Rabiya Mateo gets into med school, set to be a full-time student

Rabiya Mateo has been accepted to med school and is preparing to become a full-time student. 

"I just got my acceptance letter from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery yesterday," Mateo told PhilSTAR L!fe on May 19. 

Becoming a doctor has been a long-time dream for the Miss Universe Philippines 2020 titleholder. In March, she told DJ Chacha in an interview that she wanted to use her knowledge "to help people." She saw her medical dream as a "calling." 

Getting into her choice of medical school is a big deal for her, too. 

"UST is really my dream school," Mateo said. She marveled at the fact that she would be going to a university that has been around for over a century, "producing some of the best of the best doctors in the country."

Mateo considers her father, a doctor, as her inspiration to pursue her "calling" to become a doctor, too. 

Eight years ago, Mateo graduated from Iloilo Doctors' College with a degree in physical therapy. While showbiz forced a detour from her dreams, Mateo eventually did a full circle and landed back on the path of medicine and continuous learning. 

In March, she gained a 741 General Performance Score in the National Medical Admission Test, making it to the 99th percentile of exam takers. The NMAT is a mandatory standardized test that individuals take to get into medical school in the Philippines. 

"As of now, my plan is to solely focus on my education as I enter medical school. Wala na muna showbiz. Full-time student na," Mateo told L!fe. 

"After doing Miss Universe, after pursuing my career for quite some time, I was able to save up," she added. "I'm very happy na I'm going back to studying, to learn a lot of things, to understand the human body, and to become a doctor."