ISUFST University Physician Dr. Kharlle Joehn B. Hautea ranked No. 1 nationwide in the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) examination, earning the highest raw score of 98 among the top-performing examinees released by the organization.
 
Hautea, who is undergoing Practice-Based Level IV training under the Antique Practice-Based Training Program in Family Medicine, topped the national list ahead of examinees from medical centers and family medicine training programs across the country.
 
The achievement became even more meaningful for Hautea when the results were released on his birthday—his first since the passing of his father, Claudio Hautea, on August 20.
 
“I have never been Number 1 in anything. Until today,” Hautea shared after receiving the news.
 
He said he had almost deferred taking the examination as he was still grieving his father’s death barely a month before the scheduled test.
 
“I was still grieving and honestly did not even want to take it. I almost deferred because I was not sure I was emotionally ready,” he recalled. “But somehow, I found the courage to show up, hoping only to make it through.”
 
Instead, he emerged at the top of the nationwide examination.
 
For Hautea, the timing made the accomplishment especially poignant. He described the result as an unexpected birthday gift and wondered, in a deeply personal reflection, whether his late father had somehow found a way to surprise him.
 
“My first birthday without Papa. My first time being Number 1,” he wrote. “Of all the days this blessing could have arrived, it came today.”
 
Hautea was quick to share the credit. He thanked Department Chair Dr. Liza Huelar Galilea, Training Officer Dr. Melvin de la Serna, and Assistant Training Officer Dr. John Joseph Dongon, along with his fellow residents and consultants in Antique. He also thanked his family and friends who stayed with him through the difficult months before the examination.
 
Back at ISUFST, Hautea serves as University Physician, looking after the health and well-being of students and employees. His residency training in Family and Community Medicine also fits naturally with the work he has been doing in school and community health.
 
The national achievement is another milestone in a career that has taken quite a few turns—from nursing to medicine, from school health to community service, with education and even the performing arts along the way.
 
Hautea first trained as a nurse at the University of Iloilo before deciding to pursue medicine. He passed the Physician Licensure Examination in 2018 and later joined what was then the Iloilo State College of Fisheries, now ISUFST. There, he found a place where his interests in medicine and education could meet.
 
In 2024, that journey brought him back to the University of Iloilo-PHINMA, this time as commencement speaker. Speaking to a new generation of graduates, he shared lessons drawn from his own journey—about perseverance, adapting when life changes course, continuing to learn, and remembering the families who helped make the journey possible.
 
Hautea has also been recognized as a School Health Consultant 1 by the Philippine Academy of Physicians in School Health. At ISUFST, he continues to help develop health programs meant not simply to respond when someone gets sick, but to keep the university community healthier in the first place.
 
The PAFP examination results placed Katherine RJ D. Garcines of Davao Regional Medical Center second with a raw score of 97, followed by Francis Xavier P. Apostol of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Medical Center with 96. Anne Maureen M. Maceren of VisayasMed Hospital and Justine Kay T. Pador of Pacific Global Medical Center shared the next rank with scores of 95.
 
Hautea stood alone at the top with 98.
 
For the ISUFST community, the national distinction brings pride not only because its University Physician topped a professional examination, but also because of the circumstances under which he took it. Hautea walked into the examination carrying grief and expecting little more than to finish.
 
He walked out not knowing that, weeks later, on his birthday, his name would appear on the very first line of the national list.
 
And amid the congratulations, scores, and rankings, his thoughts remained with the person who was no longer there to celebrate beside him.
 
“Pa, if this was your birthday gift from heaven, thank you,” Hautea wrote. “This one’s for you. I hope I made you proud.”