NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 1)

I hope the comparative list I've presented in the subsequent entries would prove useful especially to those who wish to return to school as "second coursers" in nursing (like myself) or to others who'll soon graduate in high school and, as early as now, are in the process of deciding as to which school they should enroll, in Iloilo City.

Back in mid-2007, when I was already planning to move back to my hometown (I was still working in Metro Manila then) to become a full-time nursing student, I started googling for possible detailed lists of local nursing schools in Iloilo City.

What I just found, however, were a few articles mentioning these schools, their respective histories, and their passing percentage in the Philippine Nurse Licensure Exams.

Neither blogs and even the schools' websites themselves were of help. There wasn't any "second-courser-friendly" information at all for some of the commonest questions like: (1) whether or not this or that nursing school has a program for second coursers; (2) whether or not they have night classes for those who wish to hold down their day jobs; and (3) how much should one expect to fork out for school fees per semester.

In fact, because the schools' websites didn't really provide anything that I needed that time--plus the fact that most of them didn't bother to reply to my emails--I had to ask some friends who were already based in Iloilo City to phone these nursing schools for me (long-distance calls aren't cheap) and to ask particularly about their programs for second coursers, admission requirements, and the like.

Anyway, when I checked again recently, there's still no such list available online. That's why I'm building one myself to spare you guys from all the hassles that I went through.

I've included such information as the schools' complete addresses, contact numbers, email addresses, website URLs, own base hospitals, availability of second courser program, availability of night classes for second coursers, availability of master's degree program, school fees per semester, overall PNLE performance, and a few trivias.
 
So here it is, the comparative (and hopefully much better) list of the more established nursing schools in Iloilo City, for both would-be college students and "second coursers":

1. Central Philippine University
2. Iloilo Doctors' College
3. Saint Pauls' University of Iloilo
4. University of Iloilo
5. University of San Agustin
6. West Visayas State University

Photo Source: Central Philippine University Website

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 2)

CENTRAL PHILIPPINE UNIVERSITY (CPU)
 
Type: Private

Address: Lopez-Jaena Street, Jaro, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 329-1971 to 79

Email: registrar@cpu.edu.ph, info@cpu.edu.ph

Website: http://www.cpu.edu.ph

Own Hospital: Iloilo Mission Hospital

Second Courser Program: Yes, but with age limit (not more than 25 years old)

Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: Yes (thesis and non-thesis)
 
School Fees per Semester: First Year - P18,000 to P20,000; Second Year - P28,000 to P30,000; Third Year - P35,000 to P37,000; Fourth Year - P33,000 - P35,000.

PNLE Performance: Satisfactory. CPU's College of Nursing is known for its rigid training standards and its impressive overall performance in the PNLE. 

Trivia: While CPU has the most beautifully-landscaped campus among schools in Iloilo City, it's also the most flood-prone. A sister school of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, it was founded in 1905 by missionaries of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society.


PROCEED TO:

• Part 3 - Iloilo Doctors' College
• Part 4 - Saint Paul's University of Iloilo
• Part 5 - University of Iloilo
• Part 6 - University of San Agustin
• Part 7 - West Visayas State University

RETURN TO:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 3)

ILOILO DOCTORS' COLLEGE (IDC)
 
Type: Private

Address: West Avenue, Molo, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 337-2921 / 337-0034

Email: ieci_webmaster@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.idc.edu.ph

Own Hospital: Iloilo Doctors' Hospital
 
Second Courser Program: Yes, but with age limit (not more than 30 years old). Unlike the second-courser programs of University of San Agustin, Saint Paul's University of Iloilo, University of Iloilo, and Central Philippine University, IDC's program breaks up second-courser nursing students into two groups: (1) graduates of medical courses (e.g., physical therapy, medical technology, dentistry, medicine) and (2) graduates of non-medical courses (e.g., education, engineering, mass communications, political science). Besides this "segregation scheme," second-coursers from both groups also don't mix with "regular" students (that is, those who haven't obtained a previous degree); they have separate sections.
 
Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: None

School Fees per Semester: First Year - P20,000 to P22,000; Second Year - P26,000 to P28,000; Third Year - P36,000 to P38,000; Fourth Year - P40,000 to P42,000.  

PNLE Performance: Average. In recent years, the overall performance of IDC's College of Nursing in the PNLE has been slightly lackluster.

PROCEED TO:

• Part 4 - Saint Paul's University of Iloilo
• Part 5 - University of Iloilo
• Part 6 - University of San Agustin
• Part 7 - West Visayas State University

RETURN TO:

• Part 2 - Central Philippine University
• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 4)

SAINT PAUL'S UNIVERSITY OF ILOILO

Type: Private

Address: General Luna Street, City Proper, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 338-3668

Email: None

Website: http://www.spuiloilo.edu.ph

Own Hospital: Saint Paul's Hospital-Iloilo
 
Second Courser Program: None

Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: Yes

School Fees per Semester: First Year - P23,000 to P25,000; Second Year - P32,000 to P35,000; Third Year - P44,000 to P46,000; Fourth Year - P45,000 to P47,000.
 
PNLE Performance: Outstanding. SPUI's College of Nursing is famous for being one of the consistent top-five best-performing nursing schools in the whole country.
 
Trivia: Sr Carolina Agravante, dubbed as the first Filipina nursing theorist, is the incumbent dean of SPUI's College of Nursing.


PROCEED TO:

• Part 5 - University of Iloilo
• Part 6 - University of San Agustin
• Part 7 - West Visayas State University

RETURN TO:

• Part 3 - Iloilo Doctors' College
• Part 2 - Central Philippine University
• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 5)

UNIVERSITY OF ILOILO (UI)
 
Type: Private

Address: Rizal Street, City Proper, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 338-1071 to 7
 
Website: http://www.ui.phinma.edu.ph

Own Hospital: None

Second Courser Program: Yes
 
Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: None

School Fees per Semester: First Year - P14,000 to P16,000; Second Year - P17,000 to P19,000; Third Year - P24,000 to P26,000; Fourth Year - P30,000 to P32,000.  

PNLE Performance: Average. Despite UI's derided reputation as the so-called "dumpsite" of flunkers from the five other schools in this list, its PNLE passing percentage isn't that bad--but not that consistent as well. Recently, UI has produced some national top-ten placers.

Trivia: Founded in 1947, UI is owned by the wealthy Lopez clan that also owns local broadcast giant ABS-CBN, with former Iloilo congressional representative Albertito Lopez as its incumbent president. 

UPDATE: The University of Iloilo now has a new owner. Read more about it here.

PROCEED TO:

• Part 6 - University of San Agustin
• Part 7 - West Visayas State University

RETURN TO:

• Part 4 - Saint Paul's University of Iloilo
• Part 3 - Iloilo Doctors' College
• Part 2 - Central Philippine University
• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 6)

UNIVERSITY OF SAN AGUSTIN (USA)

Type: Private

Address: General Luna Street, City Proper, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 337-4841 to 44

Email: registrar@usa.edu.ph / info@usa.edu.ph

Website: http://www.usa.edu.ph

Own Hospital: None
 
Second Courser Program: Yes, but with age limit (not more than 30 years old)

Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: Yes (thesis and non-thesis)
 
School Fees per Semester: First Year: P15,000 to P17,000; Second Year - P18,000 to P20,000; Third Year - P28,000 to P30,000; Fourth Year - P34,000 to P36,000.

PNLE Performance: Average. In recent years, the number of PNLE passers of USA's College of Nursing hasn't been very high.
 
Trivia: Founded by Augustinian friars in 1904, USA is the oldest university in Iloilo City.


PROCEED TO:

• Part 7 - West Visayas State University

RETURN TO:

• Part 5 - University of Iloilo
• Part 4 - Saint Paul's University of Iloilo
• Part 3 - Iloilo Doctors' College
• Part 2 - Central Philippine University
• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NURSING SCHOOLS IN ILOILO CITY: A GUIDE (ESPECIALLY) FOR "SECOND COURSERS" (PART 7)

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY (WVSU)
 
Type: Public/State-owned

Address: Luna Street, La Paz, Iloilo City, Western Visayas, Philippines 5000

Phone Number/s: +63 (33) 320-0870 to 77

Website: http://www.wvsu.edu.ph

Own Hospital: WVSU Medical Center

Second Courser Program: None

Night Class for Second Coursers: None

Master's Degree Program: Yes

School Fees per Semester: First Year - P12,000 to P14,000; Second Year - P18,000 to P20,000; Third Year - P19,000 to P20,000; Fourth Year - P20,000 to P21,000. As a state-owned academic institution, WVSU's College of Nursing has the cheapest school fees in Iloilo City for nursing education.
 
PNLE Performance: Outstanding. WVSU's College of Nursing is not only one of the two excellent nursing schools in Iloilo City (the other being Saint Paul's University of Iloilo), it's also one of the consistent top-five best-performing nursing schools nationwide.

Trivia: WVSU is the only state university in Iloilo City to have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Its old name was Iloilo Normal School, which was established in 1902 under the Thomasites. It now aims to be one of the top ten universities in the entire Southeast Asia by 2015. (Good luck.)


RETURN TO:

• Part 6 - University of San Agustin
• Part 5 - University of Iloilo
• Part 4 - Saint Paul's University of Iloilo
• Part 3 - Iloilo Doctors' College
• Part 2 - Central Philippine University
• Part 1 - Introduction
• Home

NIPPON KEMPO IN METRO MANILA

For seven years, I have collected many memories of Metro Manila that I still often bring to mind even while I'm now in Iloilo City.

One of these memories is Nippon Kempo, a rather lesser known, newfangled combat sport developed in Japan in the 1930s. We still don't have it here in the entire Western Visayas.

Like other forms of combat sports, such as Judo, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai, Nippon Kempo uses full-contact competitions and modern sport training methods to teach and assess students rather than the non-competitive, almost non-contact approaches of more traditional martial arts systems like Aikido. 

So, a Nippon Kempo practitioner doesn't neutralize attacks with some cosmic energy mumbo-jumbo, or "pull" his/her strikes, or deliver them in a semi-cooperative manner, or refuse to go full-contact because his/her techniques are so lethal for actual application.
 
Instead, he/she delivers his/her techniques with full power, blinding speed, deceitful cleverness, and reflexive killer instinct--just like he/she would outside the gym or dojo.

On the other hand, unlike Judo, Muay Thai, and Taekwondo, Nippon Kempo's repertoire of techniques is rather more exciting because it's pretty much like those used in Mixed Martial Arts: punches, kicks, knee strikes, wrestling, throws, foot sweeps, takedowns, ground fighting, joint locks, and submission holds. 

To allow students to practice these techniques in full force and actual speed--without going home ugly and disfigured--they must wear a set of (very heavy) protective gear called bogu, which consists of a head protector, a body armor, groin protector, hand wraps (though optional), and a pair of 8-ounce boxing gloves.

Nippon Kempo bouts usually last for three minutes, within which competitors must try to score an ippon or one full point against each other. The first competitor to score two ippons is the winner of the match.

The following are examples where an ippon is awarded:

1. When you've cleanly connected a flurry of well-timed punches or kicks to a protected area, such as the head.

2. When your opponent taps out due to a joint lock or submission hold.

3. When you've lifted your opponent above your waist line. (The presumption is that--without the protective gear--your opponent could no longer continue fighting if you slam him to the ground.) 

I had the opportunity to experience Nippon Kempo for two months under Coach Rio Ohmori in Makati City in 2006, and it was fun.

We held our classes back then at BA Lepanto Condominium along Paseo De Roxas Avenue. However, their new location now is at Punch Out Boxing Gym, World Center Building, 5th Floor, 330 De La Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

To win in a Nippon Kempo match, you really have to have an entire range of skills and techniques in both stand-up and ground fighting.

Just like in MMA, a good stand-up alone won't be enough. With zero background in clinch combat and ground fighting, even a good striker could end up tapping out or eating punches from above once the fight goes to the ground. 

I learned this beyond mere theory when I sparred with Coach Rio twice or thrice. During our feeling-out stage, he would tell me, "Very nice combos, CJ," but in just a matter of seconds after that, I would already be inside his tight triangle choke or would go flat on the mat with his crazy Judo foot sweeps.

After each match, I would just console myself with the fact that Coach Rio was a six-footer (he's the one standing behind me in the third photo and, in the video below, he's the only one wearing a black head protector), and he already was a Nippon Kempo black belt and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt then (maybe he's purple now, I'm not sure). I'm only 5'6" and, that time, was just a lowly BJJ white belt from another school.

As a system, Nippon Kempo has its share of shortcomings, too. I observed that, because of the heavy protection that the bogu provides, practitioners--especially the lazy ones--tend to form bad habits by forgetting/disregarding the "pain aspect."

Because of the thick protective gear, they can afford to sacrifice being hit (it doesn't hurt at all really--except when, say, a front kick misses a protected area, like your lower abdomen, and hits your upper right thigh instead, which happened to me, by the way, and made me limp for like four days) so that they can get closer to their opponents and increase their chances of landing a cleaner shot or launching a takedown.

I have seen some guys at the gym who occasionally did this tactic--even those Japanese black belts (Coach Rio's friends) who paid us a visit one time. (Watch the video below.)

On the streets, however, (where there's no bogu, of course) this tactic not only has very slim chances of success, it also has disaster written all over it. You'll likely end up having memorable injuries, or artless disfigurement, or even an untimely rendezvous with thine Creator. 

Despite this shortcoming (and even the relative obscurity it suffers compared to other combat sports), I think Nippon Kempo is still the next best thing to MMA because--unlike Judo, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, even BJJ and Boxing--you get to do a much wider range of techniques (not just the "usual" punches only, or kicks only, or punches and kicks only, or grappling only kind of thing) in full-power application but without the potential danger of getting seriously injured--or disfigured.

Through actual, full-power application, you get to test whether or not your techniques will work against a fully resisting opponent. Through regular sparring, you'll realize that techniques that don't work are soon abandoned, and the more effective ones are continuously fine-tuned against different attackers and defenders under different situations.

Also, with the full-contact spar sessions in Nippon Kempo, you always get to practice how to react or operate under the adrenal stress of actual (and usually unpredictable) attacks, giving you an already-familiar feeling--and hopefully enough wits and composure not to panic--during a potentially violent confrontation on the streets or inside a bar, especially if it's your first time. 

For those who are in Metro Manila and are interested in this fun combat sport, you can reach Coach Rio Ohmori at +63915-950-2135 and/or nipponkempo@mail2philippines.com.

 
Photo Source: The Martial Arts Club Website
Video Source: Nippon Kempo Philippines Website