Ilongga Ma. Phoebe Subo, who made it to the Top 10 of the latest Physician Licensure Examination (PLE), encouraged aspiring doctors to keep their never-give-up mindset.

“Studying medicine is difficult, especially now that we’re still in the middle of the pandemic. But I hope that this doesn’t discourage them,” the Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo native said in interview on IMT Conversations.

Subo ranked eighth in the March 2022 PLE. She got a rating of 87.08 percent.

The topnotcher, whose mother is teacher while her father is a football coach, shared that it has been her dream since she was a kid to become a doctor.

Inspired by her relative who is a physician, Subo pursued her dream and finished medicine at West Visayas State University in La Paz, Iloilo City.

Originally, Subo was scheduled to take the PLE in September 2021, but because she got sick, she decided to take a rest.

“Sang nagmasakit ako, didto ko gid na-realize nga importante man aside sa pagtuon nga maghatag ka man sang tiyempo para magpahuway. Nagdecide ko not to take nalang danay. I re-enrolled sa akon previous review center for March and followed nalang gid their schedule,” she said.

Subo finished Bachelor of Science in Biology, her pre-medicine course, and graduated summa cum laude.

She’s a product of Barotac Nuevo Central Elementary School and Philippine Science High School.

When asked of her biggest motivation, Subo said: “As doctors, we do not like uncertainty, and a lot of times in med school, we feel like we do not know enough but what matters is that we do not stop putting in the work and learning as much as we can, not just so we can do good in exams but more importantly, we can give our patients the treatment that they deserve. We’re doing this not for ourselves but for our future patients.

For Subo, the most challenging part of her journey as an aspirant was to accept the fact that she missed the September board exam.

“It’s been really difficult because that was really my plan and taking the boards in March meant I’d be entering residency one year late. But once I’ve accepted that, the next challenge was making sure I wouldn’t have burnout,” she said.

“Reviewing for the boards is demanding and I had to do it twice. But I got through with the help of family and friends because they were the ones who continuously reminded me to rest. Someone from the review center would also always say that rest is productive and I held on to that,” she narrated,” she continued.

Subo said she was eyeing to get into the Internal Medicine residency program of West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) in October or November.IMT