Commitment
Commitment
Updated 00:58am (Mla time) Oct 22, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 22, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE DECLARATION of the 6,000 members of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) that they would practice their calling in the motherland for at least three years is sufficient reason to bring on the clichés. In the face of the shocking number of doctors crowding nursing schools preparatory to heading for the proverbial greener pastures overseas, it's like a candle in the dark, a shot in the arm of an ailing patient, a patch of rain in a drought. And because it comes with the promise that each physician will engage in charity work among the impoverished, the declaration triggers the comforting thought that some medical graduates remain committed to the Hippocratic Oath.
But it's cold comfort. Even as PCP president Adrian Peña signed the declaration last week, the phenomenon of doctors studying to be nurses with the end in view of landing a job in a hospital abroad continues to alarm. Physicians in large numbers are now enrolled in nursing schools nationwide, with certain schools opening special sections to take advantage of the crush.
As noted by a study conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Philippines has achieved another, somewhat dubious, distinction: It is now the world's No. 1 exporter of nurses. As many as 50,000 nurses, among them ex-physicians, have decamped for parts abroad in the past three years -- unprecedented even in this country that has made a policy of labor export for the longest time, and, according to NIH director Jaime Galvez-Tan, a distressing development that must immediately be addressed.
The NIH says as many as 4,000 doctors are enrolled in nursing courses. The number presumably includes 350 doctors, some of whom work as municipal health officers, studying at the City Colleges of Urdaneta in Pangasinan province. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA), composed of 60,000 registered physicians, counts one member out of five taking up nursing. PMA president Bu Castro concedes that because of the lack of doctors, a "health care crisis" now plagues the rural areas-the same areas that generally get the short end of the stick when the going gets rough. As now.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit describes the situation as a "malady" that must be "attacked in body, mind and spirit." But it doesn't look like he'll get much help from an administration that for this year allotted P12.8 billion for health (as opposed to P43.8 billion for the military), and that pays doctors working in state hospitals an estimated $400 a month (as opposed to $4,000 a month for nurses in US hospitals, with immigrant status for family members thrown in).
The "malady" is exacerbated by a government policy that hinges, not on the creation of jobs, but on the continuing export of labor worldwide as housemaids, carpenters, plumbers, waiters, beauticians, nannies, drivers, teachers, caregivers, and -- the latest demand of the industrialized world -- nurses. Is it any wonder that the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PSH), recognizing the drain in doctors/nurses as a threat to local health care, is pushing the education of physicians in the basics of entrepreneurship? The PSH position is simple: If money has become a major problem, committed physicians should not turn to nursing and fly but stay and learn the necessary skills to put up business ventures of their own. It's a case of being able to earn enough from a side activity to honorably support not only oneself and one's family but also one's life commitment.
Passion
THAT medicine is a commitment has long been displayed by many Filipino physicians, well known or unsung. Bobby de la Paz showed it in Samar province in the dark days of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, and paid with his life for it. Ernest "Che" Guevarra showed it in the evacuation centers in Pikit town in the province of Cotabato, and was widely recognized for it.
Guevarra was 25 when he was given the Reebok Human Rights Award in 2003 for bringing health services to people trapped in conflict zones. And yet he was loath to bask in the recognition, which was bestowed at a time of renewed fighting between government troops and separatist rebels in Mindanao.
His formulation of his feelings vis-a-vis the award was both memorable and evocative of the young doctor's passion: "I can't feel the magnitude of the thrill. It's recognition for what I have done, but the situation here is so overwhelming for me to even think about it. With the human suffering here, I can't see the value of my work. Ultimately, I can say that it's joy amidst sorrow."
Updated 00:58am (Mla time) Oct 22, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 22, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE DECLARATION of the 6,000 members of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) that they would practice their calling in the motherland for at least three years is sufficient reason to bring on the clichés. In the face of the shocking number of doctors crowding nursing schools preparatory to heading for the proverbial greener pastures overseas, it's like a candle in the dark, a shot in the arm of an ailing patient, a patch of rain in a drought. And because it comes with the promise that each physician will engage in charity work among the impoverished, the declaration triggers the comforting thought that some medical graduates remain committed to the Hippocratic Oath.
But it's cold comfort. Even as PCP president Adrian Peña signed the declaration last week, the phenomenon of doctors studying to be nurses with the end in view of landing a job in a hospital abroad continues to alarm. Physicians in large numbers are now enrolled in nursing schools nationwide, with certain schools opening special sections to take advantage of the crush.
As noted by a study conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Philippines has achieved another, somewhat dubious, distinction: It is now the world's No. 1 exporter of nurses. As many as 50,000 nurses, among them ex-physicians, have decamped for parts abroad in the past three years -- unprecedented even in this country that has made a policy of labor export for the longest time, and, according to NIH director Jaime Galvez-Tan, a distressing development that must immediately be addressed.
The NIH says as many as 4,000 doctors are enrolled in nursing courses. The number presumably includes 350 doctors, some of whom work as municipal health officers, studying at the City Colleges of Urdaneta in Pangasinan province. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA), composed of 60,000 registered physicians, counts one member out of five taking up nursing. PMA president Bu Castro concedes that because of the lack of doctors, a "health care crisis" now plagues the rural areas-the same areas that generally get the short end of the stick when the going gets rough. As now.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit describes the situation as a "malady" that must be "attacked in body, mind and spirit." But it doesn't look like he'll get much help from an administration that for this year allotted P12.8 billion for health (as opposed to P43.8 billion for the military), and that pays doctors working in state hospitals an estimated $400 a month (as opposed to $4,000 a month for nurses in US hospitals, with immigrant status for family members thrown in).
The "malady" is exacerbated by a government policy that hinges, not on the creation of jobs, but on the continuing export of labor worldwide as housemaids, carpenters, plumbers, waiters, beauticians, nannies, drivers, teachers, caregivers, and -- the latest demand of the industrialized world -- nurses. Is it any wonder that the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PSH), recognizing the drain in doctors/nurses as a threat to local health care, is pushing the education of physicians in the basics of entrepreneurship? The PSH position is simple: If money has become a major problem, committed physicians should not turn to nursing and fly but stay and learn the necessary skills to put up business ventures of their own. It's a case of being able to earn enough from a side activity to honorably support not only oneself and one's family but also one's life commitment.
Passion
THAT medicine is a commitment has long been displayed by many Filipino physicians, well known or unsung. Bobby de la Paz showed it in Samar province in the dark days of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, and paid with his life for it. Ernest "Che" Guevarra showed it in the evacuation centers in Pikit town in the province of Cotabato, and was widely recognized for it.
Guevarra was 25 when he was given the Reebok Human Rights Award in 2003 for bringing health services to people trapped in conflict zones. And yet he was loath to bask in the recognition, which was bestowed at a time of renewed fighting between government troops and separatist rebels in Mindanao.
His formulation of his feelings vis-a-vis the award was both memorable and evocative of the young doctor's passion: "I can't feel the magnitude of the thrill. It's recognition for what I have done, but the situation here is so overwhelming for me to even think about it. With the human suffering here, I can't see the value of my work. Ultimately, I can say that it's joy amidst sorrow."
posted by Dante at 2:10 PM
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