Without the Whitecoat
2006... the year ahead
Happy New Year to all, to those who have stuck it around in their medical practice rendering the much needed medical services to our fellow "kababayan" may your tribe increase and in the true meaning of public service and for the sake of "humanity" GOD BLESS.
I don't stand as a soothsayer or some sort of prophet of doom on the medical practice, but we'll just look farther on what this year (the year of the "DOG", the reality of the "Dog eat Dog" practice is now a reality, remember the "Ilonggo" crab mentality and the professional jealousies and just setting aside the sibling rivalry, just remember the "mouse" is still out there making our life miserable by blocking our applications as visiting staff in that medical institution in the great avenue) will bring us all. Yes, and that is the reason why a lot of practicing physicians are taking up nursing courses (some are thinking of entering the US army as medics or corpsman) just across the sea as a fallback option or the only ticket to the land of milk and honey the almighty "US of A." Our DOLE may not have the number to show a "massive brain-drain" among physicians, but as a practicing physician I already felt the changes in the community since most of the practitioners who are leaving are just too close in an arm's length. The DOLE may not have the numbers since most of these physicians either leave the country as immigrants to the US or with working visas, not as overseas foreign workers (OFW), remember these are professionals leaving the country. The sad thing that will happen when competent doctors leave this country as nurses is that they would be replaced by new graduates from either the medical school or any residency training program who are usually "half-baked" physicians. As I said before, companies and establishments, in order to save money, will hire new graduates from medical school with a financial compensation that maybe lucrative to this new graduates, but beneath this, the new graduates are inexperienced in the field of practice they are involved in. It may be true that we are already considered as doctors as soon as we graduate from medical school, but it is the experience and exposures that we lack, a sense or two will always help.
With most government physicians taking up nursing courses GOD knows what will happen to our health care system. We can never say that there will be a collapse in the medical health care system or there will be slashing off of health services, but with the ongoing changes it is the common "tao" that will feel the brunt. Expect that with the exodus of physicians problems and complaints will be heard all over the region.
With so much alternatives in the sense of pharmacoeconomics the working Filipino will now have some options of purchasing affordable medicines (the quality, that I can not assure you). BFAD should be strict enough to regulate companies especially those from India and Pakistan ensuring the Filipino people that they will get quality, efficacious, good bioavailability, tested and above standard medications. The quality and effectiveness of the medications should not be compromised by the price, with this age and time we now have Filipino pharmaceutical companies like UAP/Unilab (Biomedis, Therrapharma, Westmont, Pediatrica, LR Imperial, Medichem, RiteMed) that had produced quality medications that are affordable to the Filipino wallet and pockets. Needless to say, the Filipino Family Physician will still be out there in their own respective communities or niches rendering services for the underprivileged (to the point that we don't charge for our professional fees, but for those colleagues that bleeds their patient dry. As a physician, society may have viewed our profession as a thankless, unrewarding one, with a bleak future of making it big, a hand-to-mouth profession and survival (life is just too good if you just drive around with a brand new and expensive European car) hounded by the BIR on the incomes that we make (meager enough to send our kids to school or purchase a decent "Big Mac" for a meal). Medical practice will be on the dark side trying to accomplish all the requirements of BIR, keeping ourselves in shape to serve our patient irregardless if they can pay or not (remember the Hippocratic oath... serbisyo sa bayan?). As physicians we can never promise a cure or treatment for some ailments and maladies in life, but if we are just committed on the human touch of the medical practice then we can promise our patients "care"... it is care that will separate us from the rest of the specialties the patient as a person, a breathing human being and GOD's creation that also feels the hurt, hardship burden of this human earth. Don't forget that in every corner of our community there is always that caring Filipino Family Physician.
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The Philippine Academy of Family Physicians-Iloilo City Chapter and the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine-Panay Iloilo Chapter will be having their respective elections of officers (AY 2006-2007) on the second week of February 2006 a week before the scheduled annual conventions of both societies, for those interested please be involved. Watch out for details and announcements to be posted in all hospitals and training programs of all medical institutions.
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We would like to congratulate Iloilo Mission Hospital for having been selected by BIOMEDIS, Inc. "Joy of Caring" as the hospital and medical institution for caring in the Visayas.