BEing a Family MEdicine Resident

A lot of people I know will be stun if they knew I am a Family Medicine resident now. Some already are, upon knowing about my decision but they eventually understand. Everyone just really saw me being a Obstetrician and Gynecology specialist. Never say never they say, so I won’t say that I'll never become anything other than a Family Medicine Specialist. One thing I learned in life, is it always take you by surprise. You may be dreaming of one thing then be led to another. Before I say a lot more, I decided to write something about my experience being a resident for two weeks now. You may be wondering, "Where? In what institution?". Surprisingly, for you all out there, I'm doing my residency in FamilyDOC. You may be wondering again, "Why Family Medicine and why FamilyDOC?" So here it goes :)

I have various reasons why I decided to choose Family Medicine, first, because I want to be a specialist who is able to manage patients from all walks of life with illnesses that is commonly present is the community. I love talking to patients from all walks of life because I love continuously learning from them. I do not want my specialty to limit myself from it. Second, with the advent of the Universal Health Care Law in the Philippines it is really a great sign about our health care system and about Family Medicine practice in general.

Why FamilyDOC? Well, I've done a lot of research of course even when I was still in med school. I heard they offer a very competitive salary even before they have a residency program for their doctors employee. Then, eventually they created a Family and Community Medicine residency program which they applied for accreditation. I've talked to my seniors who are almost done in their 1st year residency about their experience and I've heard a lot of great things such as the very good working schedule where you can have 2 days off in a week, it may not be consecutive days but it's like heaven's gift, having a residency program where you can have 2 days off in a week right? And the fact you can go home each night after your clinic duty that is the best of all. Because no matter how tiring your duty went, if you can still spend the rest of your night resting and sleeping wonderfully in your own bed, again, it's heaven's gift right? Also, FamilyDOC's residents are being taught not just how to manage medical cases, but how to become an effective manager and leader in a work place and community. Most of all, it's actually FamilyDOC's vision itself that caught me, and that is providing greater affordability, accessibility and quality health care services to the community. I'm from the a province and from where I am from, we lack doctors. The doctors usually live in the capital of the province or ity. One doctor maybe for each municipality but it's not enough, way more than NOT enough. It's one of the reason I entered medical school and why I was able to get through it. I want to be of service to my community eventually. I dream to become a doctor who can manage all kinds of patients, from a pregnant mother, to her little children, to adults and the elderly people. All kinds of doctors are wonderful whatever specialty they may have. I just don't think it would serve with great purpose to many people in my community, even if I can do a complicated cesarean operation in a hospital but if I won't even know how to manage cases commonly present in my community. I leave the highly specialized skill to other doctors I can refer to :) I know. It sounds like a Miss Universe answer ^_^ But if you've been admitted for 5 days in a hospital in your province where you only saw your doctor once in the ER, it will definitely change how you see the practice of medicine. I believe all people from various places, from all walks of life, deserve equal access to quality health care. It might not sound believable yet, but there's a wonderful future for it here in our country.

And so far, in my few days of doing clinic duty in various branches of FamilyDOC, mingling with different staff, co-residents who are all kind, warm, approachable, supportive and all other great adjective you can possibly look for in a colleague, just simply make my experience even more great. It's kind of scary at first, especially for someone like me, fresh from passing the board exam who has very limited experience managing variety of cases. And boy, you'll definitely see a lot of interesting cases in the community, I'm telling you. The computer system makes it even harder to adjust too on your first few days. It might take you down for a while but eventually you'll get the hang of it, you'll become faster typing in the computer. You'll learn how to interview patient and encode the info at the same time but still being attentive to your patients.  Basically you'll develop a lot more skills you didn't know you will in your life. Kind of exaggeration I guess but something of that sort. Definitely, what I can say is I'm definitely enjoying my stay there. I look forward to more learning I'll have from my seniors, colleague and patients in the future. 

I pray for all you out there, seeking their passion and path in the field of medicine, that may you find the one that resonates with your life the most and something you see yourself enjoyably doing everyday, not dreading each day that will come to pass.  Cheers to you in advance.

Finally an MD. Now What???

I finally reached my dream of becoming a licensed physician, as someone who already has the license to heal, or so they say. A week ago, we had our Oath-Taking Ceremony held in the Philippine International Convention Center. It was a momentous event for each newly licensed doctor and their families. We were welcomed to the other world of medicine and I realized just how much a mere license ID card would mean to a person who really worked hard to get it. 

I posted this blog because I want to share some of the realizations I had since that momentous event of passing the September 2019 Physician Licensure Examination. It was a roller coaster. In just a few weeks in between the release of results and the oath-taking ceremony, a lot of things in me has changed. A lot of things I newly discovered I had in me which in turn affected my decisions for my future. Moreso, I realized that it wasn't just me. Almost all of my friends and classmates underwent and still undergoing the confusing moment of "Now that I'm Doctor, then what? What awaits me now? What field of residency program should I take? Should I really take one, is that really necessary? If not, what will I do now instead? Where will I go?". These are just some of the few mind-boggling questions I had. So why not write and share about the struggle I went through which might help future doctors as well.

It would seem that I really do not know what I really got into when I entered the field of medicine. In a whole lot of way, yes I didn't. I guess it's because I'm the first Doctor in the family, and I have no one to personally guide me. I thought it was as simple as having the utmost desire to heal people in their suffering from physical ailments and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, that desire was the most important thing that fueled me all throughout my journey in achieving my dream. But, in medicine, there's more to it than meets the eye.

While waiting for the oath-taking ceremony, I went home to celebrate with the whole family our brother's wedding. At that time, my older sister asked me to search for photos that I can print to put on a frame to be hung on our family wall. I realized that I've been missing a lot of my family's get together every time my siblings and their family went home to the Philippines for the Fiesta celebration. And our family photo taken at home, hours prior to my brother's wedding was the only photo in the last five years where I was able to join my family. I realized my nephews grew a lot, I didn't even notice. In my mind, they're still a baby or a toddler because that was the last memory I have spent with them. I realized that my parents and my siblings are getting older. Years passed by, I didn't take every opportunity I should've had to spend with them whenever they come home to the Philippines. Life is very short. It will pass you by quickly. A simple realization but it hit me really hard to my core. I value my dream a lot but I don't want to reach all of them at the expense of my family when they are one of the most important reasons why I studied really hard to graduate and pass the board exam on time. By on time, I meant base on my goal timeline.

And so, as I ponder upon the thought of what to do next, if should I continue to study and specialize in another field like how I originally planned it or if I should take some time off, go into moonlighting jobs first to save some money and so I can be with my family whenever possible since I am just working, shall we say,  as a freelance doctor. In that critical time of confusion, I don't want to simply rely on my own understanding because I know, highly likely I'll make a wrong decision. I simply put my mind to rest, I prayed day in and day out asking for God's guidance and for enlightenment amidst my confusion. Slowly, I was able to get a clear answer. I realized, we know what we really want in life, oftentimes they're just clouded by the noise and desires of other people for our lives or maybe we just don't have the courage to pursue what we want because we might disappoint some people along the way, that's why in turn, we tend to forget it as if they are just an afterthought. And I want to pursue a field of specialty in congruence with the reason why I enter medical school and at the same time, I can still spend some quality time with my family and friends. You know what they say about "always go back to your why"? Yes, it's true. It will keep you grounded and align with your vision and dreams. That is to specialize in a field where I'll be able to help people from all walks of life.

Thankfully, whatever my decision may be, my family always has my back. They even suggested me to take a vacation I deserve in Canada with my sister. I was actually on it, I renewed my passport and was ready to apply for a visa while continuously praying for guidance. God never fails. He enlightened me as to what to do next. God lead me to seek family and community medicine. That's when my journey in family and community medicine begins. Fortunately, God gave me a wonderful opportunity to be part of this wonderful institution where I believe I'll learn best to become a family physician. This I believe deserves a separate blog post :)

What I want my future readers to take home from this blog post of mine is that, pursue your dreams and your passion but not at the expense of something or someone as equally important to you as your dreams. Some time in our life, we'll be put to test, we'll be confused. It's alright, take some time off, take that time to rest and ponder upon life. Don't make a rash decision. Pray and pray a lot. Ask God specifically for what His plans for your life and pray that whatever they may be, that may you be able to submit to Him. God listens and He hears our prayer. Clarity comes with wisdom which God blesses us with when we pray. Congratulations to us all who work really hard to become the best version of ourselves and who work tirelessly to reach our dreams.

Steps of becoming a Doctor in the Philippines

Whenever we ask children what do they want to become when they grow up, and they answers,"I want to become a successful doctor someday" most often we replied "Oh that’s really nice, that's a very noble profession indeed" or this "I know you can do it, just continue believing in yourself and in your dreams"

It is indeed a noble profession a lot of people dream of becoming. But for some people, like me, who doesn't have anyone in the family who is a doctor, we don't know how long would it take us to become a successful doctor someday.  

Here I want to share something I learned from going through this same journey as yours which I honestly didn't know upon entering medical school but wish I knew, not that it would change my course but somehow you know would've totally prepare me holistically :) 

This timeline of your journey starts after graduating from senior high school since this where you and your classmates take different baby steps in achieving each of your dreams. 

Timeline of becoming a successful Doctor:

• 4-5 years of pre-med degree 
• 4 years of medicine proper
• 6-7 years straight program (UP INTARMED/La Salle Human Bio)
• 1 year post graduate internship
• 2 months of board exam preparation 
• 3-6 years of residency training
• 1-3 years fellowship training

You can take any pre-med degree, even non-medical related ones, however, some medical schools would require units of some science courses such as physics etc. Though, I can say it is more advantageous to take health-related degree if you already knew you wanted to pursue the field of medicine after graduating from high school. I took BS in Nursing which only took 4 years unlike others such as BS in Physical Therapy which takes 5 years. Of course, not only you consider the length of years studying, but more importantly your passion. If you are passionate of becoming a physical therapist or pharmacist or med tech, regardless how long it takes, you should pursue them. Your passion is what makes your journey more enjoyable.

There are few medical schools which offers straight program for medicine, such as the 7-year program of UP INTARMED, 6-year program of La Salle BS Human Bio and recently, UST released an article that they will be accepting the 1st batch of their 6-year Innovative Doctor of Medicine program for the academic year 2019-2020. You may click the links I provided, to visit their website. This is one fact I didn't know before entering medical school. I hope a lot of medical schools in the Philippines or more so, all medical schools in the Philippines will offer straight program for medicine. Since being in this field really takes a toll of our lifetime, it's one way of shortening it but still providing quality education producing best doctors. 

Every medical student should undergo 1-year post grad internship in their matched hospital. I'm not sure with med students from UPCM if they are allowed to have their internship done outside PGH. You may refer to my post about internship for more info :)

And for you, who, like me, wants to pursue residency training in your chosen field of specialty, it is important to know that not only they differ in specialization but also in their length of years of training. And another 1-3 years, depending on what sub-specialization you wish to pursue. More or less, hospitals offers the same length of training for these different programs. There are a lot of students who take into consideration the length of residency training in choosing their field of specialty, that's why I included the common field of specialty in this post. 

Below are the accredited residency program and its equivalent of years of training offered in Perpetual Help Medical Center-Las Pinas as of December 2018.

RESIDENCY PROGRAM	YEARS OF TRAINING
Internal Medicine	3
Pediatrics	3
Obstetrician & Gynecology	4
General Surgery	5
Emergency Medicine	4
Radiology	4
Radiologic Oncology	4

There are now straight program offered for various specialty as well, where you don't have to undergo the previous required residency training. For example, before you need to take residency for IM before going to Neurology but now there's a straight program for Neurology, others are Dermatology, TCVS, Orthosurgery, Neurosurgery and etc. PGH offers a lot of accredited residency and fellowship training. Don't worry my dear, along your journey to MD, you'll gain a lot of information from your mentors regarding the field of specialty you're planning to take. Don't be shy to ask and they'll willingly help and guide you :)

It's honestly exhausting just thinking about how many years still ahead should I go before I can say "I am now a successful doctor". Each of us has our own definition of being a successful doctor. Some feels it's already enough to be a general physician once they achieved getting that MD attached after their name and a license to heal. It won't make any person less of a doctor if he/she did not pursue further training in a specialized field. What matters is how he/she was able to help other people with the knowledge, skills, & attitude he/she gain from all those years of studying.

Each of our journey differs from one another, and we should not compare our success with that of others. Taking further training in these fields are not the only way to serve as a doctor and be successful. May we all discover our passion and pursue them with an earnest heart, all for the greater purpose of serving those who are in need. May we all be blessed. To God be the Glory!