Our Lady of Fatima University

Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU)
Pamantasan ng Mahal na Birhen ng Fatima Universidad de Nuestra Señora de Fátima
Former names
 Our Lady of Fatima College
Fatima Medical Science Foundation, Inc. (FMSFI)
Motto Veritas et Misericordia
Type Private university Granted Autonomous Status
Established 1967
President Dr. Caroline S. Enriquez
Location Valenzuela City; Quezon City; Antipolo City; San Fernando, Pampanga; Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Campus Manila
Colors Green and white         
Nickname Fatimanian, Fatimista, Fatima Phoenix
Affiliations NAASCU; AMSA; HCMI Education; MTIAPI; LIEMG
Website www.fatima.edu.ph
"Rise to the top"

Our Lady of Fatima University (formerly known as Our Lady of Fatima and Fatima Medical Science Foundation, Inc.) is a private university in the Philippines. It has five main campuses, one based in Valenzuela City, the others in Quezon City, Antipolo, Rizal,[1] Pampanga, and the newly constructed Nueva Ecija Doctors Colleges Inc. The university concentrates mainly on allied medical sciences.

Its name was derived from the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima or Pambansang Dambana ng Birhen ng Fatima (in the Tagalog language) near the Valenzuela campus. It is not affiliated with the Catholic Church and welcomes students of all faiths (as do Catholic universities).[2]

History

Founded in 1967 by Jose Olivares and his son-in-law, Dr. Vicente M. Santos, the university grew out of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital.[2] The hospital became the primary provider of medical and health care services for Valenzuela. Olivares was an entrepreneur and previously a chemistry professor at Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines. Santos rose from humble origins in Hagonoy, Bulacan, graduated from the University of Santo Tomas, became an obstetrician-gynecologist, and delivered over 96,000 babies during his 40 years of service.

The college seeks to promote the virtues of "Veritas et Misericordia" (Latin for truth and compassion).[2]

The founders set about improving the facility from a general hospital to a teaching hospital for health care providers such as nurses and midwives. This began in 1973 with the founding of Our Lady of Fatima College of Nursing.

Dr. Santos and his wife Juliet Olivares-Santos continued the school's expansion, including the 1979 establishment of Fatima College of Medicine with the pioneer batch graduating in 1983. While Fatima still focuses mainly on medical and allied health studies, in the 1990s the college diversified, starting programs in computer science, maritime education, education, psychology, biology, and business.

The college became a university in December 2002, with Vicente Santos as its founding president.[3] Upon his death, his wife, Dr. Juliet O. Santos, became the university's second president.

The next five years further saw an increase in infrastructure development. New buildings were established in Valenzuela City and Quezon City, with nursing virtual laboratories and simulators. This paved the way for Fatima’s College of Nursing to be designated by CHED as a Center of Development in late 2008.[4] Fatima’s expansion continued with another campus being established in 2008 in Antipolo.[1]

Owing to recognitions it has received through voluntary accreditation of its programs within the framework of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines, the university voluntary subjected itself to CHED’s Institutional Quality Assurance through Monitoring and Evaluation (IQuAME) in 2008. In 2009, after being evaluated, it was placed in Category A(t) as a mature teaching university.[2]

In recognition its accomplishments, the Commission on Higher Education through CEB Resolution No. 076-2009 granted autonomous status to the university for five years from March 11, 2009 to March 30, 2014.[2]

Campuses

CAS Building, Our Lady of Fatima University, Quezon City

Quezon City Campus

OLFU Athletic Center

During the Guidance Week in the QC Campus, the masterplan for the proposed Athletic Center was made public. The OLFU Athletic Center houses the swimming pool for physical education, gym, basketball court for the Fatima Phoenix, and the dance studio for the Fatima pep squad. The Athletic Center will be built along Amor Street in Hilltop Subdivision, meters away from the Mathay Court. The project was due for completion in 2014.

Valenzuela City Campus

The Our Lady of Fatima University, Antipolo campus held the opening of the Fatima University Gallery's first art exhibit, 'Breaking New Ground' on February 26, 2012.[5] The exhibit paid homage to the paintings and sculptures of masters and contemporary artists such as Arturo Luz's Borobodur and Carnival Forms, his paintings Homage to Eusebio Sempere and Homage to Eduardo Chillida.[5] The exhibit displays Federico Aguilar Alcuaz's Manila Abstract (ceramic jar), Seascape, and Untitled (Trees), along with Fernando Amorsolo's piece, Ruins of Manila.[5] It displays Jerry Elizalde Navarro works, Abdulmari Imao's Sarimanok and other works of multi-awarded modern and contemporary Filipino artists.[5][5][5]

Pampanga Campus

The Our Lady of Fatima University – Pampanga is the only non-sectarian private university at the heart of the province’s capital, the city of San Fernando. The Pampanga Campus is established through the efforts of the university administrators headed by university president Dr. Caroline Marian S. Enriquez, the executive vice president Don August O. Santos, and the Board of Trustees.

OLFU-Pampanga offers secondary, tertiary education, and vocational courses as well under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The tertiary programs of ECC-OLFU are Bachelor of Science (BS) in Accountancy, BS in Business Administration with majors in Marketing Management and Human Resource Development Management, BS in Information Technology, BS in Computer Science, BS in Secondary Education with majors in English, Math, History, Filipino, General Science and BS in Civil Engineering.

ECC has associate courses on Computer Technology, Computer Secretarial, and Bookkeeping, and graduate school programs such as Master in Business Administration and Master in Public Administration.

In September 19, 2012, the university reached a new milestone when it conducted the groundbreaking ceremony of its fourth campus and participated in by the members of the Board of Trustees.

On March 1, 2013 the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) granted the Pampanga Campus permit to offer Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science, Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, and Bachelor of Science in Travel Management. The BS in Medical Laboratory Science and BS in Pharmacy were granted Government Recognition on March 19, 2015. On April 1, 2013, the CHED granted the campus permit to operate Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Science in Criminology. The Bachelor of Science in Psychology was granted government recognition on May 12, 2015.

In June 2013, the second building, Blessed Lucia Building was constructed to house a growing Fatima community.

The succeeding years have been fruitful for the campus as the CHED granted the permit that authorized the Pampanga Campus to operate the Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy on May 12, 2014, Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science on February 25, 2014. On April 10, 2015, the CHED granted Pampanga Campus the permit to operate first and second year of the Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology.

On July 7, 2015, the Pampanga Campus pioneered the program of Bachelor of Science in Culinary Management in the Philippines that was granted by CHED in virtue of the university’s status as an Autonomous Higher Education Institution and in accordance with the pertinent provisions of RA 7722 (the “Higher Education Act of 1994”). Due to this increasing number of students and programs, the second building named after Saint Jacinta, was built.

On 28 July 2015, the Our Lady of Fatima University – Pampanga replaced the name ‘East Central Colleges’ by the registration granted by the Security and Exchange Commission in Manila.

In October 2015, the campus offered the Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM).

The University was granted government permit to operate a Senior High School program in school year 2016-2017 on 8 October 2015. The University’s Senior High School will offer an academic track with four strands: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Humanities and the Social Sciences (HumSS), General Academic Strand (GAS), and the Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM). In preparation for the incoming Senior High School students, the University was constructing its newest building.

Nueva Ecija Doctors' College, Inc. Campus

Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) manages and operates the Nueva Ecija Doctors’ College, Inc. (NEDCI) on Maharlika Highway, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija effective November 9, 2015.

NEDCI is the fifth campus of Our Lady of Fatima University. Students of NEDCI are assured of the same quality of education and services that being provided at other OLFU campuses.

NEDCI is offering four college programs: Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Medical Technology, Tourism and Hotel and Restaurant Management. Beginning school year 2016-2017, it will accept Senior High School (SHS) students offering the four strands of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM); Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS); and General Academic Strand (GAS), same SHS program offerings as other OLFU campuses.

Accreditation

Fatima College of Physical Therapy, Fatima College of Pharmacy, Fatima College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Fatima College of Nursing and Fatima College of Dental Medicine, programs are accredited by the Philippine Association of and Universities-Commission on Accreditation.[6] The Association of Schools, Colleges and University-AAI also accredited Fatima's Graduate School and the College of Arts and Sciences.[7]

The Fatima College of Medicine is accredited by the New York State Education Department and the Illinois State Board of Education.[8] The College of Maritime Education is ISO Certified ISO 9001:2000 and is included in the Commission on Higher Education's "white list" as a qualified provider of maritime education. The College of Medicine is accredited by Association of the Philippine Medical Colleges.[9] It was listed in the World Health Organization Geneva Recognized Medical Schools. It is accredited furthermore by the Illinois State Board of Education and New York State Board of Education and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to administer Title IV Program.

Accomplishments

The first graduate class of 1976 garnered a 100% passing average in the Nursing Board examinations.[10] Less than a year after becoming a university, the Commission on Higher Education, recognizing the “enormous contribution of the Our Lady of Fatima University in the growth and prominence of tertiary education in the country and the Asia-Pacific and its commitment through quality education, research and extension work” granted deregulated status to the university through CHED Resolution No. 393-2003 dated October 27, 2003.[11]

In 2010, Dean Arturo de Leon, the dean of College of Dentistry, was elected as the president of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) and the South East Asia Association of Dental Educators (SEAADE). Dean de Leon was the first independent candidate to run and be elected as president of PDA and the youngest president of SEAADE.[12]

It is the first and only Philippine medical school to have an institutional clerkship program with a foreign hospital. The university has sent over 100 medical students for clerkship training at the Brooklyn Medical Center and Peninsula Hospital in New York City and the Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago. Fatima has graduated more than 30,000 medical and allied medical health practitioners from all disciplines. During the 2011 Physician Licensure Examinations, the university dominated half of the list of top ten board passers.[13]

Fatima University Medical Center and Virtual Laboratories

At the heart of the College of Medicine lies the Fatima University Medical Center which is a 150-bed hospital on the university campus. The center is an institutional partner that serves as a teaching tertiary hospital, equipped to give students hands-on experience and exposure. It is furnished with medical, diagnostic and surgical equipment. It houses a first class emergency room, intensive care unit, with centralized monitors, physical rehabilitation clinic, pulmonary laboratory, ophthalmology clinic, and ENT clinic.

Fatima creates a "hands-on classroom" providing students with patient care experience. Equipped with training manikins and simulators, Fatima provides students exposure to medical procedures.

Athletics

The 'Fatima Phoenix' commonly called Team Fatima are chosen athletes who compete in basketball, volleyball, badminton, taekwondo, cheer dancing, track and field, chess, billiards, and swimming.[14] These are students represent the university in NAASCU, PRISAA and other competitions.[14] In 2010, in its second foray into the NAASCU competition, Fatima Phoenix finished fourth overall champion in competing in nine sports.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 OLFU Campuses: http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=152&cat=1 Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 OLFU: http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=1&cat=1 Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ HCMI: Fatima College into University http://www.hcmieducation.com/FU.php Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  4. ↑ Fatima College of Nursing: http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=213&cat=3 retrieved February 6, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 OLFU ART GALLERY OPENS IN ANTIPOLO Our Lady of Fatima University, Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ PACUCOA Website: Our Lady of Fatima University Accreditations http://www.pacucoa.ph/accredited%20institutions/ncr/ncrolfu.htm Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  7. ↑ HCMI Education: http://forprofitcolleges.org/our-lady-of-fatima-university/our-lady-of-fatima-university-accreditation/ retrieved February 6, 2012
  8. ↑ OLFu Official Website: http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=210&cat=3 Retrieved February 6, 2012
  9. ↑ AFPMCI http://www.apmcf-ph.net/
  10. ↑ OLFU History & Accreditations http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=1&cat=1 retrieved February 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ Commute Express: OLFU bags CHED Awards http://www.commuterexpress.ph/viewstory.php?id=286&section=tbl_lifestyle&image_date=2009-12-10 retrieved february 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF PHILIPPINE DENTAL ASSOCIATION AND SOUTH EAST ASIA ASSOCIATION OF DENTAL EDUCATORS http://www.fatima.edu.ph/news_details.asp?id=128&mode=1 Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  13. ↑ OLFU DOMINATES FEB 2011 PHYSICIAN'S LICENSURE EXAM http://www.fatima.edu.ph/news_details.asp?id=142&mode=1 Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 FATIMA PHOENIX http://www.fatima.edu.ph/content.asp?pid=166&cat=5 Retrieved February 6, 2012.

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