In its desire to offer a more comprehensive curriculum to its students, San Beda College will open a new course to its students.
     The Board of Trustees of San Beda College approved on March 8, 2003 the establishment of a College of Nursing.
The college will start accepting students in June 2003. Students for the first year (pre-clinical) and the third year (clinical) levels are welcome. The pre-clinical classes will be held at the Mendiola campus, while the clinical classes will temporarily be held at the Shaw campus.
     The nursing program will be complementary to the existing College of Medicine-which is located at the Shaw campus-and to the planned San Beda Medical Center.
     Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, Rector-President of San Beda College, said the school's nursing program is a cut above the rest because students will be trained and prepared to become competent and professional nurses as early as the first year.
     "Unlike other schools that prepare their nursing students only on the third and fourth years, our program will be geared toward the nursing profession as early as the pre-clinical years," he said. "Subjects will be taught uniquely. For example, English will be used as a vehicle to familiarize students with medical terms and texts as early as first year. Communication with the patients-to make them feel really cared for-will also be integrated in English subjects."
For the pre-clinical years, San Beda College will harness its own faculty to teach fundamentals and general subjects, while highly capable professors from the University of the Philippines will be tapped to train students in the clinical level.
     As an adjunct to the existing medicine program of the college, it is expected to complement the planned San Beda Medical Center and, eventually, other allied health courses including respiratory therapy, physical therapy, and medical technology.
     The creation of a nursing program paves the way for the establishment of a hospital. Students will participate in hospital rounds and patient care in their third year of nursing studies, that is, in their first year of nursing proper.
     The program is also established to address an ongoing need for nurses worldwide. Health care journals and other publications indicate the need for nursing professionals to fill the anticipated shortage will continue until 2020 especially in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and other industrialized countries. The shortage also exists in the Philippines as a result of the exodus of Filipino nurses to greener pastures.
     Nursing is one of the few courses today that ensures work for the graduates, both locally and internationally.

     As a Catholic institution, San Beda believes in and promotes the sacredness of human life, which God has created as earthly repository of divine life. It believes that human progress and development require healthy human beings who can work as God's stewards on earth. Hence, San Beda College subscribes to the traditional caring role of nurses in the prevention of diseases, preservation and restoration of health, alleviation of suffering, and when recovery is not possible, toward a peaceful death.
     While it subscribes to the traditional philosophy and goals for nursing education, San Beda College likewise believes that the nursing profession should work for the attainment of the national goal of a healthy nation. Thus, it aims to educate and form Filipino nurses who, while being globally competitive, shall have the national interest as their primary goal. At the same time, San Beda College professes to propagate Catholic health ethics and health-related genuine Filipino values. It aims to form nurses who will take care of the sick regardless of social status, religious affiliation, and economic means.