more applications being approved.

Oh, there's currently 12 other states that are denying foreign students due to the same rules set by CA years ago. Most if seems are going to get their license in NV, as AZ is closing their doors also.

Please READ the various threads in these forums and then make your decision to go to school in the Phils. Yes, I'm a PH grad too, still nowhere to go after a year: no ATT, etc. I have batchmates from the previous year still trying to get their ATT or if they passed (NY), no jobs after 100's of resumes sent.

steppybay · Aug 20, 2012

It's 3 years because the only way you can enter the program if you have most of your general education classes finished. I already had all my GE classes and nursing prerequisites finished in the states before I came to the Philippines. St. Luke's Medical Center is a private international approved JCAHO commissioned hospital fulling furnished with pyxis and computer systems. The school also has 2 stimulation labs that are pretty technological advanced.
I worked 5 years as a scrub technician before I came to the Philippines to finish a degree. All the fill-am students who graduated from SLCN actually passed the NCLEX on the first try and have had no problems finding jobs once they got back to the states.

Are you all doing ALL your clinicals AND the theoretical classes/course together in the SAME EXACT semester? Not months or a year or two later?

That's where the major problem came in for the earlier graduates from 2011 and prior, we did our's at different times so it was "not concurrent", causing the mass rejections of our applications.

Can I ask if those that got jobs in the States was in CA specific or out of CA? Given the sad unemployment here in CA (almost 50% CA new grads have no jobs after a year) and the overall Sstates for that matter. I mean there are literally 1,000's of regular CA applicants and only about 1% real openings.

Were these major hospital jobs or nursing homes (nothing wrong with that guys, ok), just I'm looking for jobs in Peds.

mykabear · Aug 20, 2012

Times have really changed for the worst for us PH grads, as you can plainly see from the plentiful of threads here, NO one is getting their ATT or if they are, it's but a handful and got very lucky or those who applied before the April 2010 deadline. So I put the odds at 00.5% to get approved, meaning in CA it's nearly impossible.
CA BON is strictly enforcing a 25 year old ruling, that the CHED, PRC and PNA have not complied with to meet USA standards and especially those of CA requirements, they didn't bother to make any needed changes.
But there's been a couple of people here who says they (CHED, PRC and PNA) have recently "adjusted the curriculum" to meet the CA minimum requirements. I would quickly ASK to get confirmation from previous batches if they were able to get their CA application approved. If they were unable to get their ATT, then there's your answer, it's going to still be a waste of money and 4 years of your time.
You need to double-check from the school, if there are truly successflu in their own students able to get approved by the CA BON, you should actually get to e-mail or talk to them as an alumni of the school. ASK, ASK, CONFIRM yourself, do not depend on she said, he said, it's no problem. You have the chance NOW to make sure you're on the right path.
You better verify this as soon as possible, as thousand's of PH grads are truly stranded getting into CA, where 33% of all PH grads want to go. But also realize that even amongst the regular CA new grads there's almost a 50% unemployment rate and if you cruise the CA forums, I think you'll see the CA hospitals are hiring mostly the ones that did their clinicals in that hospital or hiring outside but still graduating from a CA school or from out of state, leaving many internationals out.
Don't bother asking about getting a hospital sponsor, there's NO need to ask with the thousands of unemployed USA nurses being able to fill the little available openings, so no USA hospital is going to wait 6 long years for you.
It was reported that PH grads from the 2005 year are now being informed of these CA BON changes and are already recommending they will need to make up for the deficient courses BEFORE even applying to the CA BON. Again, maybe the "new" courses will be okay, but I think it remains to be seen with more applications being approved.
Oh, there's currently 12 other states that are denying foreign students due to the same rules set by CA years ago. Most if seems are going to get their license in NV, as AZ is closing their doors also.
Please READ the various threads in these forums and then make your decision to go to school in the Phils. Yes, I'm a PH grad too, still nowhere to go after a year: no ATT, etc. I have batchmates from the previous year still trying to get their ATT or if they passed (NY), no jobs after 100's of resumes sent.

What is this ATT you're talking about? Does this apply to dual citizenship of U.S. and Philippine people? Is it like an some kind of evaluation requirement?

steppybay · Aug 20, 2012

What is this ATT you're talking about? Does this apply to dual citizenship of U.S. and Philippine people? Is it like an some kind of evaluation requirement?

ATT = Authorization To Test

You need to pass all your college transcripts thru the CA BON as they do their own evaluations. If it meets their minimum requirements, this is the approval that clears you to then enroll to take the NCLEX.

This applies to anyone whether they are dual citizens, US citizens, immigrants, people from PH and any and all countries.