The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the resumption of licensure examinations for physicians in September this year.

“The examination, which is Part II of the testing activities for the March 2020 Physician Licensure Examination, is tentatively scheduled on September 20 and 21, 2020,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque said the IATF approved the continuation of the examinations in its 58th meeting on July 23.

“The conduct of the examination will be held under observance of the strict protocols set by the Department of Health (DOH),” he added.

A total of 1,524 medicine graduates took the first two parts of the examinations on March 8 and 9.

The DOH reported last week that 4,430 doctors and 9,515 nurses were needed for the country’s Covid-19 response.

In March, Sen. Francis Tolentino proposed the deployment of medical school graduates to hospitals amid the pandemic.

The Professional Regulation Commission on Thursday postponed other September 2020 licensure examinations to next year. John Ezekiel J. Hirro