Rewind The Years

It has been 5 years since I enrolled in the University of Saint La Salle College of Medicine. Along with 44 other students, I made history. All 45 of us became the first batch of medical students of the University of Saint La Salle Bacolod. We were the first medical students in the entire Negros Island. Four years later, only 26 of us would graduate. These 26 would therefore become the pioneer batch of USLS College of Medicine.

These 26 in a few weeks time will be taking the boards and hopefully will once again make another historical landmark in the history of the USLS College of Medicine.

I still remember how I started as a medical student. I started with hopeful anticipation. I was then newly married and my wife was expecting our eldest. During the orientation on the first day of school, I was honored to have made a speech in behalf of the first scholars of the school. In my speech, as far as I can remember, I was sharing to the audience who were my professors and classmates how lucky I was to have been a scholar and at the same time a member of the historical pioneer class of 2006. I shared in my speech how I once perceived the medical profession only for those who either can afford to go to school and therefore rich and those who can afford to go to med school and therefore wanted to be rich-er.


It has been 5 years since I enrolled in the University of Saint La Salle College of Medicine. Along with 44 other students, I made history. All 45 of us became the first batch of medical students of the University of Saint La Salle Bacolod. We were the first medical students in the entire Negros Island. Four years later, only 26 of us would graduate. These 26 would therefore become the pioneer batch of USLS College of Medicine.

These 26 in a few weeks time will be taking the boards and hopefully will once again make another historical landmark in the history of the USLS College of Medicine.

I still remember how I started as a medical student. I started with hopeful anticipation. I was then newly married and my wife was expecting our eldest. During the orientation on the first day of school, I was honored to have made a speech in behalf of the first scholars of the school. In my speech, as far as I can remember, I was sharing to the audience who were my professors and classmates how lucky I was to have been a scholar and at the same time a member of the historical pioneer class of 2006. I shared in my speech how I once perceived the medical profession only for those who either can afford to go to school and therefore rich and those who can afford to go to med school and therefore wanted to be rich-er.

I wanted to be rich, this I have to admit. I wanted to be rich not so much as to accumulate wealth for myself but in order to provide financial security for my new family. But I had to add that the other side of my wanting to be a doctor was the fact that I saw myself serving others better as a doctor than anything else. So, I wanted to serve and at the same time earn money. I guess that is not really bad, right?

The first year was a struggle, both in trying to find my niche among my classmates and trying to find a hold on my academics. Lectures were tougher and the discipline needed to survive medical school is much more different. This was a different ball game. At first, I was more competitive with the rest of the new students, especially those coming from other schools. I was competitive to the point of almost being discriminative. Later on, I realized, the only one I should be competiting with was myself. So I abandoned this archaec philosophy and started looking far ahead. I started earning friends far beyond my own circle of friends. Med school started becoming enjoyable.

Sure there were torturing moments of term exams and releasing of term grades. Nevertheless, med school was fun, despite of all the petty "fiascos" that have happened. Med school was supposed to be fun...until junior internship came and the miseries began. Through this necessary experience, I came to know myself more and how I dealt with other different types of scenarios and personalities.

I have come to encounter the worst kinds and the best kinds of people. I have learned that sometimes, even if you play fair while other people play rough, you end up losing the game. I have learned that sometimes, even if you are the good guy, it's the bad guys who still end up smelling good. It is a tough jungle out there and there are different kinds of venomous creatures. But whether they are the fiercest, or the most fatal or the most amiable, they are all God's creatures.

Medical school has been one of the most memorable and regrettable experiences I ever had in my life. But whatever it's worth, I love my life. And I thank God I shall never pass that road again.