Death of Doctors

The DEATH OF PHILIPPINE DOCTORS

When I was a kid, my parents saturated me with the medical environment to perhaps influence into becoming a doctor someday. Well, I guess they've succeeded and I fell into their "hypnosis". But as I turn into a physician, my ideals turned into frustration as different "challenges" went my way. Although it's fun to work in an environment where most people turn to you whenever they are sick, it sometimes make me sick as well. Yeah, there's no perfect thing in this world, but as I move forward, I see the different ugliness of this profession has. Perhaps this is the reason why I liked being a Medical Technologist much than being a doctor.

One of the worst things I saw, was when I was a Medical Clerck. I was in Jose Reyes Memeorial Medical Center for my Pediatrics rotation. There was this 6 year old male kid, who's in for a sever case of Pneumonia which was complicated with Sepsis. The kid has mental retardation and is from a lower than average family. From my point of view, being done with my Pediatrics rotation inside FEU-NRMF Medical Center (which I consider still one of the best training institutions there is), I knew that the kid has this big chance of making it this crisis of his. I was the kid's "manual" respirator that time, forcing myself to be as constant and as regular with every pump I do with the Ambu-bag, I made sure that even the slightest change in his vital signs I immediately inform the Pediatric Resident on duty that time. Then came the kid's relatives with his Mom, I heard them talking about what to do with the kid. I assumed that the Resident had talked to them about the kid's condition, then they decided to just bring him home, so I, being the one in charge with the "ventilator", I walked them out the hospital door, just to find out, in the most horrible experience I could ever experience, there the kid, grasping for his breath, and me still pushing myself to help him take air, saw that what picked them up from the door was a Funeral Hearse. Oh my God! They've killed a kids who's chance of survival for me was more than 80%. How can parents do this to their child. Then I just told myself that there's nothing I could do but to accept what had happened.

Fast forward to the present time, a new challenge is in front of me, and not only me but to all the physicians in the Philippines, the Malpractice Bill. Little that most of us know, it's slowly crawling itself into becoming a full-pledge law, and when that day comes, hell will break loose. Thanks to Dr. Willie T. Ong, he helped "some" of us realize the problem at hand. The usual thing to think is, well, we have our own organization who will find a way to squeeze the doctors out of this situation, it has always been and should always be, that's why we have an organization, to make us one, so we could move as one. Unfortunately, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) seem not too keen or not too active in pursuing the movement against the said law. Only a handful of physicians are moving heavens and earth just to block the passage of the said Bill. Why? well, firstly, the organization that we were depending on to fight for out rights CANNOT move freely due to financial constraints, though there is a huge amount in the coffers of the PMA, the President dare not touch it, 'coz if he does, he will suffer the fury of the "pillars" of Philippine Medicine. And to top it off, not all doctors are supportive of the move. There are some who simply accepts it as a fact and that the Malpractice bill is inevitable, then there are some who are for the bill. When I went around, I got 2 distinct response from my fellow doctors, one is for and the other against. Thus, I concluded, everybody will be affected by this, and we, the doctors, are not showing any signs of UNITY. And wihtout it, we will all perish in the hands of the OPPORTUNISTIC wrathc of our CARE-LESS ATTITUDE!