The Mariano Marcos State University conceptualized a Doctor of Medicine program under Board of Regents Resolution no. 279, s 1996 in the mid-1990s to complement its existing health sciences-related courses. However, this was shelved when the other State University in nearby Ilocos Sur opened its Doctor of Medicine Program in 1996.
The viability of a Doctor of Medicine Program was revisited in 2011 when the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center submitted an unsolicited and independently-accomplished manifesto of support to its establishment. A feasibility study was consequently done confirming the up-to-date relevance and significance of the program’s establishment. Recognizing this pressing need, therefore, the Mariano Marcos State University has decided to set-up the MMSU College of Medicine as resolved in its Board Resolution no 1234, s. 2012. This move to open the MMSU-COM would hopefully fill the gap in the delivery of health services in various communities in Northern Luzon as well as strengthen the University’s commitment in excellence, integrity and service to God and nation.
After more than two years of preparation and CHED visits, the Commission on Higher Education granted the Government Authority to operate the Doctor of Medicine Program in June 26, 2015. The permit to operate was renewed the next few years. The College with its MD Program on its 4th and final year was revisited by the CHED Technical Committee on Medical Education (TCME) on May 28-29, 2018. On June 6, 2019 CHED awarded the Certificate of Program Compliance (COPC) No. 006 Series of 2019 to the College of Medicine after satisfying the minimum requirements as prescribed by CHED to offer the Doctor of Medicine Program effective academic Year 2018-2019. This was in accordance with the pertinent provisions of RA No. 7722, the “Higher Education Act of 1994,” and by virtue of Resolution No. 163-2019 of the Commission en banc.
On June 24, 2019, the college graduated its first batch of 14 medical students (Class 2019) out of an original 18. Several dignitaries from the medical and educational field attended and the university faculty and administration as well, a fitting tribute to the labor in preparing all structural, academic, documentary, and human resources needed in its MD Program.