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ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – People were in high spirits at the Universidad de Zamboanga (UZ) as its graduates accounted for a third of the examinees who topped the 2024 Pharmacists Licensure Examination.
It was the first time for the 75-year-old university – and the first for its 11-year-old College of Pharmacy – to see three graduates, from the same batch, on the Top 10 list of those who passed the licensure exams.
UZ’s Rhedz-wei Hadjula ranked No. 1, with a rating of 92.85%.
His two batchmates, Faima Nain and Rasheedkhan Jainal, ranked 5th and 10th, respectively.
Jainal, the 10th placer with a rating of 90.62%, is a recipient of the Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPhA) Highest Distinction Award. He graduated cum laude last year.
The three topnotchers were among UZ’s 450 graduates in September 2023, and among the 55% of the examinees who passed the 2024 Pharmacists Licensure Examination.
The results, showing that 1,185 of 2,147 examinees passed the test, were announced by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on Tuesday, April 23.
Nain, tearful, said her performance in the exams came unexpectedly because even before she took the course, “I knew I wasn’t meant for chemistry.”
“So alam ko po na I started at a disadvantageous point. True enough, from review to the actual board examination namin, hirap na hirap po ako sa Module 1, which was Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Pero nakayanan naman po. Alhamdulillah,” Nain told Rappler.
(I know that I started at a disadvantageous point. True enough, from review to our actual board examination, I struggled a lot with Module 1, which was Pharmaceutical Chemistry. But I managed to overcome it. Praise be to God.)
Without elaborating, Nain said there were circumstances that brought her to pharmacy, a degree that holds chemistry as its foundation. In the end, she found herself 5th on the list of the topnotchers with a rating of 91.25%.
She recounted, “Nagyakapan po kami ng nanay ko. Alam ko pong mas proud siya kesa sa akin. She raised me po as a single mother.”
(My mother and I hugged tightly. I know she’s prouder than I am. She raised me as a single mother.)
Nain’s father died the same year she was born.
She added, “I know na kung buhay pa po tatay ko, he would be proud of me rin.”
(I know that if my father were still alive, he would also be proud of me.)
The topnotcher, Hadjula, who graduated cum laude from UZ, is a recipient of the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (PACOP) High Distinction Award.
He lamented that licensed pharmacists in the Philippines were “undervalued.”
The 25-year-old Hadjula told Rappler on Thursday, April 25, that “the biggest challenge for new pharmacists would have people understand that pharmacists are not just a mere part of the healthcare (system).”
“We are a vital part of it,” he stressed. “When licensed pharmacists say they can’t dispense a certain medicine, this means they care enough about you that they want you to use medicines rationally.”
Medicines, he added, are not always dispensed or just sold in pharmacies.
“One has to recognize that, for the human body, capsules and tablets or their liquid form are foreign substances. A particular medicine may elicit adverse effects that a patient may be unprepared for. So if a pharmacist, be it a young or experienced pharmacist, counsels you, you should listen. It’s not for us. It’s for you,” Hadjula said. – Rappler.com
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