Without the White Coat
The purpose of medical missions
Aside from satisfying the penchant of the "Filipino dole-out system" medical missions are here to stay as part of the social or corporate responsibility of some companies or groups with vested interests. There are those who have a genuine purpose of addressing the medical needs of the community.
This column is in relation to a medical mission held by a TV network last weekend.
For the Filipino-American doctors and nurses who opted to use their vacation here to serve during that activity is commendable. We don't understand why some doctors and physicians render free service in medical missions and give up their clinic hours or hospital rounds. For some resident physicians, despite a 24-hour back breaking duty in the hospital, they can still find time to render such free service.
Organizers of medical and dental missions may not understand where these doctors are coming from, and what motivates them to render their services for free. This one goes to the organizers: We don't understand why a little attention are given to these doctors. Just imagine after a 24- hour duty, one will conduct medical consultations again or canceling one's Saturday morning clinic hours to accommodate a TV network's request to help them in their medical and dental mission. Doctors do not have to be elevated in their status in society as famous personalities like those in the show business industry, because in their own right, they are already compassionate.
Doctors don't demand preferential treatment, but during a medical and dental mission, much accommodation has to be given to them. Amid the heat inside the consultation rooms and the long lines of patients, a doctor gets dehydrated too. A little glass of water to quench one's thirst is worth giving, or the provision of a cool place where one can rest. The doctor needs to relax before examining the next wave of patients.
Doctors are the most forgotten and "unappreciated" people in medical missions. After requesting for their "free" services, at the end of the day we just send them home. There's no letter or token to show their deep appreciation for services rendered.
For some resident physicians of Iloilo Mission Hospital who rendered medical services for this TV network , I am very sorry that last year's situation happened again. Last year, it was held at the basketball court of La Paz Public Plaza.
Medical missions will now produce negative feelings from the medical community and it may come to a point when doctors will no longer join such.
Doctors are not celebrities that have to be accorded with preferential treatment by the medical mission organizers, but do think about this: The doctors render free service to your clients after a hard day's work, so where's justice here?