Profession Slur

The reason I guess why I've been wanting to become a physician is because i wanted to feel the so called fulfillment in life. The kind when you get to help other people. You get to save them from their sickness, may it be physical, mental or emotional, and despite of being so freakin tired, you still feel happy and fulfilled at the end of day. I need not be rich. My bank accounts need not be in several digits. I need not own a big, grand house in a big subdivision. I need not even a luxurious car. I never dreamt of these when i was young. All i wanted is to sleep peacefully at night, thankful for the day, fulfilled for what ive done.

Too much for an introduction. It's just that today, i realized how some people have abused our so called profession. Oooops, i will not be talking about the Desperate Housewives thingie here. One, i havent watched a single episode of it. Two, i'm not that affected by the actress' statement. Fact is, I know myself better than her and i know what a Filipino can really do. So better not join the heat of the nation.

Let me just focus in my own little world. Let me scrutinize one by one the "profession slur" that i have experienced as a physician. People, twas not just Teri Hatcher or ABC who committed such slur but my fellow Filipinos as well. I'm doing this not to defend myself or my profession. I'm doing this as an eye opener for i cant deny what's happening around me. Ironic how the country reacted to such statement when fact is, as a physician, i dont feel protected and thanked by my own countryman.

Been working in this crap government hospital for more than 3 years now and i feel that i am very much indebted to my fellowmen. Since i work in the government, i am expected to serve the Filipino people. I felt how demanding other patients were. I experienced how unfair these people were in treating a government doctor compared to a private practitioner whom they are paying to. It seemed as if these people have contributed a penny in my medical education and that they are expecting me to pay them back. They were thinking that the food that i eat, or the expensive coffee that i drink came from their pockets. Sad to say, these demanding people are also the ones who arent even paying their community taxes. Sad to say too that a large fraction of my salary goes to taxes and this is what im experiencing from the hands of a fellow Filipino. This is fact. This is what the nation should know.

I havent really gone into an argument about this matter with someone. I am too toxic to argue with anyone and my time is too precious to be wasted on a narrow-minded creature. Same thing as what im doing with Dementress Jr, benign neglect is all that i do. Should i really lose my temper which very seldom happens, i might, i just might do the worst thing that i could imagine doing. Cast the demanding filipino with the Cruciatus curse. Kidding. I mean, ask the demanding patient if he pays his taxes and double or even triple it and send him to another hospital. Heck! One of a few reasons that could force me to get married are my taxes!

Aside from being demanding, some of them would always seek the aid of media. The most of the time one-sided mediamen on the other hand would react and hurl derogatory remarks at us. We've become a daily delicacy in the households everytime these media would ride on some issues and feast on us. We are being threatened by some patients that they will run to the media for help should there'll be a problem that will arise in our management. Should i once again lose my temper on this one, i would also bring some issues to the media. Like the government not having enough budget for health and that we too have to take a fraction of our tax-deducted salaries in order to help a patient. That there are some patients who are abusive and demanding and at the same time are not paying their taxes. That there are some relatives who never move a finger in looking for resources for their patients. That they only wait for whatever divine providence that might drop from our leaking, dust-filled hospital ceilings.

Oh, let me not forget those philanthropists. Rich people who wanted to serve the poor, the sick and the dying - for the photo ops. I always feel so exploited when i work with them. Ok, not all of them. There are some who really are genuine in their intentions. But then, really! Those medical missions? They dont impress me. Imagine a doctor being asked to volunteer for the said project and being drowned by the number of patients that come for the mission. The organizers on the other hand would appear later in the activity, fully made up, not a single sweat or oily part on their faces and not a single hair is misplaced. Some would even dare touch some patients but with an alcogel on the other hand. Of course, not to mention the camera in front of them. Disgusting!

Include also some of our kind who are a disgrace to our profession. Physicians who might have mutated from a very idealistic premed student to a very materialistic professional. Some would even look down at some doctors who can never equal their wealth or their positions. Those who forgot their Hippocratic oath. Those who forgot what a real healer is.

These people that ive mentioned are Filipinos. Most of them i guess were also the ones who reacted to that statement in that tv series. Look who's talking now? Listen to those praises about a Filipino doctor. Read those defenses that they did in favor of us. These gestures didnt move me. Same thing that i was not that affected by the racial slur that tvshow has committed.

I'm living my life one day at a time. I can sleep peacefully at night. I still feel fulfilled at the end of the day. Ok now, Filipinos, let the one without a sin throw the first stone at Teri Hatcher.