3 PHINMA-UPang grads top Nursing licensure exam

 June 25, 2018  Sunday Punch

THREE graduates of the PHINMA-University of Pangasinan (UPang) in Dagupan City were among the top successful passers in the 2018 Nursing licensure examination by placing first, seventh and tenth places.

The results released by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Tuesday night showed that out of the 4,326 passers from the 9,873 examinees, Mark Tristan Robosa, from Barangay San Vicente, Calasiao town was ranked number one with a rating of 87.60 percent.

Chielon Abalos, with a rating of 86 percent from Barangay Carael, Dagupan City, was 7th while Daisy Albright Fernandez, from Barangay Coliling, San Carlos City placed 10th with a rating of 85.40 percent.

The three said in separate interviews that they studied and reviewed well to pass but did not expect to be among top passers in the licensure exam.

Robosa, 20, said he was sleepless out of excitement and managed a 3-hour sleep only before his interview.  “I feel like I’m in cloud 9,” he said.

He said he felt his knees trembling on receiving the news. “I cried… “ and his mom, Teresita Joves, cried too, Robosa said.

He said his elder sister, a registered nurse working abroad, sent him to school as their mom is a plain housekeeper.

Robosa, the second in a brood of four siblings, said he thought he flunked the exam when his teacher sent him a message that read, “Can I talk to you?” days before the result was out and felt relieved on learning that teacher merely wanted some information.

He was in second year college when his classmates have been telling him he, too, could be a board topnotcher after PHINMA-UPang produced several topnotchers in Nursing. But his teachers did not pressure him to be a topnotcher, he added.

Robosa said it was his first time to experience to receive more than 400 congratulatory messages on his Facebook.

He said he plans to teach first to share his knowledge with future nurses and work abroad later. “I promised that to my teachers that if I top the exam, I will go back to UPang to teach,” he said.

He confessed he wanted to be a nurse, unlike his cousins who were forced to take it simply because their grandmother Remedios Robosa told them to take up Nursing, he said.

He thanked the people who supported him, especially those who believed in him from the start.

Meanwhile, Chielon Abalos, said in a separate interview, that he learned the news about his being No. 7 from a lecturer of the review center who phoned him.

“I was shocked. I could hardly believe because the exam was difficult,” the 20-year old Abalos said.

Abalos, the second among four siblings, said it has been his dream to become a nurse since his family is in the medical field. His father, Sofronio Abalos, is a physician, while his mother Ambrosia Abalos, is a nurse. His sister is also a nurse.

He said he is being convinced by his dad to continue to become a doctor.

He attributed his success to being focused on studies since the first year in college and during review. “To be serious and read a lot”.

In another interview, Daisy Albright Fernandez, 19, said she, too didn’t get much sleep on learning about the news.  “I did not expect the result was like this,” she said, laughing.

“To pass the exam is already something but to top it, oh my, that’s too much a bonus,” she said. Her parents, Dennis and Virgie Fernandez, were overwhelmed by the news as well.

She said everybody in their house was joyful Wednesday night.

“Prayers and a lot of reading and listening to your lecturers and self-confidence paved the way,” she said.

She plans to train either at the Philippine General Hospital or at the Region 1 Medical Center.