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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHJLIPPINES ) 
Third Regular Session 
1 
S. B. NO. 
............................................................................................................... 
Prepared by the Committees on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, 
Education, Culture and Arts, and Finance, with Senators Osmena 111, Pimentel, and Enrile, 
as authors thereof 
............................................................................................................... 
AN ACT 
THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE IN THE PHILIPPINES, REPEALING 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted in the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
REGULATING THE EDUCATION AND LICENSURE OF PHYSICIANS AND 
FOR TFJX PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2382, AS AMENDED, 
assembled. 
ARTICLE I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Physicians Act of 2007.” 
SEC. 2. Declaration of PoZicy. - The state recognizes the important role of physicians in 
nationbuilding and, towards this end, promotes the sustained development of a reservoir of 
physicians whose competence has been determined by honest and credible physician licensure 
examinations and whose standards of professional service and practice are internationally 
recognized and considered world-class brought about by regulatory measures, programs and 
activities that foster professional growth and advancement 
SEC. 3. Objectives. - This Act shall govern: (a) the standardization, upgrading, and 
regulation of medicine courses including internship training; (b) the examination for registration 
and licensure of physicians; (c) the supervision, control and regulation of the practice of 
medicine; 
(d) the integration of the medical profession; and (e) the development of the 
professional competence of physicians through continuing professional education in accordance 
with the guidelines set by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). 
SEC. 4. Enforcement - For the purpose of implementing the provisioiis of this Act, there 
shall be created the following: Council an Medical Education, hereinafter referred to as the 
Council, under the administrative control and supervision of the Commission on Higher 
Education (CHED); and the Professional RegulatoIy Board of Medicine, hereinafter referred to 
as the Board, under administrative supervision and control of the PRC, hereinafter referred to as 
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ARTICLE lI 
COUNCIL ON MEDICAL EDUCATION 
SEC. 5. Composition of the Council on Medical Education. - There shall be created a 
Council on Medical Education which shall be composed of the following: 
(a) The chairman of the CHED or hidher duly authorized representative as chairman; 
(b) The secretary of the Department of Health or hidher duly authorized representative as 
member; 
(c) The chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board For Medicine or hidher duly 
authorized representative as member; 
(d) The president of the Philippine Medical Association or hidher authorized 
representative as member; and 
(e) The president of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges or hidher duly 
authorized representative as member. 
SEC. 6. Compensation and Travel Expenses. - The Chairman, Members and Secretary 
of the CounciI shall receive reasonable per diems for every meeting attended: Provided, That, 
the number of meetings shall not exceed four times in a month. They shall likewise be entitled 
to travelling expenses in connection with their official duties. The grant of per diems and 
travelling expenses shall be at rates in accordance with existing accounting and auditing rules 
and regulations. 
SEC. 7. Functions and Duties. - The Council on Medical Education shall have the 
following hnctions and duties: 
(a) To determine and prescribe requirements for admission into a recognized college of 
medicine in accordance with the guidelines issued by the CHED; 
(b) To determine and prescribe requirements for minimum physical facilities of colleges of 
medicine, to wit: buildings including hospitals, equipment and supplies, apparatus, 
instruments, appliances, laboratories, bed capacity for instruction purposes, operating 
and delivery rooms, facilities for out-patient services and others used for didactic and 
practical instruction in accordance with modern trends; 
(c) To determine and prescribe the minimum number and the minimum qualifications of 
teaching personnel including student-teacher ratio; 
(d) To determine and prescribe the minimum required curriculum including internship 
leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine; 
(e) To authorize the implementation of innovative and medical curricula in a medical 
school that has exceptional faculty and instrumental facilities. Such an innovative 
curriculum may prescribe admission and graduation requirements other than those 
prescribed in this Act: Provided, That, only exceptional students shall be enrolled in the 
innovative curriculum; 
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(f) To select, determine and approve hospitals or some departments of the hospitals for 
training which comply with the minimum specific physical facilities as provided in 
subparagraph (b) hereof; and 
(9) TO promulgate, prescribe and enforce the necessary rules and regulations for the proper 
implementation of the foregoing functions. 
SEC. 8. Minimum Required Course. - Students seeking admission to a medical course 
must have a bachelor’s degree in science or arts. 
The medical course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine shall be five (5) years 
inclusive of clinical clerkship and internship and shall consist of the following subjects: 
Anatomy and Histology; Physiology; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Pharmacology and 
Therapeutics; General Pathology; Clinical Pathology, Microbiology and Parasitology; Internal 
Medicine; Neurology and Psychiatry; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Pediatrics and Nutrition; 
Surgery, Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology; Preventive Medicine and Public Health; 
Legal Medicine, Medical Jurisprudence, Medical Ethics and Economics: Provided, That, the 
Council is authorized to modify, rearrange, add, recluster, and revise the abovementioned 
subjects as the needs and demands of progress in the medical profession may require. 
SEC. 9. Admission Requirements. - The College of Medicine may admit any student who 
has not been convicted by final judgment by any court of any criminal offense involving moral 
turpitude and who presents: (a) a record showing completion of a bachelor’s degree in science or 
arts; (b) a certificate of good moral character issued by two (2) former professors in the college 
offering the pre-medicine course(s); and (c) an authenticated birth certificate. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to inhibit any College of Medicine from establishing, 
in addition to the preceding, other entrance requirements that may be deemed admissible. 
For the purpose of this Act, the term “College of Medicine” shall mean to include faculty of 
medicine, institute of medicine, school of medicine or other similar institution, offering a 
complete medical course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine or its equivalent course 
obtained abroad. 
Every College of Medicine must keep complete records of enrollment, grades and graduates 
and must publish each year a catalogue 
giving 
the 
following information: (a) date of 
publication; (b) calendar of academic year; (c) faculty roll indicating whether on full or part 
time basis; (d) requirements for admission; (e) grading system; (f) requirements for promotion; 
(g) requirements for graduation; (h) curriculum and description of course by department; and (i) 
number of students enrolled in each class in the’preceding year. 
ARTICLE III 
THE PROFESSIONAL REGULATORY BOARD FOR MEDICINE 
SEC. 10. Composition of the Board - There is hereby created a Professional Regulatory 
Board for Medicine, hereinafter referred to as the Board, under the administrative control and 
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supervision of the PRC, hereinafter referred to as the Commission, composed of a Chairman and 
six members to be appointed by the President of the Philippines from among three 
recommendees for each position, chosen and ranked by the Commission from a list of five 
nominees for each position submitted by the integrated and accredited professional organization. 
The Board shall be organized not later than six months from the effectivity of this Act. 
SEC. 11. 
Powers atid Duties of the Board 
- The Board shall exercise 
executive/administrative, rule-making and quasi-judicial powers in carrying out the provisions of 
this Act. 
It shall be vested with the following specific powers, functions, duties and 
responsibilities: 
(a) Supervise and regulate the practice of medicine in the Philippines; 
@) Determine and evaluate the qualifications of the applicants for registration, with or 
without the physician licensure examination, and for issuance of special permits; 
(c) Prepare the examination questions in accordance with Sec. 23 hereof or the 
modifications thereof, prescribe the syllabi of the subjects and their relative weights for 
the licensure examinations; formulate or adopt test questions and deposit them in a test 
question bank; draw the test questions at 
random 
through process of 
computerization; conduct the examinations or conduct walk-in examination, if 
practicable; correct and rate the examination papers and submit the examination results 
to the Commission within the period provided for by the rules of the Commission; 
(d) Prescribe, amend or revise the requirements for the subjects in the physician licensure 
examination and their relative weights subject to the approval of the Commission; 
(e) Register successful examinees in the physician licensure examination and issue the 
corresponding certificates of registration; 
(0 Issue special/temporary permits to foreign physicians to practice medicine for specific 
projects and for a specific duration of time; 
(g) Look into the conditions affecting the practice of medicine, adopt measures for the 
enhancement of the profession and the maintenance of high professional, technical, and 
ethical standards, and recommend to CHED the opening or closure of a program of 
Medicine and conduct ocular inspection of places where physicians practice their 
profession; 
(h) Monitor the performance of the medical schools and their compliance with the rules and 
regulations of the Council on Medical Education; 
(i) Promulgate rules and regulations, and a Code of Ethics for Physicians, administrative 
polices, orders, and issuances to carry out the provisions of this Act; 
(i) Investigate violations of the Act and the rules and regulations, code of ethics, 
administrative policies, orders and issuances promulgated by the Board. The rules on 
administrative investigation promulgated by the Commission shall govern in such 
investigation; 
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(k) Issue subpoena or subpoena duces tecum to secure the attendance of respondents or 
witnesses or the production of documents relative to the investigation conducted by the 
Board; 
(1) Delegate to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Member of the Board, or a Commission 
Attorney the heating of an administrative case. 
If the case is technical in nature or 
concerns strictly the practice of the profession, the investigation shall be presided by the 
Chairman, Vice-chairman or a Member of the Board with assistance of a PRC attorney; 
(m) Render decision, order or resolution on preliminary investigation or inquiry against 
violators of this Act, rules and regulations or any policy on undocketed cases and on 
docketed administrative cases against examinees or registrants which shall become final 
and executory unless appealed to the Commission within fifieen (15) days from receipt 
of the copy thereof The decision of the Commission may be appealed to the Court of 
Appeals in accordance with the procedures provided in the Rules of Court; 
(n) Mer due notice and hearing, cancel examination papers and/or bar any examinee from 
future examination; refuse or defer hidher registration; reprimand the registrant with 
stem warning; suspend hindher from the practice of the profession; revoke hidher 
certificate of registration; cancel special/temporary permit; remove hidher name from 
the roll of physicians for continuous non-payment of annual registration fees and non- 
compliance with Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements; reinstate or 
re-enroll hidher name in the said roll; 
reissue or return hidher certificate of 
registration and professional identification card. A decision of suspension, revocation 
of the certificate of registration or removal from the roll by the Board as provided 
herein may be appealed initially to the Commission within fifteen (15) days from 
receipt thereof 
The decision of the Commission may be appealed to the Court of 
Appeals in accordance with the procedures provided in the Rules of Court; 
(0) Administer oaths in connection with the administration, implementation, or enforcement 
of this Act; 
(p) Prosecute or institute criminal action against any violator of this Act and/or the rules and 
regulations of the Board; 
(4) Adopt an official seal; 
(r) Coordinate with the Council of Medical Education in prescribing, amending and/or 
revising the courses; 
(s) Assist the Commission in the implementation of its prescribed guidelines and criteria on 
the CPE for registered physicians; and 
(t) Perform such other functions and duties as may be necessary to effectively implement 
this Act. 
The policies, resolutions, and rules and regulations, issued or promulgated by the Board 
shall be subject to the review, revision, and approval by the Commission; however, the Board’s 
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decisions, resolutions or orders which are not interlocutory, rendered in an administrative case, 
shall be subject to review only if on appeal. 
SEC. 12. Quala@adom o ~ B o u r d M e ~ ~ s .  
- Each Board member must, at the time of 
hidher appointment: 
(a) Be a natural born Filipino citizen and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten (10) 
consecutive years; 
(b) Be at least forty (40) years old; 
(c) Be a physician who is a holder of a valid certificate of 
registration and a valid 
professional identification card; 
(d) Be a practitioner for at least ten (10) years; 
(e) Be a bonu fide member of the integrated and accredited national organization of 
Physicians; 
(f) Have not been convicted by final judgment by a competent court of a criminal offense 
involving moral turpitude; 
(g) Have at least two (2) years experience as faculty member in a college of medicine; 
(h) At the time of appointment, must not be a member of the faculty in an institute, school 
or college of medicine, and not have any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in an 
institution which offers and operates the course of degree of Doctor of Medicine; and 
not be connected with a review center/ school/ group or association where review 
classes or lectures in preparation for the Physician Licensure Examination are being 
offered or conducted; and 
(i) Not be an officer of the accredited organization of physicians or the integrated and 
accredited national organization of registered physicians at the time of appointment. 
SEC. 13. Term of Office - The members of the Board shall hold ofice from the date of 
their appointment for a term of three years or until their successors shall have been appointed 
and qualified. They may, however, be reappointed for another term after expiry of their first 
term. 
Appointments to fill up vacancies created by causes other than through expiration of 
regular terms shall be for the unexpired period only. Each member shall take an oath of office 
before entering upon the performance of hidher duties. The incumbents whose terms have not 
yet expired or who are serving in a holdover capacity at the effectivity of this Act, shall be 
allowed to serve the unexpired portions of their terms and may be appointed under this Act. 
SEC. 14. Compensation of Bourd Members. - The chairman and members of the Board 
shall receive compensation and allowances comparable to the compensation and allowances 
received by the chairman and members of existing regulatory boards under the Commission as 
provided for by the General Appropriations Act. 
SEC. 15. Suspension or Removal of Board Member. - The President of the Philippines, 
upon the recommendation of the Commission after giving the concerned member an opportunity 
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to defend himself/herself in a proper administrative investigation to be conducted by the 
Commission, may suspend or remove any member of the Board, on the following grounds: 
(a) Neglect of duty or incompetence; 
(b) Unprofessional, unethical or dishonorable conduct; 
(c) Manipulation or rigging of the physician licensure examination results, providing secret 
information, or disclosure of the examination questions prior to the conduct of the said 
examination, or tampering of the grades therein; or 
(d) Final conviction by the court of criminal offenses involving moral turpitude. 
SEC. 16. Adminisfrative Management, Custody of Records, Secretariat and Support 
Services. - The Board shall be under the administrative and executive management of the 
Commission, with the Commission Chairman as the Chief Executive Officer thereof 
All 
records of the Board shall be under the custody of the Commission. 
The Commission shall designate the Secretary of the Board and shall provjde the Secretariat 
and other support services to implement the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 17. AnnuaI Report. - The Board shall, on or before the end of January of the 
following year, submit its annual report of accomplishments on programs, projects, and activities 
for the previous calendar year together with its appropriate recommendations on issues or 
problems affecting the practice of medicine, to be submitted to the Commission. 
ARTICLE N 
EXAMINATION, REGISTRATION AND LICENSURE 
SEC. 18. Prerequisite to the Practice of Medicine - No person shall engage in the 
practice of Medicine in the Philippines unless he/she holds: 
(a) A valid certificate of registration and professional identification card; 
@) A valid special/temporruy permit issued by the Board subject to approval by the 
Commission, or unless he/she is exempted by this Act from holding any of the foregoing 
licenses. 
SEC. 19. Examinations Required - All applicants for registration, before they can be 
issued a certificate of registration and professional identification card as a physician, shall be 
required to pass a written licensure examination for physicians as provided for in this Act, 
,subject to the payment of the fees prescribed by the Commission. 
SEC. 20. Qualz~c~ztions 
of Applicant for Examination. - Every applicant for examination 
shall establish to the satisfaction of the Board that hehhe has the following qualifications: 
(a) He/she is a 
countryhtate has reciprocity with the Philippines in the practice of Medicine; 
@) He/she is mentally, emotionally and physically sound; 
(c) He/she has not been convicted in a final judgment by a court of any criminal offense 
involving moral turpitude; 
citizen and resident of the Philippines or a foreign citizen whose 
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, (d) He/she is a 
holder of a degree of Doctor of Medicine conferred by a College of 
Medicine established in the Philippines and duly recognized by the CHED or of a degree 
conferred by a College of Medicine abroad and accredited by CHED as substantially 
equivalent to the degree of Doctor of Medicine offered by a Philippine College of Medicine; 
and 
(e) He/she has completed one year of post-graduate internship in a Philippine hospital or 
training abroad accredited as equivalent to such internship by the Board. 
SEC. 21. Venues and Schedule of Examinutions. - The Board shall give examinations 
for the registration ofPhysicians at least once a year in such places and dates as the Commission 
may designate in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 8981 otherwise known as 
the PRC Modernization Act of 2000. 
SEC. 
22. 
Registration, Issuance of CertciJicate of Registration and Professionrd 
Identifwution Curd, andNon-Registration. - All successful examinees, upon compliance with 
all legal requirements and payment of fees prescribed by the Commission, shall be registered 
and issued with certificates of registration and professional identification card. 
The certificate of registration shall bear the registration number and date of issuance and the 
signatures of the Commission chairperson and the members of the Board stamped with the seal 
of the Commission and the Board, certifying that the name of the person stated therein appears 
in the RegistryRoll of Physicians under the custody of the Commission; that he/she has met or 
complied with all the legal requirements for registration as a physician; that he/she is entitled to 
exercise all the privileges appurtenant to the practice of hidher profession: Provided, That, 
he/she does not violate this Act, the Rules and Regulations, Code of Ethics for Physicians, 
Code of TechnicalProfessional Standards and other regulatory policies of the Commission and 
Board. 
The professional identification card duly signed by the chairperson of the Commission shall 
bear the name of the registered physician, hidher registration number and date of issuance, and 
its date of expiry, and shall be evidence that he/she can lawfully practice hidher profession.. 
A successhl examinee who has been convicted in final judgment by a court of a criminal 
offense on moral turpitude, found guilty by the Board for dishonorable or immoral conduct, or 
declared by the court to be o f  unsound mind shall not be registered. The decision of the Board, 
finding the examinee guilty for dishonorable or immoral conduct, may be appealed by the 
examinee to the Commission and/or to the Court of Appeals. The facts and the reasons for 
refusal to register shall be in writing, communicated to the examinee, and duly incorporated in 
the records of the Commission. 
SEC. 23. Scope of Examinatioa - The Physician Licensure Examinations shall cover the 
following individual or combined/clustered subjects with equal weights for each one final 
examination after completion of internship: (1) Anatomy; (2) Physiology; (3) Biochemistry and 
Molecular Biology; (4) Pharmacology and Therapeutics; (5) Microbiology and Parasitology; 
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(6) Medicine; (7) Pediatrics and Nutrition; (8) Pathology; (9) Obstetrics and Gynecology; (10) 
Surgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology and Otorhinotoryngology (1 1) Preventive Medicine 
and Public Health; (12) Legal Medicine, Code of Ethics for Physicians, and Jurisprudence on the 
Practice of Medicine; and (13) Neurology and Psychiatry. 
When an urgent and important need arises to conform to technological and modern changes, 
the Board may recluster, rearrange, modify the foregoing subjects, add or exclude any subject, 
or prescribe the number of final examination (s) per year in consultation with the Council and 
after approval by the Commission. The Board Resolution thereon shall be officially published in 
the Oflcial Gazette or in major daily newspapers of general circulation and also circularized and 
disseminated to all colleges of Medicine. 
Each of the thirteen (13) subjects shall have its syllabus or table of specification. The Board 
shall apply the syllabi only aRer necessary consultation with the concerned academe, approval by 
the Commission, publication of its Board Resolution pursuant to legal requirements, 
dissemination to all colleges of Medicine, and after a lapse of at least three months from its 
effectivity. Each syllabus shall be subject to modification or amendment, as the need arises. 
SEC. 24. Rating in the Examination. - To pass the physician licensure examination, an 
examinee must obtain a general weighted average rating in all thirteen (13) subjects of no less 
than seventy-five per cent (7S%) with no rating in any subject below fifty per cent (50%). 
SEC. 25. Reports and Publication of the Results of fiaminatioa - The Board shall 
report the rating of each examinee to the Commission within ten (10) days from the last day of 
examination. The official 
results 
of the examination, containing 
the list of topnotcher 
examinees without indication of their respective schools/colleges, and 
names of the 
schools/colleges 
obtaining top percentages of successfbl graduate 
examinees shall be 
published by the Commission in a major daily newspaper of general circulation. 
the 
The Report of Rating of every examinee shall be mailed to hidher given 
address using 
the mailing envelope he/she submitted during the examination. 
SEC. 26. Oath. - All successfil examinees shall be required to take their oath before the 
Board or any official authorized by the Commission to administer oath before they are issued 
their certificates of registration and professional identification card or before they start the 
practice of their profession. 
ARTICLE V 
REGULATION OF TEE PRACTICE OF TBE MEDICAL PROFESSION 
SEC. 27. Acts Constituting Practice of Medicine - A person shall be considered as 
engaged in the practice of Medicine if he/she shall: 
(a) For compensation, fee, salary or reward in any form paid to hidher directly or through 
another, 
even without the same, physically examine any person and diagnose, treat, 
operate or prescribe any remedy for human disease, injury, deformity, physical, 
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mental, psychical condition or any ailment, real or imaginary, regardless of the nature of 
the remedy for treatment administered, prescribed or recommended; or 
(b) By means of signs, cards, advertisements, written or printed matter; or through radio, 
television or any other means of communication, either offer or undertake by any means 
or method to diagnose, treat, operate or prescribe any remedy for any human disease, 
injury, deformity, physical, mental or psychical condition; 
c) Administer drugs in life threatening situations or where pharmacy services are not 
accessible; 
(d) Use M.D. &er hidher name; 
(e) Teach, Lecture or conduct review on subjects on the medical degree or in the physicians 
licensure examination; or 
(0 Be a holder of a specialhemporary permit. 
SEC. 28. Revocation of the Certificute of Regishution. - The Board shall have the 
power, upon proper notice and hearing, to revoke the certificate of registration of a physician, 
suspend hidher from the practice of hidher profession or reprimand himlher, or to cancel the 
special/temporq permit issued to a foreign physician, for any of the following grounds/causes: 
(a) Final conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving 
moral turpitude; 
(b) Immoral or dishonorable conduct; 
(c) Insanity; 
(d) Fraud in the acquisition of certificate of registration and professional identification card 
or temporary/special permit; 
(e) Gross negligence, ignorance or incompetence in the practice of hidher profession, 
resulting in injury or death of the patient; 
(0 Addiction to alcoholic beverages, or to any habit-forming drug rendering hidher 
incompetent to practice hidher profession, 
(8) False, or extravagant, or unethical advertisements wherein things other than hidher 
name, profession, limitation of practice, clinic hours, ofice and home address are 
mentioned; 
(h) Performance of, or aiding in, any criminal abortion; 
(i) Issuance of any false medical certificate; 
(i) Issuance of any statement or spreading any news or rumor which is derogatory to the 
character and reputation of another physician without justifiable move; 
(k) Aiding or acting as dummy for unqualified or unregistered person to practice medicine; 
(1) Violation of any provision of the Code of Ethics for Physicians or the Code of 
Technical/Professional Standards as prescribed by the organization of physicians 
accredited by the Commission or by the integrated and accredited national organization 
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of physicians, and as adopted and promulgated by the 
the Commission; 
Board subject to approval by 
(m)Practice of profession during the period of hidher suspension from the practice thereof; 
(n) Refbsal to attend to a patient in danger of death if there is no risk to hidher life; 
(0) Expulsion or termination of membership in the integrated and accredited national 
organization of physicians; and 
(p) Violation of this Act, the Rules and Regulations and other policies of the Board and the 
Commission issued pursuant to this Act. 
SEC. 29. Rights of Respondents. - The respondent physician shall be entitled to be 
represented by counsel or be heard in person, to have a speedy and public hearing, to confront, 
and to cross-examine witness against hidher, and to all other rights guaranteed by the 
Constitution provided for in the Rules of Court. 
SEC. 30. Appeal from Judgment. - The decision of the Board shall automatically become 
final fifteen (15) days after the date of its promulgation unless the respondent, during the same 
period, has appealed the said decision of the Commission. If the final decision is not 
satisfactory, the respondent may appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals. 
SEC. 
31. 
Reissuance of Revoked Certi@caie of Registration and Professional 
IdentiJication Card and Replacement of Lost Certijicate or Professional Identijicution Card - 
M e r  two 
years and after due consultation with the integrated and accredited national 
organization of physicians, the Board may order the reinstatement of any physician whose 
certificate of registration has been revoked, if the respondent has acted in an exemplary manner 
in the community. 
A new certificate of registration or professional identification card to replace that which has 
been lost, destroyed or mutilated may be issued subject to the rules of the Commission. 
SEC. 32. Indication of CertijZcate of Registration and Professional Tax Receipt. - A 
registered physician shall indicate hidher certificate of registration number and its date of 
issuance, and the professional tax receipt number, date of issuance and expiry date, on the 
prescription and other documents he/she signs, uses or issues in connection with the practice of 
hidher profession. 
SEC. 33. Vested Rights. - All physicians registered at the time this law takes effect shall 
automatically be registered under the provisions hereof, subject however to the provisions herein 
set forth as to fbture requirements. 
SEC. 34. Persons Exempted from Holding Valid Certijicate of Registration or Special/ 
Temporay Permit. - The preceding section shall not be construed to affect the following :(a) 
any medical student duly enrolled in an approved medical college or school, or any graduate 
under training serving without any professional fee in any government or private hospital: 
Provided: Zhut, he/she renders such service under the direct supervision and control of a 
registered physician; (b) any legally registered dentist engaged exclusively in the practice of 
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dentistry; (c) any duly registered masseur or physiotherapist: Provided, Brther, That, he/she 
applies massage or other physical means upon written order or prescription of a duly registered 
physician: Provided fkrfhermore, That, such application of massage of physical means shall be 
limited to physical or muscular development; (d) any duly registered optometrist who 
mechanically fits or sells lenses, artificial eyes, limbs, or other similar appliances or who is 
engaged in the mechanical examination of the eyes for the purpose of constructing or adjusting 
eyeglasses, spectacles and lenses; (e) any person who renders any service gratuitously in cases of 
emergency, or in places where the services of a duly registered physician, nurse or midwife are 
not available; (9 any person who administers or recommends any household remedy as per 
classification of existing pharmacy laws; (g) any clinical psychologist, or mental hygienist, in 
the performance of hidher duties and regard to patients with psychiatric problems: Provided, 
$na& 
That, such performance is done with the prescription and direct supervision of a duly 
registered physician; or (h) any prosthetist who fits artificial limbs under the supervision of a 
registered physician. 
SEC. 35. Integration of the Profession. - The members of the profession shall be 
integrated into one national organization of registered physicians to be duly recognized and 
accredited by the Board subject to approval by the Commission. A physician duly registered by 
the Board and the Commission shall automatically become a member of the said organization 
and shall receive the benefits and privileges appurtenant thereto upon payment of required fees 
and dues. Membership in the integrated organization shall not be a bar to membership in any 
other association of physicians. 
SEC. 36. Continuing Medical Education. - The Board shall implement the continuing 
medical education among practicing physicians in consonance with the guidelines of the 
Continuing Professional Education of the Commission. Exemption from the CPE program may 
be applied for upon reaching the age of sixty-five (65). 
SEC. 37. AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF PHYSICMVS. - All Physicians whose 
names shall appear in the Registry/Roll/Roster of Physicians at the time of the effectivity of this 
Act shall automatically be registered by the Board and the Commission as physicians and 
thereafter by the integrated and accredited national organization of registered physicians as its 
bona$de members pursuant to Section 35 of this Act. 
SEC. 38. Foreign Rec&roci@. - Unless the country of which he/she is a subject or citizen 
specifically permits Filipino physicians to praCtice within its territorial limits on the same basis 
as the subject or citizen of such foreign state or country under reciprocity and under international 
agreements, no foreigner shall be admitted to the examination and be given a certificate of 
registration to practice as a physician and be entitled to any of the privileges under this act. 
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ARTICLE VI 
PENAL PROVISIONS 
SEC. 39. Penalties. - Any person who shall practice or offer to practice Medicine in the 
Philippines without a valid certificate of registration and a valid professional identification card, 
or a valid temporary/special permit in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or any person 
presenting or attempting to use as hidher own the certificate of registration or temporary/special 
permit of another, or any person who shall give any false or forged evidence of any kind to the 
Board or to the Commission in obtaining a certificate of registration or temporary/ special 
permit, or any person who shall impersonate a registrant using the same name, or any registered 
physician who shall abet or assist the illegal practice of a person who is not lawhlly qualified to 
practice medicine, or any person who shall attempt to use a revoked or 
suspended 
certificate of registration or professional identification card, or a cancelled speciaVtemporary 
permit, or any person who shall use or advertise any title of description tending to convey the 
impression that he/she is a registered physician, or any person who shall violate any of the 
provisions of this Act and of the rules and regulations shall, upon conviction by the court, 
suffer the penalties of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years or a 
fine of not 
less than FiRy Thousand Pesos (P50,OOO.OO) 
nor more than Two Hundred 
Thousand Pesos 
( P200,000.00), or both, upon discretion of the court. 
SEC. 40. Zajunctions. - The Board may file an action to enjoin any person illegally 
practicing Medicine from the performance of any act constituting the practice of Medicine if the 
case so warrants until the necessary certificate therefore is secured. 
Any such person who, after having been so enjoined, continues in the illegal practice of 
The said injunction shall not relieve the 
Medicine shall be punished for contempt of court. 
person from criminal prosecution and punishment as provided in the preceding section. 
ARTICLE W 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
SEC. 41. Enforcement. - The Commission shall be the enforcement agency of the Board. 
As such, the Commission shall implement the concerned provisions of this Act, enforce its 
implementing rules and regulations as adopted by the Board, assist the Board in the investigation 
of complaints against violators of this Act, its rules and regulations, Code of Ethics for 
Physicians and other policies of the Board. 
The Commission or the Board shall call upon or request any department, instrumentality, 
office, bureau, institution or agency of the Government, including local government units to 
render such assistance as it may require, or to coordinate or cooperate, in order to carry out, 
enforce or implement the professional regulatory policies of the Government or any program or 
activity it may undertake. 
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SEC, 42. Appropriations. - The Chairpersons of the Commission on Higher Education 
and the Professional Regulation Commission shall immediately include in their programs the 
implementation of this Act, the funding of which shall be charged against their current year’s 
appropriations and thereafier in the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
SEC. 43. Implementing RuIes and Regulations. - Within ninety days from the effectivity 
of this Act, the Board, subject to the approval of the Commission, and in coordination with the 
accredited and integrated national organization of registered physicians, shall prepare the 
necessary rules and regulations, including a Code of Ethics for Physicians, to implement the 
provisions of this Act which shall take effect fifieen (15) days following publication in the 
Oflccial Gazette or a major newspaper of general circulation. 
SEC. 44. Transitmy Provision. - The incumbent Board for Medicine shall continue to 
function in the interim until such time as the new Board shall have been constituted pursuant to 
this Act. 
SEC. 45. SeparabiIity CIause. - If any clause, provision, paragraph or part hereof shall be 
declared unconstitutional or invalid, such judgment shall not affect, invalidate, impair any other 
part thereof, but such judgment shall be merely confined to the clause, provision, paragraph or 
part directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment has been rendered. 
SEC. 46. Repealing CIause. - Republic Act No. 2382 known as “The Medical Act of 
1959”, as amended by Republic Act Nos. 4224 and 5946, is hereby repealed. All other laws, 
decrees, executive orders, and other administrative issuances and parts thereof which are 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby modified, amended, superseded or 
repealed accordingly. 
SEC. 47. Eflectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifieen (15) days following the 
completion of its publication in the Offici Gazette or any major daily newspaper of general 
circulation in the Philippines. 
Approved, 
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