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Revision as of 04:06, 10 September 2006 by Sirtoti (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)HISTORY In 1967, Jose Olivares, a professor by vocation but with a strong entreprenuerial sprit, together with his son-in-law Dr. Vicente M. Santos, established the Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. Financed from a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines, a 20-bed general hospital was built along MacArthur Highway in the still undeveloped municipality of Valenzuela, Bulacan. The hospital immediately became the primary provider of health care services for the people of Valenzuela and its neighboring towns.
Mr. Olivares, who was a professor at the Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines envisioned a dream for Fatima. He set his eyes on transforming the Our Lady of Fatima from a general hospital to a medical complex that will be the training ground for health care providers. In 1973, the Our Lady of Fatima College of Nursing was established. A 3-storey school building and a dormitory was constructed to house the initial enrolment of 180 students. These students eventually graduated and took the nursing board examinationss in 1976 where Fatima College of Nursing garnered an unprecedented 100 percent passing average. Since then, excellent performance in national board exams became a tradition and trademark of Fatima.
In preparation for the establishment of the College of Medicine, a modern five-storey building was built and the Our Lady of Faima Hospital was upgraded to a 150-bed tertiary hospital. By June 1979, Fatima College of Medicine welcomed its first batch of medical students. Since then, the College of Medicine has made its mark in medical education by producing highly-skilled doctors. It also became the first and only Philippine medical school to have an institution to institution clerkship program with a foreign hospital. Since 1988 to 2000, the College of Medicine has sent over a hundred medical students for clerkship training in the US. (this page will be updated in the near future-sirtoti)