Lives and Letters

Ang letrang “I”

Who am I?
I am many things and I am no thing.
I am many personas and I am no one.
I am not my curriculum vitae. I am more than that.
And also less than that.
My birth certificate declares
My age as almost half a century.
Though my body agrees
My mind protests, a quarter only!
My soul suggests I actually am
A thousand years older by far.
So don’t ask me again. Because I can’t answer you.
As I’m not so sure myself.

Hi, Gaya, this is my “drama” contribution to the MD Lives and Letters TBR you are hosting. Hehehe. Maybe tomorrow I’ll come up with a more conventional entry. Depends on the weather. I write on a mood basis kasi. Char.

advice to young doctors

...from the also young (once).


1. Dr. Erlinda Lim-Juan, recipient of the Most Outstanding Family Physician of the Year Award given by the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians last February 2009.

"In the practice of medicine, there are several important Cs to live by. The first C is the C of Commitment to patient care. The second C is the C of genuine Concern for the patient's well-being and then there is the C of having a good Connection with our Creator. Doctors should also abide by the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) Code of Ethics. For example, we should not Charge our Colleagues, their parents or their Children. Doctors should remember to live by the Hippocratic Oath. "


2. Dr. Lucille Flores-Teves, OB-Gynecologist

"Go immediately into training. Specialize. Sub-specialize, if possible. Choose a specialty or a sub-specialty that is not available yet in the place where you plan to practice. There is no gyne-oncologist yet in Dumaguete so we have to send patients to Cebu or Manila for management. The ultimate goal is to bring good service to our patients. It is more convenient for the patient if they can have the treatment in their hometown rather than having to travel to a strange and distant city where logistics and support groups are less readily available.

And don't delay in getting on with that residency. The older one gets, the harder it is to learn new things."

3. Dr. Mike Ozoa, Urologist

"Try out your career first. This advice is particularly for those who only went into medicine because their parents or some other relatives coerced them into it. For the new graduates who are not too excited about the practice of medicine, my advice is to give the practice of medicine a chance. Give it a try. See if you like it. Then if you realize that you don't like it or that there is something else that you would really, really want to do, then that's the time that you hang up that stethoscope and fold up that smock gown."

4. Dr. Erlyn Quinanola, OB-gyne/Sonologist

"Specialize. It is easier to get into hospital practice if you are already a specialist."

5. Dr. Marc Baviera, Urologist

"Go into residency. Patients today are well educated. They don't go to the hospital looking for a General Practitioner. They look for a specific doctor for a specific disease.

While waiting for a residency slot, you can do moonlighting or be a company physician. But your goal should be to go into residency."

6. Dr. Agong Uy, OB-Gyne/Sonologist

"Don't waste time. Go immediately into residency. While waiting for a residency slot, you can work as a medical transcriptionist."

7. Dr. Glenda Nuico, Pediatrician

"Specialize. Sub-specialize if possible. Medicine is very competitive these days. One has to be updated with the latest developments in medicine."

8. Dr. Gam Garcia, IM-Infectious Diseases

"Whatever you do, love your work. And everyday, seek to be a blessing to others."

9. Dr. Danny Olegario, Orthopedic surgeon

"Train. Choose whatever specialty you want. But you have to train."

__________________


This is a rather skewed survey, of course, because all the respondents are specialists, with spanking brand new clinics at the SU-MAB. I wonder what the doctors at the provincial hospital would advice the new medicine board passers.

I'm also wondering what my SUHS '78 classmates, Dr. Jacqueline Borja and Dr. Chelsea Cacaldo, who are doctors to the barrios here in Negros Oriental, would say.

A few months back, I met Jacqueline in the hospital and I asked her how was she doing as the Rural Health Officer in Basay. She said that she was the "all around" person there, meaning aside from her duties as a physician, every now and then she also doubles as the nurse, midwife, counselor, advocate, manager, teacher, helper, financer, socials committee chairperson and everything else in between. The interesting thing was, several years ago she had a chance to go to America because a well-paying job was waiting for her there. After weighing everything, however, she decided to stay with her people in rural Basay. And she said, she has not regretted that decision since.

As for Chelsea, well, Chelsea! She's been in the news lately because she was recently the recipient of the prestigious Ramon Aboitiz Exemplary Person Award! She is now dubbed the "fearless doctor to the hinterlands for tirelessly providing health care services in a rebel infested area." Read about it here.

So if you ask me, as a specialist I would say, go specialize. But before you do that, be a doctor to the barrios first for a couple of years. Our people surely need you. Who knows, maybe like Jacqueline and Chelsea, you might find that your heart is in the barrio and decide to stay there. Or if that is not your calling, I believe the two years with the poorest of our poor will somehow have a lasting impact in your perspective as a physician for the rest of your practicing days.

Top Ten Movies

…that I can remember!

Meloinks, who is hosting The Blog Rounds January 2009 edition, promised that it won’t be a case of “tell me your top ten movies and I’ll tell you who you are” and Gaya suggested that it might be a case of “tell me your top ten movies and I will tell you your age.” Perhaps this list, in the order of which came to mind first, will be something of both. ;p


1. 100 is an independent film that I very highly recommend. Here’s an extensive review I wrote some months back. Similar to the Bucket List, but this one is very Filipino.

2. Air Force One with Harrison Ford. Action. Adventure. Suspense.

3. Hunt for Red October starring Sean Connery. Action. Adventure. Suspense.

4. Coma is an ancient movie which none of my students have seen but I keep using this as an example of how the noble practice of medicine can be corrupted by the lust for fame and money.

5. Anak starring Vilma Santos. I cry every time I watch this movie.

6. Mano Po (number something) is another superb Vilma Santos starrer. Beautiful memories. I watched this movie with my high school classmates, just a few years ago, during one of our reunions. We were all girls in a long row in the movie house and during an intense emotional moment in the movie, a male classmate called his wife, who was with us, to ask where we were, what were we doing, etc. His wife hissed into the phone, “Will you please stop disturbing us as we are currently crying in the middle of a movie!” Oh, how we laughed and cried all at the same time.

7. Movies I watched as a child with my cousins and siblings. Every Christmas my big family would have a Christmas program and for each song or poem or dance rendered, we would get a gift (candy, handkerchief, plastic toy, etc.) or cash (5 pesos was rich). After the program, we kids would count our ‘earnings’ and always there was enough to go watch a movie downtown.

Mindful to scrimp if we wanted to have popcorn and soda with the movie, I, as the mastermind of adventures, would lead my many cousins and siblings down the road as we walked to Park Theater or to Main Theater, and make sure that everyone was accounted for and seated in one long row at the movie house. Today, my cousins, siblings and I are all grown and we all share fond memories of those movie treks.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean was the first movie I saw on a wide screen TV, in my cousin Albert’s house. I watched the movie over and over again. The wide screen was fascinating. And so were Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom.

9. A Few Good Men, Top Gun. Tom Cruise was there. Reason enough?

10. Movies I watched in college. Weekends were so mingaw in campus. All our classmates were not around and our dorms were very quiet because those who had relatives in Metro Manila would be with their relatives and those of us who were promdi would be left by our lonesome selves at the dorm.

Our kuyas, who were studying law, would herd us undergrads and bring us to Ali Mall in Cubao or to Circle Theater in Delta. We would pile at the back of the bus and talk in Visayan or in English (easier to us than Tagalog) in loud voices, just like the hillbillies that we were. I don’t remember the titles of the movies that we watched, only the wonderful memories of being with friends in an otherwise strange place.

posting the post-Christmas post

What have the Pinoy MD Bloggers been up to this Christmas?

Abner almost didn't "Realize it's Christmas" maybe because right now it is summer down under in New South Wales.

Brian takes time off from all his toxic residency duties to be a "bum" even for just a day, before he goes on Christmas day duty at the ER. A fine bum he makes, as he remembers Christmases past, mulls on Christmas present and dreams of his perfect future Christmas which he hopes will not be "Scroogey".

Clairebear, also down under, in Perth, Australia, experiences Christmas away from home, away from loved ones and away from everything familiar for the first time in her young life. She surrounds herself with comfort foods like Mang Tomas lechon sauce and Lucky Me pancit canton in "Christmas out of the Box".

Em Dy explores the many creative ways of Exchanging Gifts during Christmas. There's drawing lots, Monito-Monita, Kris Kringle and a few more... but Doc Em reminds us that the best gift of all is the giving of one's self.

Before Gaya gives a book review on The Shack by William P. Young, she writes an emphatic letter to someone, a move that will probably change her life dramatically in the very near future as she " was Caught in a Whirlwind of My Own Making."

Lei Si, as the last romantic standing, fell deeply when as a clerk she volunteered to go on Christmas eve duty hoping to recapture the magic of assisting in the birth of a modern baby boy, if only to get a feel of what it must have been like 2000 years ago when a virgin birth was unassisted by medical or paramedical personnel but was instead attended by kings from the east and shepherds from nearby hillocks. So, did she find "Romance on a Christmas Eve"?

When Louell decided to join the annual toy giving mission, his motives were less than noble. That is, until he met Rachel, a little girl afflicted with cancer of the blood. His heart and his mind were bowled over and he comes into an epiphany on the meaning of Christmas, as if he had been touched by "Angels."

With as much passion and attention as Manggy puts into his food creations today, as a child he longed for this one toy with all his heart. Years on end he wrote to Santa for this precious and pricey toy and was sorely disappointed when Christmas came and the gift fell short of his expectations. Find out the startling realization that dawned on him when he did not get the Toy Houses he wanted so badly.

Kitty Mama is one lucky mama for having lovable kids and a loving husband like A who showers her with her favorite things and "brings me the world in his hands." See what A got for his wife as an Early Christmas gift.

Rheiboy is a young dad (so young looking that he is still being asked to show his ID everytime he enters R18 movies) whose Christmas revolves around his huggable/pinchable family: wife Marie and kids Yuan and Kyan.

Sonia, the tale-telling easy-rider, is ever busy with hospital work but she found time to appreciate the Tree Lights on display at the Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete.

Tes, aka d labandera, together with her loyal and reliable drayber, relates their Colon Christmas esCapades in Cebu as they searched for gifts for the multitudes. Their finds: imitation flipflops, imitation DVDs, one great movie, Ploning, which is "not your ordinary i-am-indie-movie-i-dont-care-what-you-think-this-is-my-movie-gadam-yu-mader-paker " and one common fruit that they all love, "Tungod ug Alang sa Lychee in Cans."

And saving the best for last, guess who owns this love story?

Malipayong Pasko kaninyong tanan!

post-Christmas post

What have the Pinoy MD Bloggers been up to this Christmas?

[coming up...]

from rudolf the red nosed reindeer

We have a long standing family tradition of exchanging gifts during Christmas. Nothing fancy, just little tokens of remembrance for each other.

This started when I was a little girl, in grade school, and during Christmas we would have two big parties. One with my cousins on my mother's side and another one with my cousins on the father's side. During the parties, all of us cousins had to sing/dance/recite something before we could get our gifts, which were actually just plastic toys or candy gaily wrapped in Christmas wrapper.

My Lola Agre had a sari-sari store which I used to mind after school and during weekends. When Christmas came, I came upon what I thought was a brilliant idea to liven up our parties and our Christmas trees. I wrapped her goods for sale like a bar of soap, a tube of toothpaste, a box of matches and the like and I wrote on tags on little pieces of paper dedications like: To Albert from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, To Gasparito from Snow White, To Christine from Cinderella.

I remember being so excited when on Christmas day the first mystery gifts were read out loud and they were all surprised and wondering from whom could the gifts have come from! I don't know if they just feigned surprise but actually knew that I wrapped those paninda. Whatever the truth was, I was so inspired by their positive response that every year I would wrap more and more "mystery gifts" and even included wrapping stones for variety. I discovered that I loved wrapping gifts. I could wrap and wrap the whole day and night if need be.

Through the years the family has grown and each year there are more and more gifts to wrap. There were several Christmases when, due to circumstances, we almost cancelled the annual family reunion and exchange of gifts but somehow each year this tradition still managed to push thru. This is a picture from the one we had last December.

We might not be able to have one this year because a cousin is getting married after Christmas so everyone's going to be busy with that. But who knows...

An advanced Merry Christmas to you all!

And most especially to Merry Cherry who is hosting TBR 22!

etymology of a non-word

M*A*S*H - ancient TV sitcom about a military medical team

Mishmash - a motley assortment of things; a hodgepodge

Mush - mawkish sentimentality, affection or amorousness

M*I*S*H*M*U*S*H - the theme for TBR 21

hyperlinks thru the mishmush blur

(Hover mouse over highlighted text to see author’s name, then click to link.)


Boys don't cry, it's a silly thing to do.
Big girls don't cry either, unless helped by a bottle or two
Don’t you dare begin, suck it in, pucker up
For once you’ve commenced it’ll be doubly hard to stop.

Cry baby has a top ten list of tear-triggers
Though her best held secret is tightly under shutters
Humans versus robots the movies do explore
She asks a thoughtful question, who can love the more?

Tough girl admits, what makes her cry are not her enemies
But simple text messages and random acts of kindness
Another flies to Hongkong, seeking out old ghosts
What she meets there she captures in mysterious cryptic notes.

The strongest cry we want to hear
Is a robust and feisty Apgar ten
But when the kid's a little older
Be sure not to immediately give in.

A DJ doc finds that wedding proposals
are real tearjerkers for no apparent reason
A resident with a melancholic-phlegmatic temperament
Finds herself serenely happy after a good crying session.

In shock at a loved one's passing, he is tearless
So unlike his bawling self in a moment of parental tenderness
Hovering over fact or fiction a dreamer dreams
Is this muse induced or silent benediction?

The balm of literature for grief and coping
With the questions and emotions that come hammering
When in spite of all modern medicine and gadgetry
We lose a beloved or a patient to mortality .

(Many thanks to That One who taught me the hovertext lesson!)

under construction

Across the street from the gym that I go to, is this building that is under construction. It is owned by the Tangente's, the owner of El Oriente Hotel and Beach Resort. It is coming up and out of the ashes of the burned Botica sa Shell.

Across my head, and passing thru the digital mysteries of my computer, The Blog Rounds 21st edition is also under construction. It is owned by the participating MD Webloggers and some of it have come out and up from the heart wrenching experiences of the authors.

And like all good things, both the building and the TBR 21st edition will take some time in coming. ;p

So those who have not submitted their entries yet, are still welcome to do so.

M*I*S*H*M*U*S*H

Once upon a time, quite a long time ago, between 1972 - 1983 to be exact, there lived a show on TV called M*A*S*H. You probably were not even born yet or were in diapers at the most, so maybe you don't remember ever watching that. I was way out of diapers then but I don't remember watching a single episode either as my beloved shows consisted of Marine Boy and My Favorite Martian only. However, I do remember the name, M*A*S*H, so catchy with all those asterisks and caps, don't you think?

M*A*S*H stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (the asterisks don't mean a thing and were just added for drama) and this weekly sitcom revolved around the lives of medical personnel assigned to a military unit in South Korea during the Korean war.

And then...

Once upon a time, not so long ago, last month in fact, I had this curious experience. Upon watching the play Tuesdays with Morrie, I did not shed a single tear, whereas most of those I
talked to said they were so touched by the play, or by the book, that they cried buckets or at least enough to soak one or two sheets of Kleenex.

And I thought, is something wrong with me? Has some unnamed door inside been shut and the key thrown away? Why was I unmoved by that supposedly moving story? Wasn't I the girl who would tear up at the slightest hint of mush?

And then...

Once upon a day, Doc Remo sends an email. I will be hosting The Blog Rounds this October! And so it came to be, that I thought to ask the other MD webloggers, what are their experiences with this phenomenon of tears.

So to all TBR participants, the topic for the next virtual rounds is all about about stuff that make you cry. Huhuhu. It's kind of a wide-narrow topic and here are some guide questions. You can choose any or a combination of any of the following trigger questions. All these questions are followed by "Please elaborate."

* What makes you cry? (person, place or thing?)

* What situations make you cry? Or want to cry? And why?

* Is it macho for grown men to cry? Do you think men who cry are sissies?

* When was the last time you had a good cry?

* Are you one of those people who do not or cannot cry?

* What do you think of people who cry in public?

* Do you remember a scene or situation involving another person that made you cry?

* Do you remember a scene or situation involving yourself that made you cry? Or made somebody else cry?

* Should doctors cry? Should doctors let patients see them crying?

* Do movies make you cry? Which movies/tv shows/books/ stories made you cry buckets? And why?

* How do you handle crying children? Crying adults?

* What kinds of food make you cry?

* What can you say about sadness without tears? Is it possible to be very sad or mad and not be teary?

* If you can think of anymore topics involving crying, that would be fine, too.

In short, any essay, short story, poem, song, drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, any art form involving tears or teardrops are welcome. The more assorted the submissions the merrier. Hope you still remember the guidelines!

To the MDs who have not yet signed up with our yahoo groups website, please click here.

the tales of many heroes

The Blog Rounds 16th edition is up at Doc Gigi’s Beyond Borders!

Who needs heroes? We all do. Here are the heroes in the eyes and lives of the Filipino Doctors who Write Weblogs:

At home:
Doc Brian - mom
Doc Remo - mom
Doc Gaya - fathers
Doc Che – parents

In school:
Doc Martin – grade school and high school teachers
Doc Clairebear – med school teacher
Doc Ian – physics teacher
Doc JA – homeroom adviser
Doc Gigi – high school teacher

In the hospital:
Doc Gaya - co-intern
Doc Ness – male aide
Doc Manggy - nurses
Doc Joey – bantays
Doc Em Dy – hospital setting (blood donors, hospital workers)

Doc Megamom - patients, dead and alive

Common people:
Doc Che - farmers, barangay health workers, the youth, the OFW
Doc Mel – taxi driver
Doc Emer – newspaper vendor

How about you? Who is your hero? And as Doc Em Dy thoughtfully asks, When does the job end and heroism begin?

my manong, my hero

This is Manong Cardo, our male aide at the Operating Room. Among his many OR duties is to position the patient properly while I do my regional blocks. After all these years, Nong Cardo has got this patient positioning down pat, it's already instinctive. He holds the patient at just the right angulation, inclination and tension so that my work is made so much easier. In spinal or epidural anesthesia, where we deal with spaces and places only micromillimeters in width, the correct patient positioning is of utmost importance.

In the OR we all know when Nong Cardo is having a nice day because he sings the refrains or oneliners from these really old songs. He is my hero because irregardless of what kind of day he's having, he still holds the patient in perfect alignment.

we've come a long way, baby

One upon a time, women were not allowed to vote. Or become doctors. Heck, women were not even allowed to go to school. Women were to stay at home, make babies and take care of babies.

Today we live in a day and age where women could be just as good as men. And vice versa. The same goes for gays and lesbians as well.

Or does it?

We may have come a long way from not allowing females to go to school and become doctors but we still have some ways to go before we can honestly say there is no more gender discrimination in medicine or in any career field for that matter.

For example:

1. Females would rather have a female obstetrician-gynecologist than a male OB-GYN.

2. Most female urologists are relegated to administrative positions rather than clinical practice. How many men do you know would prefer to have a female doctor examine their genitals when they're sick?

3. Surgery is still a male dominated specialty. Can you imagine a woman neurosurgeon standing for more than twelve hours doing a craniotomy? What if she has a breastfed baby at home and she has to pump milk and store it in the ref? What about when she's menstruating?

4. During my fellowship, I heard that a hospital was not accepting married females for residency or fellowship because they might get pregnant. Indeed. Williams and Novac never said a marriage licence is a prerequisite for fertilization.

As for the rest of the specialties I think the playing field should be about balanced for all possible genders, don't you agree?

tbr summary

This has been a heavy week, or rather, last week has been a heavy week for the blog rounds as three editions were published in a span of 4 days! Check this out:

TBR 12.5/12.75, hosted by Meloinks , topic: the PMA and us, Posted: June 17, 2008

TBR 13 , hosted by BoneDoc, topic: Why do we blog? Posted: June 18, 2008

TBR 14, hosted by Em Dy, topic: Doc Hollywood, Posted: June 20, 2008

So, don't we have other things to do or are we having fun yet? Nosebleeeeeed!

So we're all going to rest this week as BoneDoc whips up his special group emailing system as well as let Manggy, who I espied is going to host TBR 15, formulate his topic and guide questions for the next round.

Meanwhile, those who have not finished their (blog) rounds yet, go na.

comments on House MD

...are going to be brief.

1. He did not get an informed consent before doing a spur of the moment hysteroscopy on a patient undergoing an abdominal procedure.

2. He did not wear a cap and mask in the OR.

3. Of course, he did not scrub either.

4. His diagnostic methods are freaking far out.

5. His interpersonal methods are freakier farther out.

I rest my case.

p.s. He does not shave.

the reel deal on the boob tube

Ok, ok. I'm going to finally admit it. The reason it took me such a long time to write this entry is because... ahem... it's because... I don't watch television. Shocking ba masyado? Okay, how about, I don't watch television a lot? Actually, I can go without turning on the TV for weeks and I'd be perfectly happy with that.

The reason for this is that perhaps something happened along the way between childhood and adulthood: I lost the appetite for television. Which is a bit strange because I used to be a TV and movie freak. I couldn’t do any homework if I wasn’t sitting in front of an open TV and I would scrimp and save for weeks so I could splurge one weekend on movie marathons.

I think what turned me off about television were the commercials. Aside from the irritating way they interrupted the shows, I had this feeling that what they were purveying were just not true. For example, ads would make us believe that the only way to be in/up, hip/cool/hot was to be fair skinned, silky haired, with Barbie doll face and figure, eating all those yummy junk food, having the latest technogizmos, and other such fallacies. And the scary part is that the commercials are so well made that they are getting the dubious message across very powerfully.

Even with the advent of cable TV and no-commercial movies, I couldn’t re-engage with TV watching again. Maybe I’m one of the few (and maybe weird) Filipinos who do not watch PBB or GKNB or Lobo.

As for movies, I like watching (no commercial) movies but I try to avoid watching movies that are about doctors or medicine. Like Doc Joey, I tend to notice the flaws in medical scenes and I get frustrated that the production team did not make an effort to verify if their scenes were realistic or believable. So now I prefer to be entertained by non-medical films so I can thoroughly relax and enjoy the movie without fearing that the illusion of the movie's reality will be shattered by a jarring medical blooper.

And so, because I wanted to join the Blog Rounds 14th edition , I got a copy of House M.D. Season 4. My comments on House:


(will have to be continued later as it has been a long day and am so sleepy na... -_- )

12.75 beta

That's TBR 12.75 beta and it's finally up over at Meloink's. This is quite a heeeaaavvey topic with a lot of discussion going on here and there and some bit of nosebleeding here and there, too.

Is medicine a business?

The Ateneo School of Medicine thinks so. In fact their medical course is a double degree program wherein their graduates earn two degrees at the same time: Doctor of Medicine and Master of Management. I think this is a first in the Philippines. Check it out here.

Another medical school is thinking of offering a double degree program, too, where students graduate as Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health. They believe community medicine has not been given enough emphasis in our medical schools when in fact it is what is greatly needed in our country.

Is medicine making a living out of other people's problems?

I want to look at medicine as a way of helping people who are ill. Doctors have that extraordinary privilege. Payment received is very much welcome. But our true satisfaction should be in the fact that we did good medicine. Whether we get paid or not. (I hope none of my patients will be reading that or surely they'll take me to task!) "Doc, bakit discount lang, sana libre na lang lahat!" O_o Oh, yeah. There are all kinds of patients. ;p

Is medicine a noble profession?

What makes a profession 'noble'? Is teaching a noble profession? How about being a pedicab driver? Or a girl selling e-loads? What determines whether a profession or career is noble or not? What if your profession does not belong to the 'noble' category? Would the opposite of noble be ignoble?

Noble:

Synonyms

3. highborn, aristocratic. 4. honorable. Noble, high-minded, magnanimous agree in referring to lofty principles and loftiness of mind or spirit. Noble implies a loftiness of character or spirit that scorns the petty, mean, base, or dishonorable: a noble deed. High-minded implies having elevated principles and consistently adhering to them: a high-minded pursuit of legal reforms. Magnanimous suggests greatness of mind or soul, esp. as manifested in generosity or in overlooking injuries: magnanimous toward his former enemies. 6. grand, lordly, splendid. 11. peer, aristocrat.

Antonyms 3. lowborn, base.

Ignoble:

Synonyms 1. degraded, dishonorable, ignominious, contemptible. 3. lowly, obscure, plebeian, peasant.

Antonyms 1. honorable. 2. superior.

___________________________

As for TBR 14, Doc Em, in the making... hopefully, will be posting it tomorrow.

house calls

Ssshh! I'm (still) watching House M.D. for TBR 14. :-)

is talk cheap at the PMA?

After that cowardly initial response yesterday, here's my secondary response.

I really, really want to say something good about the Philippine Medical Association. Because I believe that there are two or even more sides to every issue. And because I don't want to think that the thousands of pesos that I am obligated to pay in annual dues will have been and will forever be for naught. But first I have to find that good thing, if any. So I went to their website and found some nice stuff like:

1. The Code of Ethics for medical practitioners. A very important reminder for old and new physicians. If we all followed that code by heart, I'm pretty sure medicine can truly be called noble again.

2. The joint manifesto on the full implementation of the Magna Carta of public health workers that says:

We are concerned about and strongly deplore the failure of local government agencies to fully implement the provisions of Republic Act 7305, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers enacted on March 26, 1992. Such failure has further aggravated the poor standard of living of most of our public health workers at present who had been shortchanged for so long, and has contributed to our health workers leaving government service to look for greener pasture abroad. (read more...)

3. A position paper on Republic Act 9439, otherwise known as Patients Illegal Detention Act. It is a law that prohibits hospitals from refusing to release patients if said patients cannot settle their bills. The PMA protests this Act citing the following reasons:

*The Act might be subject to abuse and taken advantaged of by some patients who, although can afford, will refuse to settle their obligations to hospitals and doctors.

* It is common knowledge that promissory notes to hospitals and doctors remain as unsettled promissory notes even after several years. Litigations are long and tedious processes and may place hospitals and medical practitioners in a negative public perception.

* A number of patients give fictitious addresses to evade payments.

*There are two forms of indigent patients: the true indigent who can’t afford the medical care and the rich patients masquerading as indigent patients. (read more...)

4. The PMA motto

My rough translation:

United we physicians stand

Good health throughout our native land.

Isn't that true? That if we physicians have a unified stand on issues that affect national health care, we would have a stronger voice and clout than if we are just individual MDs griping in our own little clinics or whining away in our weblogs?

The PMA can be that personality with that big, strong voice and clout. The question is, is it?

is it ok if we talk about the PMA?

My initial response:

When it is so hard to say anything good about something or someone, maybe it is better to say nothing at all.

Ummphhh!